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Greetings,
Migration is happening!
There's an immense tide
sweeping southward across North America, as
birds
recede toward their winter homes in Central
America
and South America. All those thrushes and
swallows
and swifts and hummingbirds were just visiting.
What fun to glimpse them as they come through!
| Smoke in Reverse |
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In September, chimney swifts are making a spectacle
of themselves every evening. They swirl around a
chimney at dusk, in a growing crowd.
Just before darkness falls, the birds all pour down the
chimney, like smoke in reverse. If you live in eastern
and central North America, enjoy watching the swifts
now. Soon they'll be gone and won't be back till next
spring.
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| How to Judge Binoculars |
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Sometimes it's hard to tell which binocular
is best. If you feel uncertain sometimes,
here are some tips on how to evaluate a
binocular.
These tips are from the instructions we we
gave to our testers this summer when we were
reviewing mid-priced binoculars for Bird
Watcher's Digest (to appear November, 2007).
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| Dear Diane... |
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Dear Diane: When should I take down my
hummingbird feeders? I still have three
ruby-throats here. I love seeing
them, but I don't want to tempt them to stay
longer than
they should. --Sidney P., Fairfield, Iowa
Keep your hummingbird feeders up as long as
hummingbirds are visting them. And then a
week or so
longer just in case a straggler comes through.
You need not be afraid of causing the birds
to delay
their migration and get caught by winter.
That isn't going
to happen. It's not declining food that tells a
hummingbird when to go south. It's something
else that drives them.
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Goldenrod for Downies |
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The native wildflowers of each region are plants
that have adapted through the centuries to
the climate,
birds, and insects of the places they make
their homes.
Each flowering plant provides something special
to birds or other wildlife. Like nectar for
hummingbirds.
Or like ripened seeds after the flowers are
spent.
Some wildflowers do even more than offer
nectar and
seeds. For example, the bright yellow goldenrods
provide a protein-rich bonus to downy
woodpeckers.
Goldenrod's bonus... |
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