Good Natured

Rusty Crayfish

Did you ever have one of those days where you’ve found yourself feeling a little, well, rusty? I have, more than I care to think…

Crayfish ‘Berry’ Season

Who doesn’t love a good berry? Strawberries! Raspberries! Blueberries! Crayfish-berries? Yes folks, it’s that time of year again. Crayfish are breeding, and many females are…

Pawpaws

So last week visited a place I’ve heard about my entire life, but had never actually seen-at least not in Illinois. It wasn’t the Mountain…

Spittlebugs

We’ve all heard the saying, “Snug as a bug in a rug.” But this time of year I often find myself adding, “Some bugs are…

Barred Owls

The other day I headed out to meet some friends for a walk at Tekakwitha Woods Forest Preserve, with a plan to proceed over to…

A Bird Eat Bird World

Ah, spring. What could be more glorious? Flowers are blooming, insects are buzzing, frogs are calling. And the birds? Well they’re doing what birds do…

Tiger Beetles

I’ve never, by any stretch of the imagination, been considered quick. I can’t dash, I don’t dart. In fact, the only time I recall moving…

Red-Headed Woodpeckers

What’s black and white and red all over? Here in the TriCities’ corner of the natural world, not a lot. But the red-headed woodpecker is…

Butternut Trees

Well, it happened again. After a prolonged absence-nearly eight years– Build Me Up Buttercup, that great song by The Foundations, once again is reverberating through…

Monk Parakeets

A little over a year ago, in February 2020, I signed up for what promised to be the adventure of a lifetime. “Travel to Costa…

Overwintering Butterflies

Butterflies are easy. It’s a statement that naturalists make from time to time, and it refers to the fact that we don’t have to work…

Grackles

Grackles. They’re a bird you know, even if you don’t know birds. Remember back when you learned about robins and cardinals and blue jays? Grackles…

Departure of the Dark Eyed Juncos

Well, it’s here. Can you feel it? Spring snuck in at 4:37 a.m. on Saturday, March 20, and with it came a host of spring…

Song Sparrows

“Sweet, sweet, sweet…blah blah blah yada yada.” “Sweet, sweet, sweet…blah blah blah yada yada.” “Sweet, sweet, sweet…blah blah blah yada yada.” Sound familiar? No, it’s…

Maple Tapping

So here we are in March of 2021, marking the one-year anniversary since COVID-19 changed our lives. Over the past 12 months I’d wager many…

Biofluorescence – Does It Glow?

I would imagine that our recent spate of 40-something degree weather has most of us aglow with the prospect of warmer temperatures and, dare I…

Redhead Ducks

Last week we took a look at the American robin, a bird regarded as a sign of spring but-confoundingly-has been popping up all over northern…

Robins — In Winter?!

Okay folks, show of hands. How many of you were raised to believe that robins are the first signs of spring? I know I was.…

Red Foxes & Screech Owls – Part 2

So last week we ventured into unfamiliar territory, melding nature references with quotes from William Shakespeare-primarily from his play As You Like It, and the…

Red Foxes & Screech Owls – Part 1

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not a Shakespeare scholar. In fact, in high school I had but one brush with the Bard (a…

Eagle Nest

From a distance it looked like a Volkswagen Beetle slung upside down in a tree. An old-style Bug, that is. Dark brown in color. Oh,…

Bird Tracking

Every year about this time, the Good Natured World Headquarters staff starts fielding questions about tracks in the snow. And every other year or so…

Coyote Territory Time

The other day as I was walking to work, taking in the sights and sounds of a warm-ish winter morning, I noticed that the neighborhood…

It’s snowy owl season once again. Look for this regal visitor from the north in farm country, atop fence posts and utility poles. Good Natured: Snowy Owls January 8, 2021 Not only do I remember where I saw my first white owl, I also remember when. I was four years old, poking around my