Category Archives: Nature

The Killdeer Nest

By david.humphrey | Published: May 19, 2011
I’ve written about Killdeers at least once before, and because they are a regular part of our property, it seems fitting that they should return to my blog.  This spring, like every spring we’ve been here, there have been Killdeers nesting on our lane.  They love it because their eggs blend perfectly with the stones [...]
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Beavers in the corn

By david.humphrey | Published: November 14, 2010
My father-in-law showed me his bird feeders the other day.  Both were metal, of good quality, and bent so they were laying flat on the ground.  Neither of us had seen this before.  “What could do that?” he asked.  We’ve both seen squirrels, chipmunks, deer, lots of raccoons; but never have either of us seen [...]
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Fruit

By david.humphrey | Published: August 9, 2010
Our weekend was punctuated with experiences related to fruit.  It began with the most enjoyable visit to our local farmer’s market I’ve had, since we were all four able to ride the 10Km on bicycle.  Tricycles, training wheels, and now rails to trails–the girls are at an amazing stage. When we got to the market we [...]
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Two Experiences with the Local

By david.humphrey | Published: June 26, 2010
1) I’ve been amazed this year at the amount of Canola planted in the fields in our county. I’m used to seeing a lot of soy beans, corn, and winter wheat. But the shock of Canola visually, a bright, beautiful, electric yellow, never ceases to give me pause. And this year it’s [...]
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Great Horned Owl

By david.humphrey | Published: June 13, 2010
One of the things I look for is the Great Horned Owl. When I was a small child I saw my first. It had been killed (by a car as I recall) and my uncle, a taxidermist, was going to stuff it. He brought my brothers and I to see it, and [...]
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A bird in the hand and two in the field

By david.humphrey | Published: March 8, 2010
I’ve written before about the prevalence of Snow Buntings in our area.  It turns out I didn’t know the half of it.  My wife recently connected with a neighbour who bands them.  Each morning during the winter, whatever the weather, he goes out to a road a few over from ours, and parks his trunk [...]
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Another road

By david.humphrey | Published: February 2, 2010
There is another road.  It is, for the most part, hidden from view.  I have seen it only a few times, and always it has been those walking upon it that have made it appear to me. I saw it for the first time in a wicked snow storm, just as the light was succumbing to [...]
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Snow Buntings

By david.humphrey | Published: January 10, 2010
This has been one of the worst winters for birding I can remember.  A few weeks ago I was sure the issue must be related to my feeders being low.  I went out to fill them and found that they were all full, and waiting patiently in the cold for visitors. Perhaps this lack of many [...]
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Winter Music

By david.humphrey | Published: December 22, 2009
Wild turkeys walk side-by-side along the furrows of a snowy field, black against the white.  Notes on a musical staff, a song I hum as I drive on.
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The hardest edge

By david.humphrey | Published: October 18, 2009
From our kitchen window I watched the first Common Merganser arrive to our lake since last spring.  It was the weekend, and I was afforded the time and space to sit and watch.  I did so mostly while tending to various pots and pans in the kitchen.  The watching of this solitary duck gave my [...]
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