David Spector, Author at Daily Hampshire Gazette - Page 3 of 3

A young red crossbill visits a bird bath. Notice the tips of the beak’s top and bottom overlapping rather than meeting in the middle.

Earth Matters: Red crossbills, an enigma of variations

by David Spector For the GazetteJanuary 13, 2018

Cedar waxwing on the Rail Trail in Amherst

Earth Matters: The case of the songless songbird: Cedar waxwings

by David Spector For the GazetteDecember 1, 2017

A male chestnut-sided warbler, a bird that breeds in the northeastern U.S. and southeast Canada, is in his breeding colors for only a few months out of the year.

Earth Matters: How birds and other organisms can tell us where we are

by David Spector For the GazetteJune 16, 2017

Bluets show variation, commonly in color and more rarely in petal number. Can you pick out the five-petaled flower in this photograph? Can you find a five-petaled bluet among hundreds on a lawn?

Earth Matters: Singing the bluets: Counting on a spring wildflower

by David Spector For the GazetteApril 7, 2017

Male red-winged blackbirds often flash their multicolored epaulets as they sing “o-ka-lee”; listen, too, for a female’s responding “chit, chit, chit.”

Earth Matters: Winter can be a good time to start learning bird songs

by David Spector For the GazetteFebruary 24, 2017

A great black-backed gull perched on street light is a common sight on bridges crossing the Connecticut River.

Earth Matters: Far from the sea, gulls in our midst

by David Spector For the GazetteJanuary 27, 2017

RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH

Earth Matters: The sometimes upside-down life of the nuthatch

by David Spector For the GazetteDecember 16, 2016

Bees can see ultraviolet light, which humans can’t. This photo simulates how a day lily might look to a bee.

Animal senses: More than meets the (human) eye

by David Spector For the GazetteOctober 24, 2016

Cottonwoods spread their millions of seeds on the wind, allowing a few of them to land in newly opened or disturbed habitat, where they can establish new stands.

Earth Matters: Pioneers or invaders? Let’s be less judgmental of traveling plants

by David Spector For the GazetteJune 17, 2016

Killdeer

Earth Matters: A birdwatcher explains the joy of ‘FOY’

by David Spector For the GazetteMarch 25, 2016