Outdoors

One of the most interesting winter birds found in our area is the little brown creeper. This delightful little bird is actually a permanent resident that lives in the area year-round.

While they are not abundant, they are regularly found in their preferred habitat above 7,000 feet to timberline. The brown creeper is a rather solitary bird during much of the year. During the nesting season, a pair tends to stay by themselves in their territory, keeping their nest well hidden and not associating much with other birds or man.

Today is a very spring-like day, with high winds and temperatures in the high 40s. It’s not spring, but it is giving me spring fever. This is the kind of day on which my husband Bill used to say, “Let’s drive down to the Rio Grande Valley for a few day so of early spring birding.”

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, where are you? It is a real delight to live in an area where our slopes are decorated with Christmas trees all year. Locally, the evergreens that cover our hillsides are mainly ponderosa pine. These trees are beautiful at most any season, but I am especially fond of them in spring when new growth tips their branches and in winter when they are flocked with snow or frost. The soughing of the wind through their branches in a summer wind can’t be equaled by any other pine, and an old ponderosa pine is magnificent in its towering grandeur.

Editor’s Note: Sylvia’s column will reappear next week. This column is reprinted from Dec. 10, 2008.

Christmas is not far away, and as we do our shopping and baking, our thoughts turn to Christmas decorations. In England and in our Eastern states, mistletoe is an important part of Christmas. The mistletoe common throughout the South grows mainly on oaks. It forms huge clumps or balls, and the whole plant generally is cut from the tree. The sprigs with the white berries are usually sold for Christmas decorating.