Home > Articles by: Bill Askenburg

Bill Askenburg

Author's details

Name: Bill Askenburg
Date registered: November 24, 2009
URL: http://www.NewEnglandBirdhouse.com

Latest posts

  1. Birds Receive Endangered Species Protection — September 26, 2011
  2. Nesting Short-Tailed Albatross Mark Milestone — September 23, 2011
  3. Deadly White-Nose Syndrome Spread Slowed by Cave Closures — September 21, 2011
  4. Nationwide Events Planned for National Public Lands Day — September 8, 2011
  5. Eastern Wild Turkeys Flock to Chelmsford Backyard — September 7, 2011

Most commented posts

  1. Tips to attracting Bluebirds to your Backyard — 12 comments
  2. Tips for Squirrel Proofing Bird Feeders – aka How to Frustrate a Squirrel — 6 comments
  3. Winter Backyard Birding – Attracting and Assisting Winter Birds — 5 comments
  4. Eastern Bluebirds at Red Wing Farm in Chelmsford, MA — 4 comments
  5. A Family of Northern Flying Squirrels Moves Into Our Backyard — 3 comments

Author's posts listings

Birds Receive Endangered Species Protection

September 26, 2011

by

September 26, 2011

Greater Adjutant

The rule implements federal protections provided by the ESA for the Cantabrian capercaillie, Marquesan imperial pigeon, Eiao Marquesas reed-warbler, greater adjutant, Jerdon’s courser, and slender-billed curlew.

Continue reading »

Leave comment

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/birds-receive-endangered-species-protection/

Nesting Short-Tailed Albatross Mark Milestone

September 23, 2011

by

September 23, 2011

Banded Short-tail Albatross

If the pair’s breeding effort is successful at Midway Atoll Refuge, it would mark the first confirmed hatching of a short-tailed albatross outside of Japan in modern history.

Continue reading »

Leave comment

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/new-england-living/nesting-short-tailed-albatross-mark-milestone/

Deadly White-Nose Syndrome Spread Slowed by Cave Closures

September 21, 2011

by

September 21, 2011

Bat with White Nose Syndrome

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed a report recommending closing human access to caves and mines where bats with white-nose syndrome are hibernating in an area more than 250 miles from other WNS-affected caves and mines.

Continue reading »

Leave comment

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/bats/cave-closures-slows-wns/

Nationwide Events Planned for National Public Lands Day

September 8, 2011

by

September 8, 2011

Oxbow Natinional Wildlife Refuge

On September 24, Americans across the country will participate in National Public Lands Day, the nation’s largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands. The event calls people of all ages to connect to America’s great outdoors and care for the country’s public lands.

Continue reading »

Leave comment

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/newenglandbirdhouse-news/nationwide-events-planned-for-national-public-lands-day/

Eastern Wild Turkeys Flock to Chelmsford Backyard

September 7, 2011

by

September 7, 2011

A flock of Eastern Wild Turkeys

This summer, a flock of Eastern Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) routinely visited my Chelmsford, Massachusetts backyard. The turkeys regularly pecked their way around the yard each morning, spending most of their time scratching and grazing on spilled seed from our bird feeders.

The flock was usually comprised of about a dozen hens (females), jakes, and jennies (young male and female turkeys). The size and number of the birds, made them an imposing site in our suburan New England backyard.

Continue reading »

Leave comment

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/new-england-living/eastern-wild-turkeys/

Hummingbird Nest – Live Video Feed

April 7, 2011

by

April 7, 2011

hummingbird cam

This hummingbird nest camera in Laguna Beach,California began broadcasting in May 2010.  To the excitement of over 370,000 viewers, two families of hummingbirds have used the nest.  The mother hummingbird called Emma by the camera operators, feeds her nestlings about every 20 …

Continue reading »

Leave comment

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/hummingbird-nest-live-video-feed/

Eagle Nest Cam – Live Eggs Hatching

April 6, 2011

by

April 6, 2011

eagle-cam

Get a bird’s eye view of a pair of eagles  and their new chicks.  The live video is being streamed by the Raptor Resource Project, and has had over 100,000 viewers at any given time.  The camera is mounted near a nest 80 feet up …

Continue reading »

Leave comment

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/eagle-nest-cam-live-eggs-hatching/

Pink Lady’s Slipper at Crooked Spring Reservation in Chelmsford

May 16, 2010

by

May 16, 2010

Pink Lady's Slipper on the trails of the Mills Crooked Spring Reservation in Chelmsford, MA

Hiking on the hillside along the eastern leg of the main trail at the Mills Crooked Spring Reservation in Chelmsford, we found the showy flowers of the Pink Lady’s Slipper.

