Seeing a snowy owl is a rare privilege. Snowy owls are magnificent birds, and attract considerable attention when they visit the Lower 48 in winter. Enthusiastic observers and photographers should understand and remember that these birds may be stressed by hunger and long-distance travel. It is important to resist the temptation to get too close for a clearer look or better photograph.

BWD Contributor Julie Zickefoose contrives a solution for a vexing problem. This setup allows full natural light to enter the windows, but safely bounces incoming birds.

Bird watchers anticipate spring migration like kids anticipate Christmas. Looking forward to first-of-year species helps us make it through the bleak days of late winter. But when does spring migration actually start? For the past 35 years, I've lived and watched birds in the lower Midwest—southern Ohio and southern Indiana. If you live in New England, the Great Plains, the Rockies, the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, or the South, your spring birding experience will probably be quite different in terms of the species and/or timing of their return.

It is officially the second half of August (where has the summer gone?), and throughout North America, hummingbird numbers should be at their peak. “Should be,” because at least where I live (in southeastern Ohio), they were late to return, late to breed, and late for the first brood to fledge—at least, that is my own anecdotal report. It’s also possible that they returned near the normal time but the abundance of blooms and natural nectar sources kept them well fed away from my feeders and garden. Are the numbers down from previous years? At my feeders, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Since early August, my nectar feeders have been as busy as they typically are in late August, even though I didn’t see my first hummingbird until early June (rather than late April). Late August is the right time for a quiz on hummingbirds. How much do you know?