Eons Birding Group: Messages by ScottCronenweth

Farewell, Eons birders! I wish you all the best, birding-wise and otherwise. For my last blog entry I wrote about what matters most to me: What we can do for the birds.

In it I list what I feel are the top few most important, essential things that every birdwatcher can do to support our precious wild birds. Please check it out: view link

Thank you all for a wonderful 2+ years!

Peace & good birding,
Scott Cronenweth

Hey, Eons birders -- who among you would like to become the new Manager of the Eons birding group? It's easy and fun and takes almost no time at all. Plus among other perks you get to leave "sticky messages" -- how cool is that? :-)

Please contact me directly if you're interested.

Peace & good birding,
Scott, Eons birding mentor (til next week...)

Greetings, Eons birders. My time with you is almost up. But fortunately I was able to fulfill a promise and write a review of an exceptional and important book "Birding for Everyone: Encouraging People of Color to Become Birdwatchers." This is a vitally important issue for conservation in America and well worth learning more about.

Please check it out here: view link

Peace & good birding,
Scott, Eons birding mentor

Happy Holidays, Eons birders -- amidst all the hustle and bustle, please take a few minutes to check out my latest blog entry. It's all about tips for winter bird-feeding and some "new" birds you might be seeing at this time of year. Here's the link: view link

Enjoy!

Peace & good birding,
Scott, Eons birding mentor

Happy 2009, Eons birders! First the good news: I've gone through all the blog entries I've written in my 2+ years as the Eons "birding mentor" and indexed them according to subject. Please check it out -- it covers many topics of general interest and answers many of your common questions, especially about bird-feeding:
view link

Now the sad (for me, anyhow) news: my job as the Eons birding mentor ends February 1. I'll very much miss sharing my passion for birding with you! It's been wonderfully fun, and I've learned a tremendous amount. I hope each of you will continue to enjoy and enliven the Eons birding community. Thank you all for being out there!

Peace & good birding,
Scott, Eons birding mentor

Greetings, Eons birders! Several folks have posted messages recently expressing anxiety about the whereabouts of their backyard birds. It is normal for birds to spend more or less time at feeders throughout the year in response to seasonal fluctuations in natural food supplies and other factors. It may be that they've just shifted to a nearby area with richer natural food reserves, for example. Our feeders, after all, don't offer the same levels of nutrition as natural foods.

For more info see my blog post on this subject at: view link

Peace & good birding,
Scott, Eons birding mentor

As many Eons birders may know, this fall/winter is shaping up to be a good one for finding Snowy Owls across southern Canada and the northern US -- and beyond!

Most of the early arrivals have been first-year male birds that hatched this past summer. Why so many? It's generally believed that more Snowy Owls flew south of the Arctic in winter when lemming numbers (which boom and crash in a multi-year cycle) were low. But this year it's actually the reverse: a big year for lemmings led to a successful breeding season for the owls. They raised many young -- so there are more young birds to fly south in search of good hunting this winter. A decline in lemming numbers this fall (due to owls hunting and/or their own population cycle) could also be contributing.

So keep an eye on your local Rare Bird Alert for sightings and good luck finding a Snowy Owl near you!

For more info on Snowy Owls see my blog entry here:
view link

Peace & good birding,
Scott, Eons birding mentor

Greetings, Eons birders. Please check out my latest blog post, on the incredible California Condor and its recovery program.

You can view it at: view link

Peace & good birding,
Scott, Eons birding mentor

Greetings, Eons birders -- I invite you to check out my latest blog entry at: view link

Called "Reverse Migration," it's about a bunch of tiny birds on a long, seemingly ill-advised trip to the northeast from Texas in November. Why? Read my blog post...

Peace & good birding,
Scott, Eons birding mentor

Hey, Eons birders -- here's a link to info from Bird Watcher's Digest about what NOT to do when you feed the birds this winter: view link

Tops on my list? Don't throw out bread. Small birds seem compelled to eat it but it has almost no nutritional value for them. If they fill their stomachs with bread they can starve if it's cold enough. Please join my little ongoing crusade to inform folks about this.

Peace & good birding,
Scott, Eons birding mentor