Pink lady’s slipper is a wildflower in the orchid family. It grows 6 – 15″ tall with two large basal leaves at the base of the plant. It is easily identifiable because of its bulbous flower hanging at the top of a tall leafless stalk. It generally flowers between May and July, is pink to whitish-pink, and sometimes all white. Another common name for this plant is moccasin flower.

Like most orchids, the lady’s slipper is symbiotic as it has a mutually beneficial relationship with a fungus. The pink lady’s slipper uses a fungus in the soil to break open their seeds and to draw food and nutrients to its seed. When the lady’s slipper plant is older, the fungus draws nutrients from the orchid’s roots. Pink lady’s slippers also require bees for pollination, luring them into the flower pouch through the front opening.

Pink lady’s slipper takes many years to mature, living twenty or more years. Pink lady’s slipper usually grows on a wet, acidic forest floor with mixed shade on the eastern United States. The plants should not be removed from the wild because of their rarity and the near impossibility of successfully transplanting and maintaining the plant. New plants are difficult to start because of the need for the symbiotic fungi and their particular growing conditions.

Continue reading »

Leave comment

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/garden/pink-ladys-slipper-at-crooked-spring-reservation-in-chelmsford/

Eastern Bluebirds at Red Wing Farm in Chelmsford, MA

May 13, 2010

by

May 13, 2010

Eastern Bluebirds at Red Wing Farm in Chelmsford

On a cool, sunny New England spring morning bluebird love was in the air.

After dropping my son off at school, I visited Red Wing Farm (a great open space in Chelmsford,Massachusetts to bird watch) and was fortunate to observe a pair of Eastern Bluebirds grazing upon fat grubs while perched atop their nesting box.

The bluebirds seemed a bit put off by me at first, but I kept my distance and was careful to keep my movements to a minimum. Soon the bluebirds seemed to forget about me and began to go about their business of collecting grubs and insects, and defending their territory from encroaching tree swallows that had set up a nest in a cluster of nest boxes on the opposite side of the meadow.

The female bluebird sang throughout the morning. She remained perched atop the nest box, bouncing from corner to corner cheerfully singing to her partner as he repeated his dash from tree to tree, snatching insects in mid-flight. Her sweet songs were rewarded with a gift of the fattest grubs of the morning. My reward was being able to watch (and listen) on a beautiful New England spring morning.

Continue reading »

4 comments

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/new-england-living/eastern-bluebirds-at-red-wing-farm-in-chelmsford-ma/

Sunny Meadow Farm Recycled Bluebird Houses

May 7, 2010

by

May 7, 2010

Traditional box style bluebird house

I recently completed a couple of bluebird houses made from discarded fence rails that were “rescued” from a burn pile.

Over April vacation, my sons and I worked with our town’s Open Space Stewardship program to help establish a tree nursery at Sunny Meadow Farm. In addition to the plot used to grow trees for the town’s use, the half acre property includes the Walter F. Lewis Community Garden where residents are given plots of farm land to grow their own crops.

While building a large brush pile that day, I noticed a few pieces of the original horse chewed fence had been stacked in the burn pile. Seeing the beauty of the patina of the boards, which had taken decades to form, and being a big fan of recycling materials, I grabbed a few of the discarded boards and loaded them into my truck.

Peterson style bluebird house
Peterson style bluebird house

Both bluebird houses share functional features such as a pivoting wall for easy clean-out, canopied roof, ventilation and drainage holes, and copper lined entry holes (to prevent predator chew out). I designed one birdhouse in the traditional bluebird box style, and the other in the angled Peterson style.

Continue reading »

1 comment

Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/new-england-living/sunny-meadow-farm-recycled-bluebird-houses/

Page 1 of 71234567