natureswondersbyclyde

      I enjoy seeing little groups of handsome white-throated sparrows and white-crowned sparrows in my neighborhood in New Holland, Pennsylvania every winter.  They hide out in lawn or field shrubbery and feed on weed and grass seeds on the ground.  And they come to bird feeders to feed on seeds and grain.  They are lovely additions to any neighborhood in winter, the only time most of us will ever see them.      Adult white-throats and adult white-crowns look much alike, with small differences.  Both these related species are seven inches long, brown and dark-streaked on top, which camouflages them among thickets of weeds, grasses and shrubbery, and pale-gray below.  Both species have black and white-striped crowns, but those stripes are more distinct on the white-crowned sparrows.  White-throats have a patch of yellow feathers before each eye, and white throat patches, which distinguishes them.      Immature birds of both kinds are similar to their respective parents, but have brown

      Climber's Run Nature Center, owned by the Lancaster County Conservancy in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is nestled in a mix of habitats, including the stream, Climber's Run, and second-growth, deciduous woods and overgrown fields and meadows, all bordering that clear-running stream.  That variety of habitats, surrounded by cropland, creates several niches that wildlife use the year around.        The Conservancy has a cluster of bird feeders erected along that stream in bottomland woods during the winter of 2022-23.  The attractive and interesting birds coming to those feeders can be enjoyed, day and night, either in person, or on computer screens because of a live camera focused on the feeders.      Currently there is, almost always during the day, much bird activity at those feeders.  All the pretty birds coming to those feeders are adaptable, common, alert and quick, making much entertainment.        Because the feeders are in a woodland, six kinds of striking woodpe

      I visited the Upper Chesapeake Bay at the Community Park of Northeast, Maryland one afternoon about the middle of March a few years ago, as I had several times in different seasons before that day.  This time, I went there to spot migrating water birds of various kinds.        Because of their high numbers, gulls and ducks were the dominant birds on the ice, and strips of open water among the slabs of ice because of the warming weather in March.  Most of the handsome ring-billed, herring and great black-backed gulls stood picturesquely on slabs of ice.        The attractive, adult ring-billed and herring gulls are mostly gray on top, white below, and look much alike, except the herrings are larger and have a red mark on their beaks, whereas each ring-bill has a black "ring" around its bill.  Largest of these gulls, the stately, mature black-backs have black backs and upper wings and are white below, making a striking, attractive plumage pattern.        All three of thos