by Kieran Lindsey | Jan 22, 2020 | Birds, Wildlife
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Maybe Bobby McFerrin was a house wren (Troglodytes aedon) in a previous life. This thought popped into my mind when, after listening to On Being’s Krista Tippett interview the singer, I went out for a walk with my canine companion. We hadn’t...
by Kieran Lindsey | Dec 11, 2019 | Birds, Wildlife
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD [Thanks to Lafayette Square residents Jim and Carolyn Willmore for reporting a brown creeper sighting near the Cook Pavilion of Lafayette Park.] On frosty mornings, Mercury is uncharacteristically slow to leave that snug thermometer bulb…...
by Kieran Lindsey | Oct 30, 2019 | Birds, Wildlife
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD [In honor of Halloween, a species dressed for the occasion!] Even though our cultural sings the praises of summer, it’s not my favorite season. I always welcome the crisp air, deeper blue (and, admittedly sometimes flat gray) skies, and...
by Kieran Lindsey | Oct 23, 2019 | Birds, Wildlife
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD It seems to happen once each century. In 1775 the Redcoats showed up in Boston, the Beatles made a big splash about 200 years later in 1964, and in the sweet-spot in-between the House Sparrows (Passer domestics) arrived. It’s difficult to...
by Kieran Lindsey | Oct 16, 2019 | Birds, Wildlife
BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Last Sunday morning I unexpectedly found myself sitting ringside for a brief but furious brawl. Two male red-bellied woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus) were having a boundary dispute that started with an argument over some shrubbery, then...
