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The Male Northern Cardinal Roosting At My Backdoor

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  As I looked out the backdoor under the awning I saw in the late evening light perched in the corner of the awning a beautiful Northern Cardinal.  His feathers were perfect and tucked close to his body. My grand-daughter, Laney, was the first one to actually see it.  She had switched on the back porch light and she hollered out, “Mimi…Pepe…have you seen this red Cardinal?”  We answered her with “No.  We have never seen it there before.” In fact, we couldn’t tell if it was there by choice or if he was trapped, because even though we were very close to him, he didn’t fly away!  As we looked at him, he looked at us, but he didn’t move.   So we turned off the light and left him alone.  The next morning when I rose at 4:30 am, I turned on the light to see if our little visitor was still there and guess what!? He was still there!  So every so often, that morning, I would go to the backdoor and peek out to check on him.  He stayed until the morning began to come alive….5:30 - still there.  B
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THE BIRDS AT NOTRE DAME

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Yesterday was a cool rainy day, so I pulled up my recorded NOVA episode called “Saving Notre Dame.” On April 15, 2019 a fire broke out at 6:18 pm that nearly burned down the 850 year old cathedral.   As I have revealed before, I am sort of a science geek. I loved this episode not only because I am interested in finding out more about the fire, but because this NOVA episode shows that there is a lot of science involved in resolving the many issues that have stemmed from the fire.   The damage is so bad that it is taking a large team of researchers to figure out how to salvage as much of the original Notre Dame as possible and to restore the cathedral to its former glory.       The fire began in the attic and quickly spread to the roof because the dry timbers under the roof burned so quickly.   As the lead roof and spire burned they sent out toxic lead into the air and coated the whole cathedral and its stain glass windows.   The researchers had to determine a way to remove the lead
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IN TEACHING YOU LEARN

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At my house, Friday is called “Bird Friday”.   On Friday afternoons I have a Facetime bird class with my Southaven grandchildren.   It’s a wonderful way for me to share my love of birds and photography with them. Since we all take this class seriously, I know that it also adds to their education.   They are only 8 and 5 years old and I am sometimes amazed at how much they retain.   And since we are in the middle of this pandemic, I am thankful that this gives us a set time to visit and I can find out what they have been up to during the week. I have found that when I prepare for my weekly Birdie article and for “Bird Friday,” I learn a lot from the preparation. Several years ago, I bought my grandchildren copies of the field guide - “Birds of Louisiana & Mississippi” by Stan Tekiela at Wild Birds Unlimited in Southaven.   It is a small book that is just right for kids to handle and it is also easy to throw into my backpack for birdie field trips.   We use this book as our textboo
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CONJUNCTIVITIS IS YUCKY, CAN BE DEADLY

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Since I love bird photography I belong to several FaceBook Groups that share bird photos.  Depending on the group the quality of photos may vary from photos taken with a cell phone to professional quality photos taken with very expensive cameras and huge telephoto lenses. One day a photographer shared a photo of a House Finch that was obviously very sick.  The bird’s eyes were filled with gook and were very swollen.  The photographer asked the group members if anyone knew what was wrong with this bird.  The responses came in quickly and let the photographer know that her little bird had an eye disease called “conjunctivitis.” According to Dr. Sidney Taylor of Coldwater Vision Center – “Conjunctivitis is an eye condition also known as “pink eye”, where the conjunctiva becomes inflamed and irritated. The condition is most often caused by cold viruses, but can also be a bacterial infection or allergies.   Conjunctivitis can resolve itself, but in some cases it can progress to more s
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BROWN THRASHER

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  When I am in my yard I never know what type of bird may come - whether it will be an old friend that comes every day or a visitor just passing through on the migration trail.   If it’s a photography day, I begin to pray for God to send birds that I have never seen in order for my “bird passion” to stay alive.   And on some days God does exactly that - He calls in birds that I have never seen and I get all charged up again.   But, some days He tells me to be content with what He gives me.   I have found that’s the good life….being content with what He gives us.   In that contentment I have often received a fresh look at a bird I have seen many times but there is so much more for me to learn.   This week that bird is the Brown Thrasher. This is the time of year that a Brown Thrasher really enjoys because the leaves are falling and everyone’s yard will be covered with leaves.   Just like his name says the Thrasher likes to noisily “thrash” through leaves, small rocks and branches
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WHAT WE COULD BE MISSING

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  WHAT WE COULD BE MISSING BY: PEGGY WILLIAMS AKA Birdie of Mississippi You may not be a PBS fan because lots of people aren’t interested in educational programming, but I am becoming more and more of a fan of both PBS and National Geographic as I re-coop on the couch from my fractured bones.   Not every program is educational, but since I enjoy math and science I gravitate toward programs about the earth and about outer space.   The nature programs have helped me learn about the grand scope of our environment down to tiny details about our planet.   There are programs about what we see when we look through our telescopes here on earth and also about the photos taken of our solar system from Voyager 1 and 2. And the more I watch and learn the more that I want to become like Solomon and have wisdom!   The programs show me how inter-woven every detail of nature and man are.   And even the word “nature” is such an all encompassing word!   Flowers and trees, birds and bees, and water
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A GOOD FIELD GUIDE - 8/8/20

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  A GOOD FIELD GUIDE BY: PEGGY WILLIAMS AKA Birdie of Mississippi   As like most Birdies, I have several field guides to help me to identify birds and find out information about the bird in question.  Some field guides only tell you general information about birds and some give very detailed info about birds.  The one I enjoy using for simple info and easy to identify is Birds of Louisiana and Mississippi by Stan Tekiela.  This field guide narrows down the birds that I am likely to see in my own backyard.  Some of the birds listed are year-round residents and some are migratory birds that can only be seen passing through Mississippi at certain times of the year.  I bought this as my first field guide at Wild Birds Unlimited in Southaven when I first got started being a Birdie.  I have loved it so much that I have recommended it to all my friends and have bought copies for my grands.  My grands pull it out all the time to show me birds that they have visiting in their backyards an
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