Charles Seabrook

2 weeks ago | ajc.com | Charles Seabrook

Summer begins June 20. As usual for a Georgia summer, we can expect many days with temperatures over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The brutally hot weather might spell misery — and danger — for humans, but for butterflies it is ideal. Summer, in fact, is prime butterfly season. Butterflies are cold-blooded, meaning that their body temperatures are the same as the surrounding air. Generally they fly when air temperatures are between 60 and 108, but do best on sunny days with temperatures between 80 and 100.

4 weeks ago | ajc.com | Charles Seabrook

A reader who lives in southeast Atlanta’s Kirkwood neighborhood emailed last week to say he was suddenly attacked as he strolled down a quiet street near his home. The assailant? A Northern mockingbird. “I felt something slightly touch my head,” he said. “At first, I thought it was a big bug, but when I looked up I saw this mockingbird diving straight at me. I waved my arm and he turned at the last second.

1 month ago | ajc.com | Charles Seabrook

In my yard in Decatur the other morning, an unseen bird in a shrub belted out something that sounded like, “Drink your teeeee!” I knew immediately that it was an Eastern towhee. Then, a loud “cheerily, cheerily, cheerily” told me that an American robin was nearby. A “teakettle, teakettle, teakettle” song revealed a Carolina wren. A tufted titmouse called out, “Peter, peter, peter.”These birds weren’t using human speech, of course.

1 month ago | ajc.com | Charles Seabrook

A major study published this month in the journal Science shows that North American bird populations are in steep decline, with 75% of species affected. Most alarmingly, common birds —the species that many of us see every day — have suffered the greatest losses, according to a study by a team of international scientists at seven institutions. To me and many others, it is a prime reason why saving the life of even one little bird matters, no matter how common it is.

1 month ago | ajc.com | Charles Seabrook

Almost overnight, it seems, trees, shrubs, vines, grasses and other growing things have donned nature’s most important color — green. The woods, fields, marshes, swamps and meadows all seem to sport every shade of green imaginable now. To appreciate this springtime greenery, I suggest that on a sunny day, when the sun’s rays are streaming through the tree canopies, you take a stroll in your neighborhood or in the woods — or gaze at a forested mountain slope — and try to pick out all the shades.