The Callaway Nature Preserve is expanding again in the never-ending process of grass removal. Little by little, the C.N.P. has grown with a few new natives every year. Small in size and surrounded by houses and streets, this little preserve houses numerous backyard birds and provides a safe stopover for plenty of weary migrants. We
Tag: Callaway Nature Preserve
Gardeners Are Birders Too – Ruby-throated Hummingbird
It makes sense that many gardeners love birds; most gardeners love nature. One of the most popular bird species gardeners plant for are the hummingbirds. For us in the midwestern United States, we only get one type of these small wonders; the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Which is enough to fuel gardeners to plant native flora just
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Blogger Bio Blitz
Despite birding every day for the last week, we decided to do our Blogger Bio Blitz at our own preserve, the Callaway Nature Preserve. The C.N.P. is a 1/4 acre in size and is located in Rockford, a city of 150,000+. First of all, our bug expert is only nine and he slacked off a
Canon EOS and Some Native Plants
The Birdfreak Team’s new camera came in today and I am already pleased. It’s a Canon EOS Rebel XTi. I only had time to shoot for a half hour or so before it was too dark to bother, but it is easy to use and focuses so much better than my old camera. The first
Winter Wonderland at the C.N.P.
This reminds me of a post on December 1st, 2006… This is how our personal nature preserve looked today after the snow moved through. Now it is raining… Virginia Creeper
Callaway Nature Preserve – January Update
For those of you unfamiliar with it, the Callaway Nature Preserve (CNP) is our name for our backyard. We have been diligently converting the yard from a grassy waste to a bird paradise. The CNP is located in the city of Rockford, Illinois (population 150,000+) and is only a 1/4 acre in size, but has
Christmas Tree Recycling
We finally got around to setting up the ole Christmas tree in the backyard. Every year we get a real tree and after the holidays, we place it in the yard to add some much needed cover for the birds. For some reason our yard struggles to grow pine trees or any type of coniferous
Flying Squirrel at the Callaway Nature Preserve
We had a little surprise tonight on our willow tree. A Northern Flying Squirrel was feasting on a bird feeder at around 7pm. I have only seen one flying squirrel EVER and was a bit surprised that they were even in northern Illinois. This is a first for our city backyard! After doing a little
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