Dear Aiken Audubon…

“What should I feed the owl in my backyard?”
“How can I keep those spotted woodpeckers from waking me up at 5 a.m.?”
“Do you sell bluebird houses?”
“Do you have programs for children?”
“What bird is this?”

When our Audubon chapter website encourages people to “Contact Aiken Audubon,” the  emails come to me. I’m the “real person” behind the Aiken email address. It’s fun. I never know what I’m going to find in my inbox!

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Who Gives a Hoot?

burrowing-owls_bixleynwr-ca_lah_9641At some time of another, most birders have a “nemesis bird”—that species you really want to see but you always seem to show up a minute too late. Or you show up in the wrong spot. Or you hear, “We always get that bird on this trip; I don’t know why it’s not here now!”

I’ve come to realize that I don’t just have a nemesis species—I have a nemesis family! For some reason, I have an extraordinarily hard time finding owls.

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