An Ephemeridae mayfly rests next to its freshly cast skin. Mayflies are the only insects that experience a subimago, or sub adult, life stage in which they are winged and capable of flight but not fully mature. June 27, 2014 Mayflies For many folks, the daily routine is more like a mad dash from start
Fly, Insect, Myflies
April 18, 2014 Phoebe Throughout these many months of cold we have endured, I’ve tried to help my winter-weary friends stay positive. After every new dump of snow I’d point out, in what I hoped was a sunshiny voice, “Hey, at least there are no mosquitoes.” When another blast of arctic chill would blow in
Bird, Fly, Phoebe
March 28, 4014 Canada Geese Remember when Canada geese were a fly-by-night group? Back then, before our resident goose populations took hold, it was big news when these large, majestic birds blew into town. Flying in V-formation, honking and squawking, they’d land by the hundreds on rivers and ponds. People, myself included, would go out
Bird, Fly, Geese
“When we try to pick out anything by itself we find that it is bound fast, by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe.” This John Muir quote—one that is in fact often misquoted—has been both a blessing and a curse for all naturalists who have come along since
Bird, Fly, Passenger Pigeon
February 7, 2014 Red-Tailed Hawk Remember The Far Side, those classic bits of natural history humor by cartoonist Gary Larson? One in particular showed three hawks in a tree. All had sunglasses on; one even was wearing headphones and clutching a Walkman in his talons. Below, the caption read, “Birds of prey know they’re cool.”
Bird, Fly, Hawk
January 17, 2014 The Bald Eagle I was chatting on the phone with my friend Barb the other night, and we were trying to come up with the names of all the Eagles: Don Henley…Glenn Frey…Joe Walsh…that other guy… What I should’ve suggested—and what would’ve been way easier—is that we try to name all the
Bird, Eagle, Fly
January 10, 2014 Birds Stay Warm This latest weather blast has me thinking of winters gone by, particularly those of my childhood. Back then, girls weren’t allowed to wear pants to school unless it was winter and you lived a mile or more away from the school. Since we lived just across the street, I
Bird, Feathers, Fly
December 27, 2013 Snowy Owl Not only do I remember where I saw my first white owl, I also remember when. I was four years old, poking around my grandmother’s basement, when I spotted it: A serious-looking bird, staring out at me from the label on the inside lid of a cigar box. I was
Bird, Fly, Owl, Snowy Owl
December 20, 2013 Chickadee Well, it happened again the other day, just as it does every year about this time: The realization that Christmas is less than a week away. A smattering of hours to accomplish all the tasks I’d vowed, last year at this time, to have finished by Thanksgiving “at the latest.” And
Bird, Chickadee, Fly
December 13, 2013 Nuthatch Every grade school has one. You know what I’m talking about – the kid who could climb onto the monkey bars and, in one or two deft maneuvers, defy gravity. At our school, it was a boy named Danny. He’d flip and spin; he’d hang upside down; he’d swing with ease
Bird, Fly, Nuthatch