Burr, someone forgot to turn the heat back on this past Saturday. Cold weather means not mowing the yard, good thing, but to me the cold takes a toll on my body. Without the cold weather, some aggravating insects would be more plentiful; ticks and others. Without cold weather our favorite northern bird visitors would probably stay put. There would most likely have to be some trade off. I am going to shut up because God made the seasons, and if we didn't have winter, spring might not be as special to us all.

 Maggie Whiteaker stopped by on Saturday to go with me to the Cedars of Lebanon State Park for the W. P. A. program. Maggie likes the word "free" the same as I do. It makes me wonder how many of our Lebanon, Tenn. people actually takes the time to visit the park. Pinto beans, white beans, turnip greens and cornbread was plenty of an incentive to make one brave the chilly morning, all free.

 The highlight for me was the opening of the time capsule imbedded in the left corner of the old Cedar Forest Lodge. It took Wayne "Buddy" Ingram a few minutes to break into it. I said to Kenny Daniels, Park Manager, in jest, "it would be awful to go to all this trouble and find it empty, especially in front of the several hundred people who showed up for the program." Just call me Nostradamus! Much care was taken to not destroy the contents, and after all was said and done, there was only an old piece of cardboard inside.

 A new time capsule was ready to be placed inside and sealed up to be opened sometime in the distant future. One of the items placed into the capsule is an edition of The Wilson Post featuring the story written by Ken Beck on the W.P.A. at the park. That was cool and all, but on the last page of the newspaper, in the upper right corner was my article of Our Feathered Friends with Karen Franklin and my smiling face waiting to look upon whoever opens this after I am dead and gone.

 On the way back to my house, there was a small flock of American Crows dive-bombing a Red-tailed Hawk, sitting in the top of a cedar tree, minding his own business. One-on-one the Hawk could make Crow-kabobs and feast all day long, but when there are many Crows, the Hawk is at a real disadvantage and would be better to turn his red tail and fly away. This activity is called mobbing, and the best we can guess is that when a Hawk is found on any bird's territory, there is a possibility that it might eat one of the birds that nest there. This is more prevalent in the spring nesting season, as whole groups of smaller birds will find the bravery to take on something much larger than itself.

 I was preparing something to eat this Sunday morning before church and flying up to my feeder in front of my kitchen window was a Hummingbird. There have been at least two of them for the past week. I will continue to keep a feeder out till the end of October. Dorothy Kim said that she still has them at her feeders. Like I mentioned before, keeping a feeder out will not make them stay any longer. For what ever reason, they probably got a late start on their migration south.

 Back during the 1970s the mayor of the City of Lebanon declared that inside the city limits was a "Bird Sanctuary" with protection for all our feathered friends. There were signs placed at all four main roads coming into the city. The Lebanon Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society was responsible for the proclamation being issued. I wonder what ever happened to the signs?

 We would love to hear from you as to what’s lurking about in your neighborhood and at your feeders. You can reach Karen Franklin via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and you can write me at 606 Fairview Ave., Lebanon, TN, 37087 or e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it