Author: Catbird Life

In the Catbird Seat: Top 10 Best Chicken Thigh Recipes!

In the Catbird Seat: Top 10 Best Chicken Thigh Recipes!

I decided to put together this list of favorite chicken thigh recipes to share with all of the other chicken thigh fans out there. Some of the recipes are mine (and come from this Catbird Life website), but most come from other favorite recipe websites such as New York Times Cooking, and Bon Appetit.

It’s Butterfly Season in Pennsylvania’s Powerline Meadows! These right-of-ways can serve as beautiful pollinator & native plant sanctuaries.

It’s Butterfly Season in Pennsylvania’s Powerline Meadows! These right-of-ways can serve as beautiful pollinator & native plant sanctuaries.

We cannot overstate the importance of these inadvertent meadows in powerline right-of-ways in providing critical habitat to support butterflies, as well as native bees and other important insects. Because we typically view powerline corridors as common and unsightly, we overlook the beauty they hold at a more detailed scale, and more importantly, underestimate their potential as native species corridors.

Stunning 4-Trunk Tulip Trees Found in White’s Woods, PA

Stunning 4-Trunk Tulip Trees Found in White’s Woods, PA

Two-stem tulip trees are fairly common in Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests where tulip trees are dominant. Three-stem tulip trees are less common. But the rare four-stem tulip tree is a sight to behold.

Spaghetti and Meatballs: Even Better Than Grandma’s!

Spaghetti and Meatballs: Even Better Than Grandma’s!

There are few things more comforting than spending a restful Sunday at home with a huge pot of this sauce and meatballs slow simmering away on the stove with its delicious aroma wafting through the entire house.

Celebrating the Birds & the Bees (and the Flies & the Wasps)

Celebrating the Birds & the Bees (and the Flies & the Wasps)

Of all the months here in western Pennsylvania, October is surely the most splendid. Its vibrant warm colors splash vividly across the blue-gray autumn sky. The bracing scent of leaf litter permeates the crisp air and invigorates the soul. The faded glory of summer’s once-spectacular…

Near Woods: A Year in an Allegheny Forest

Near Woods: A Year in an Allegheny Forest

Kevin’s latest book, Near Woods: A Year in an Allegheny Forest, is now available for pre-order direct from the publisher or on Amazon. It’s set for publication in May 2023 by Rowman & Littlefield (Stackpole Books).

Clearwing Moths: The Intriguing Little  Hummingbird Mimics

Clearwing Moths: The Intriguing Little Hummingbird Mimics

Classified in the Sphinx Moth family, these intriguing creatures hover about just like hummingbirds and also feed on nectar. They lay their eggs on a few specific host plants such as Cherry, Plum, Hawthorns, Snowberry, and Honeysuckle, which are among the only plants their caterpillars can eat.

The Wild, Wonderful Mustangs of Montana & Wyoming

The Wild, Wonderful Mustangs of Montana & Wyoming

In all, we encountered three different bands of wild mustangs in two different regions of Wyoming and Montana. The very first band we encountered was absolutely by accident. In fact, it took us a while before we fully realized that these were indeed WILD horses!

Tangy Sweet Chili Slaw: Stupendously Simple and Just Four Ingredients

Tangy Sweet Chili Slaw: Stupendously Simple and Just Four Ingredients

With this Tangy Sweet Chili Slaw recipe in your back pocket, you’ll never again feel guilty about settling for a no-side dish dinner! Some nights it’s hard enough to muster the energy to put together a main dish, much less concoct some sort of healthy…

Finding The Lost Children of the Alleghenies

Finding The Lost Children of the Alleghenies

Last September, Kevin and I enjoyed a day trip photographing cemeteries along the rural back roads of southern Cambria and northwestern Bedford Counties in western Pennsylvania. Later in the day, we decided to make the little trek down the secluded, heavily-wooded one-lane gravel/dirt road in…