Heather of the Hills

As summer draws to a close, I find that I haven't taken very many pictures during this hot, humid, crazy season. I still have quite a backlog from springtime, though, so why not go with that? T...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/09/getting-back-into-groove.html

It seems like it's been a lifetime since I was up in Michigan to attend the Nettie Bay School of Birding . Much has happened since then, and it turns out that Life has taken precedence over my bl...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/07/michigan-landscapes.html

I recently spent a week up in Michigan, and the primary purpose of my visit was birding. And bird I did, along with a small group of several other folks who signed up for the Birding School hoste...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/05/porcupine-encounter.html

When I last left you, I penned a post showcasing a cool find from a trip to Adams County, Ohio. That was almost a month ago, and I just found myself in Adams County again this weekend. This time ...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/05/fabulous-find-at-flora-quest-2012.html

Today was a great day spent with great folks among great nature. I traveled over to Adams County to meet up with some like-minded folk for what has become an annual early spring gathering to chec...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/04/more-to-see-than-just-flowers.html

Can you identify these eyes? Here's a hint: These "eyes" are a defense mechanism meant to scare away predators. Did they scare YOU?

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/04/whos-looking-at-you.html

I've never been one for pulling pranks on April Fool's Day, and I'm not about to start now. However, after looking at some wildflower photos I took today, I couldn't resist sharing a few images t...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/04/mother-nature-airs-her-dirty-laundry.html

Spring has sprung in my little corner of the world, and how! Reports from around the state confirm that most flowers and trees are at least 2 weeks ahead of schedule (in terms of bloom time) due ...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/03/spring-time-beauty.html

A few weekends ago I started to see Common Grackles in large numbers in a few spots in this corner of southeast Ohio. Around this time I also started to see Red-winged Blackbirds reliably. Americ...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/03/when-grackles-descended.html

For a while I've been kicking around in my mind the idea of doing some serial-style posts that detail bird sightings and observations that I think you, my dear readers, might find interesting. Th...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/03/today-i-saw-american-kestrel.html

Last weekend was the Great Backyard Bird Count, which normally has me planning to go to different locations to count birds. That was indeed my original plan, but life had other ideas. Last Saturd...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/02/certain-stillness.html

In my last post, I mentioned how Carolina Wrens are the apple of my eye as far as species that dine at my feeders in winter go(or any time of year, really). If a weekend of counting for Project F...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/02/oh-how-i-love-my-birds.html

So what was I talking about when last I blogged... Birds, you say? Well, here's some more bird stuff. Vultures are common where I live in southeast Ohio, and they are here year-round. This has ...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/02/vultures-creepers-and-wrens-oh-my.html

One of the most rewarding aspects of birding for me is being able to put something that I recently learned to use by making new discoveries of my own based on that learning.  I had one such expe...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/01/putting-birding-skills-to-use.html

Snow-flocked Hemlocks in the Hocking Hills January 2nd turned out to be a cold, brisk, wintry day, perhaps not the best of days to be out birding.  The roads went from dry to snow-covered i...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2012/01/hocking-hills-christmas-bird-count.html

When looking back on things, whether it's a month, a season, or a year, it is in our nature, I think, to look for the high points. I had many high points this past year, too many to name, actuall...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-birdy-big-year.html

At our feeders nestled in the woods, 5 species of woodpeckers have been observed dining on suet, and occasionally on sunflower seeds and peanuts. In order of appearance from least to most common,...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2011/12/dauntless-downy-woodpecker.html

tiny buds  await spring A recent string of cold nights with clear skies and calm winds made for some delightfully frosty mornings, bringing the landscape into a characteristic state of bei...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2011/12/frost-hunt.html

Wordless, abstract Sunday...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2011/12/abstracts-in-frost.html

Continuing with my puffball adventures, we move from the behemoth to the dwarf. These next mushrooms that I'm about to share are VERY small compared to the large puffballs from my last post . I w...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2011/12/puffballs-part-ii.html

Today has been a typical wet, dreary November day. Well, except that the temperatures seem a little above average. Regardless, I am mourning the loss of summer, and have been for a number of week...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2011/11/late-summer-puffballs.html

During the Project FeederWatch season I keep a closer eye on what's going on at my feeders, for obvious reasons. When FeederWatch is not in session (i.e. spring, summer and some of fall), however...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2011/11/interesting-feeder-observations.html

Project FeederWatch got underway this past weekend. This will be my 7th season counting for this citizen science project run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology , and I can't wait to see what kind...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2011/11/may-counting-begin.html

I've been going through some photos in preparation for an upcoming post, and just couldn't wait any longer to share these 2 photos of a Carolina Chickadee at our feeders. It's a gorgeous, tough l...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2011/11/chickadee-love.html

Remember a few posts back when I showed you a cute, tiny owl? I said I could have taken it home in my pocket, and estimated that it was smaller in size than my head. A captive Northern Saw-whe...

http://heather-heatherofthehills.blogspot.com/2011/11/special-owl-on-special-day.html