Val Cunningham

Surprising as it may seem, Eastern bluebirds are increasingly being seen all winter long in our region, such as this pair of males visiting Gene Lange’s feeders.

The morning email recently contained a jaw-dropping photo from reader Phyllis Terchanik – a tundra swan with a very odd neck. One of the birds in her photo has a longer-than-normal neck and it’s torqued into a corkscrew shape.

Heading recently for open water on a tributary to the Mississippi River, Scott Thiede carried his blind, chair, camera, and some raw poultry to an ice shelf.
This is an area that hosts bald eagles all winter and two immature eagles soon landed to eat the chicken. An adult eagle suddenly made a swift pass and snatched some chicken meat with its sharp talons, much to the dismay of one of the youngsters.

Ron Nicol is used to seeing red squirrels in his backyard, but a recent visit by a blond version made him grab his camera.

Then something serendipitous happened: A female pileated landed on a nearby tree, and suddenly a second female was in the frame. To add to the drama, the two began sparring until one drove the other off. Dinndorf wonders whether they might have been two siblings from this summer’s nest, or mother and daughter, or some other configuration.

It was time to deadhead the dahlias in Wayne Cosner’s garden, but luckily he looked inside before making the cut on a big yellow bloom. A tiny tree frog had taken up residence.

This is the time of year when many flying insects are desperate for sweets, as anyone who has tried to drink a can of soda on their deck can attest, often waving off wasp after wasp.