November 2022
October 31 These puffins arrived at my porch on Halloween and I couldn't resist including them. I especially liked their orange feet. I also couldn't resist sending the photo to my colleague at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who hosted my visit last month. In response, she sent me this picture of the bird of paradise costume she made for her son one year. I think, but am not positive, that her costume is the Vogelkop superb bird of paradise; to really appreciate this, you need to watch a video of the male's amazing courtship display . There are 42 species of birds of paradise, all living in New Guinea and the northeastern tip of Australia; the Cornell website describes them as "the world's most spectacular birds". To get an idea of just how spectacular they are, take a look at this BBC/David Attenborough clip of their courtship dances . November 1 Susan was keen to see the ginkos turning golden at the Arb, so we walked over to the collection at Peter...