Is there an alternative to harmful herbicides that will kill weeds but not harm backyard wildlife? My yard is full of weeds. It looks awful. We're having an awful time getting rid of the weeds because there are just too many to manually pull each out. So my husband wants to use a "Weed and Feed" or some similar weed killer on our entire lawn to kill the weeds, then start seeding grass. [more inside]
posted by feeshbitZ on Mar 14, 2009 - 32 answers

While on a walk in the dunes yesterday, I saw what was clearly a raptor, but not one I had seen before. It had a rust-colored breast with dark wings and a dark tail. It was smaller-bodied than a red-tailed hawk and the tail was on the long, slender side. I did not see any bar markings, and it did not appear to be a Cooper's Hawk or a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and that's the extent of my area hawk knowledge. Some sort of falcon, perhaps? [more inside]
posted by coollibrarian on Jan 11, 2009 - 8 answers

Birders: I need your help! Yes, I have a guide. Yes, binoculars. Yes, I wander around heavily wooded areas with my fingers twisted in knots, hoping to see a measly robin so I can feel like mine is a life not wasted. Now help me be better! [more inside]
posted by palindromic on Jul 14, 2008 - 12 answers

A wren or not a wren, that is the question.... [more inside]
posted by longdaysjourney on Jun 22, 2008 - 8 answers

What sort of setup do I need for decent nature photography? [more inside]
posted by L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg on Dec 18, 2007 - 13 answers

I hear a bird from my apartment all morning and well in to the evening. Its call is three notes, in a minor key, descending in pitch. In fact, those three notes sound almost EXACTLY like the first three guitar notes of the Black Crowes' song "Remedy." I can't see the bird. Any help?
posted by trey on Apr 16, 2006 - 20 answers

What are some good books about birds? [more inside]
posted by miniape on Aug 2, 2005 - 9 answers

So my wife and I are walking in the park in SW Oregon, and there in the creek is a little starling-lookin' bird on a rock. Brown-black, no markings. The bird jumps in the water, and swims upstream under the water, looking perfectly natural. It came up with a little twig or something, then did it again, and again. It was swimming for distances of 3 to 6 feet. What kind of bird was this?
posted by everichon on Apr 20, 2005 - 10 answers