2017 was a crazy upside down year for birds and nature in the U.S. including hurricanes, fires, a solar eclipse, climate change and more. Outside My Window had some crazy moments, too. Here’s the blog year in review.
On 7 November Outside My Window celebrated its 10th anniversary. I’ve now written more than 3,700 posts and you’ve commented more than 17,100 times (not including comments on Facebook & Twitter). And we’re using different hardware to read the blog than we did back then. 10 years ago most of us used desktop computers. Now we use Desk 46%, Mobile 40%, Tablet 14%.
The most popular posts of 2017 were prompted by peregrine and bald eagle drama. Our tastes are a bit upside down: Bad news is the most popular.
- 13 February: The Hays Eagle nest tree went down in a storm
- 17 March: Peregrine Hope shouts at Terzo: Why is She Shouting? And Other News
- 20 April: First peregrine egg hatches at Gulf Tower
- 25 April: HIGHEST READERSHIP OF THE YEAR: Hope kills and eats her first chick as it hatches (shown above): One Killed, One Spared
- 17 May: Peregrine Banding Day at Pitt & Gulf: One Male, Two Females Banded at Pitt, Three Female Chicks Banded at Gulf Tower
- 30 May: Peregrine fledgling news: Why Peregrines Don’t Fledge in the Rain and Gulf Tower & Pitt Updates.
Other favorite articles (most Googled) answered the questions: What? How? Why?
- How do I tell the difference between a Falcon or Hawk? (from 2011)
- How Will Birds React to the Eclipse? (20 Aug 2017)
- What about Peregrines? (the entire category)
- What does a Chickadee Nest look like? (from 2012)
- What’s That Sound? (bug noise, written in 2011)
- What’s glowing in the trees? Glow in the Dark (from 2011)
- What’s that barking sound? Mystery Solved, a red fox in my city neighborhood (2009)
- What are those things on my cedar tree? These Are Not Pine Cones (from 2013)
Thank you again, dear readers, for another great year at Outside My Window.
You keep me going every day!
p.s. Don’t miss Google’s 2017 Year in Review. Inspiring.
(parrot photo from Wikimedia Commons; click on the image to see the original. Peregrine and hawk photos from National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh, Katie Cunningham, and Kim Steininger)
Kate, I love your blog! First thing I read in the morning. I have learned so much from it about all things nature and am keeping my eyes and ears open more. I hope we have a more peaceful Peregrine year, but Hope is so different and so loud. Thought it was pretty funny that one of her female chicks was also loud! Please keep writing; I will keep reading and learning
Kate, love the blog and have been reading for (most) of those 10 years. Favorite post this year was “Unhappy Friday: Peregrine Window Kill”, not because of the topic (very sad!) but because of the pictures and learning opportunity. The pictures completely drove home the point of the post. We all can be advocates for our flying friends by encouraging bird friendly landscapes, building designs, etc. Thank you for being such a loyal author. I open the blog just about every day and the posts are up by 8:00am!
Hi Kate,
I too, read your blog everyday. It is a way to keep in touch with the ‘burgh. We moved to Florida ten years ago, but my husband and I love reading about the Pitt peregrines as well as the other local nature news.
You do such a great job educating us not only about birds, but the other wonders of nature. My only regret is that we can not join in the nature and bird walks! Thank you for being such a great educator!
Thank you, Helen. Happy New Year!
Kate, Thank You so much for everything you do for us. I have learned so much from you in these past years. This is the first thing i do in the morning, and throughout the day is to check your site. Happy New Year Kate!
Happy New Year Kate!