What a difference a week makes. Just last week I was in Flagstaff, and the wind was blowing so hard and the snow was falling so fast it was near-blizzard conditions.

Over the last few days I have been experiencing the lyrics to Michael Murphy’s hit song from the 70’s, ‘Wild Fire’, as “there’s been a hoot-owl howling by my window now, for six nights in a row.”

What a difference a week makes as we compare the weather this week to just over a week ago!

Last week, I was in Yuma participating in a Prescott Audubon Society bird watching trip prior to the big snow storm hitting Prescott.

I have been enjoying our winter weather — what a blessing it has been to receive so much rain and snow!

Last week, I wrote in my column that I hadn’t seen any hummers at the feeders yet.

The title for my column last week was, “Are the hummers back?”  I received many comments on my column, including the following funny story from one of our customers on the very day my column was published in The Daily Courier.

Earlier this week I had an interesting email exchange with a customer that went like this:

Recently, one of our sons and his family moved to Mesa, so now we have an excuse to go down to the valley on a regular basis to spend time with some of our granddaughters.

I was in Atlanta last week attending the AmericasMart trade show.

This past Saturday, I was part of a team assigned to cover Goldwater Lake for the annual mid-winter bald eagle survey for the Prescott National Forest.

Over the past month or two, there have been several reports of Lawrence’s goldfinches in the Verde Valley and in the Prescott area.

On Wednesday, December 19th, I participated in the Prescott Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count.

Last week’s column discussed the lack of seed-eating birds at backyard bird feeders.

Rachel Carson’s landmark work ‘Silent Spring’ in 1962 brought to light the dramatic impact of pesticides on wild bird populations.

There are three important local conservation efforts running concurrently—the Save the Dells campaign, the Ecosa Institute’s Forever Dells campaign, and the “It’s for the Birds!” campaign.

Gayla and I were in Virginia this past week to celebrate Thanksgiving with our son, Jeremy, and his beautiful family.

In my column last week, I wrote about an app called iBird PRO. Another electronic program I use is called eBird. This tool is not so much about identification as it is about record keeping and notification.

This past week I received an interesting email from which I quote, “Hi Eric...I go for a walk every morning at sunrise.

This past week there has been a red-naped sapsucker hanging out in my yard.

I was hiking a segment of the Prescott Circle Trail by Willow Lake earlier this week and witnessed an American kestrel, the smallest falcon in North America, dive bombing a red-tailed hawk!

In all the years I have lived in Prescott I don’t remember an October as cool and as wet as this year.

Last week I spent several days attending the Wild Bird Expo trade show in Mexico, Missouri.

Last week I worked in Sedona for several days, and I went birding three consecutive mornings at the Sedona Wetlands Preserve. While I have been writing about fall migratory birds arriving, I hadn’t actually been out birding for a few weeks. It was fascinating to see first-hand that our fall birds are back!

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to be in attendance as four captive-bred California condors were released into the wild at the Vermilion Cliffs, north of the Grand Canyon.

Wild bird migration can take on many forms. In the northern hemisphere, it typically involves moving from south to north in the spring, and then reversing the pattern in the fall.

As we move into autumn, we may recall childhood memories of attending a fall harvest event. The activity of harvesting is as old as existence. Whether human or bird, there is an innate — almost urgent — need to both harvest and store food.

Birders in this modern age are blessed to have a lot of tools at our fingertips such as amazing optics and apps on our phones.

Earlier this month we drove to Provo, Utah, to attend graduation for our youngest son, Landon, from Brigham Young University. If you have ever been in a car with me, you know that time spent driving is time spent bird watching.

My column on hummingbirds last week resulted in a lot of feedback from readers.

The month of August is peak season for hummingbirds in the Central Arizona Highlands. Migration activity is in full swing for several hummingbird species, including Anna’s, black-chinned, rufous, broad-tailed, calliope, and on rare occasions broad-billed and Costa’s.

One of the perks of owning a backyard wild bird and nature gift store is the opportunity to attending birding and nature festivals as a vendor. I consider these opportunities as a “working vacation.”

This past week I had the privilege of spending three days at the corporate offices of Vortex Optics in Barneveld, Wisconsin.

On a regular basis, I receive emails requesting bird identification help. Sometimes these emails include an attachment with pictures.

Our abundant monsoon rains have been awesome! It is amazing how quickly everything greens up within just a few days of the first storm.

Last week we made our annual trip to Provo, Utah, for the Fourth of July to visit children, grandchildren, and extended family.

Each day I receive rare bird email alert notifications reporting rare bird sightings by fellow birders in Yavapai County.

I was in Kansas City, Missouri, last week for training at Hallmark’s corporate offices. As you might imagine, I took my binoculars with me in anticipation of having some free time to squeeze in a little bird watching.

The importance of sharing rare and unusual bird sightings This past week, we had a surprise visitor to our yard — a male northern cardinal.

This time of year, a topic frequently discussed at the Bird Barn is wild bird nesting behavior.

This past week, my wife, Gayla, and I visited our son Merritt and his family in Renton, Washington.

I managed to get out and do a little birding during the Memorial Day weekend.

Ever since the Verde Valley Birding Festival almost a month ago, I have been itching to get back out birding.

Several years ago, at a speaking engagement, when I was explaining — yet again — the origin of the name of my business, Jay’s Bird Barn, a smart aleck in the audience asked if all of my children had bird names.

Two weeks ago, I spent four days along the Verde River, where it runs through Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood.

This past week was the annual Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood.

This past Sunday, as I was sitting out in my yard, I saw a Cooper’s hawk swoop into our bird-feeding area.

In hiking different segments of the Prescott Circle Trail over the last few weeks, I have had several interesting bird sightings.

This past week I had several speaking engagements — at the Arizona Federation of Garden Clubs in Phoenix, the OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes) program at the Yavapai College campus in Prescott, and a Native Plant Workshop in Sedona.

This past week I led a Jay’s Bird Barn-sponsored bird walk to one of my favorite birding destinations in Arizona — Date Creek Ranch.