The concept of bird migration is far from new to even the most casual backyard birder. Many birds come and go as the seasons change. On the surface, migration, or why birds would bother to migrate, is quite obvious. Food sources change as the time of year changes. The decision to stay put or travel […]
Somehow it happened. 10 years ago the Birdfreak Blog started. In those years our lives changed a lot. We grew and our kids grew. But through all the change, we feel we’ve stayed the same. We didn’t always stick to a plan. Our posting schedule was sporadic, the look of the site was spasmadic, and […]
Vitamin N is the short title for Richard Louv’s latest book about getting people, especially kids, back out into nature. The extended title is a long one: Vitamin N: 500 Ways to Enrich the Health & Happiness of Your Family & Community* (*and Combat Nature-Deficit Disorder). On the cover is also the statement “The Essential […]
Callaway Farm is my (Eddie’s) rural backyard in northern Illinois. In 2012, the 2.5 acres were a corn field and since 2013, I’ve been working on turning it into our backyard bird sanctuary. To get a baseline of what wildlife is using it in its current state, I decided to do a May bioblitz. I […]
The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman chronicles some of the best-known cases that showcase bird intelligence. But the book goes beyond the famous birds like the African Grey Parrot named Alex and delves deep into the scientific studies being conducted to understand how birds think. Inevitably, especially with a title having the word “genius” […]
Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants by Douglas W. Tallamy is the quintessential guide to how and why we all have the power to conserve habitat, right at home in our backyards. Tallamy begins with a call to action, that all gardeners need to direct their energy towards planting those […]
Northwest Ohio is “The Warbler Capital of the World“. People come from all over the world to see all the beautiful spring migrants that stopover on their way north . The Biggest Week in American Birding a week-long bird festival that started in 2010, is now in full swing and each year it just gets […]
If you live in the eastern half of the United States, native Wild Columbine might be a good choice for birdscaping. The Callaway Garden planted just a couple plants three years ago. We looked for a native plant nursery to find this variety and found Naturally Native Nursery in Bowling Green, Ohio. These plants spread […]
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