Back in early May, I decided to give myself a birthday present and do something beneficial for my yard and wildlife by planting a butterfly ...

At the beginning of the semester, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that many of my readers like birding as much as I do. In fact, I got a...

The state bird of Maryland, the Baltimore Oriole ( Icterus galbula ). Today is International Migratory Bird Day .  And to celebrate, I...

I have raccoons in my yard!  How exciting is that?  I knew I had opossums and groundhogs, and I assumed there were raccoons in the neighborh...

The red mulberry, Morus rubra , is a wonder native tree that also bares a wonderful edible fruit.  Red mulberries are, by my account, delici...

One of the things I did get done when I moved into my new home was dig an outdoor turtle pond for my Northern diamondback terrapin ( Malacle...

Loads and loads of native trees, reaching for the sky. I love trees.  Now I know what you're thinking: "C'mon, David.  You...

Alright, boys and girls.  I started this little endeavor a month ago.  It's time to bring it all together, once and for all.  So far in...

After a pretty positive response to " Part 1 ", I headed out of town and the roundup got interrupted.  Now  Jenn Hall (who did ...

Time to talk birds, specifically the ones I posted photos of in my " end of year bird quiz " . To spice things up a bit, instead o...

I finished 2011 with a post on birding, and figure starting 2012 in a similar fashion is not a bad way to go.  Unfortunately, my yard was no...

Despite the fact that we've reached the end of December, it has been quite pleasant here in Edmonston, Maryland.  The last few days have...

As I mentioned in my last post, I spend quite a good deal of time fighting the growth of invasive vines in my yard.  I'll admit, I alway...

Invasive vines: climbing fences and choking out bushes like a boss. My yard is covered in vines.  Terrible, invasive, non-native vines, ...

A while back I left a teaser on the end of a post about  house finches  ( Carpodacus mexicanus ), and never got around to telling you all t...

A breeding pair of Carpodacus mexicanus , also known as house finches. The house finch , Carpodacus mexicanus , is a little passerine bi...