Below you'll find a list of all posts from 2022
Observing nature is a fantastic way to track the seasons. After a long winter, most people are eager for signs of spring. We may find ourselves looking for the first robin in our back yard, or for trees to start leafing out. In today’s Wildlife Spotlight, I’m focusing on a poorly known but very early sign of winter’s end: catkins. …
Despite our best efforts, invertebrate visitors are common in our homes. As explained in the first installment of this mini-series, household bugs can be charming, harmless, or potentially dangerous depending on the species. These posts will help you get to know some of the usual suspects and whether or not they’re worth worrying about. As with part 1, I’ll be …
Even if you like spiders and insects, it can be unsettling when they show up at home. It is always worth knowing whether or not bugs in your house could potentially be harmful. However, most invertebrates in our homes are pretty harmless. Despite what profit-driven exterminator and pest control companies would like you to think! Nonetheless, when a handful are …
Do you use field marks when you’re watching birds? Let’s imagine a typical situation: You’re walking to your car after work, or starting a hike on a gorgeous Saturday morning. Or maybe you’re stopped at a traffic and looking out the window. You see a bird that you don’t recognize. It’s there for maybe for a few seconds or a …
Whether or not you’re a birder, binoculars can really enhance time spent in nature. Animals are often wary of people, making it hard to see them up close. Binoculars can bring you up-close and personal with animals at medium distances, or help you find or identify things at longer distances if they are inaccessible. I’ve used my binoculars for everything …
Spring is a fleeting and fickle season. Warm weather often comes and goes a few times before it finally settles in for good. Flowers start to bloom on trees and out of the ground as it thaws. In many temperate areas and higher latitudes, melting snow from the winter, and increased rains, lead to a wetter landscape. Many of us …
Have you ever looked up at the sound of honking geese or crying gulls to see a big group of birds winging by overhead? Perhaps they’re so close you can hear the air rushing around their wings. The birds may fly in a ‘V’ or check-mark shape, with a sharp point and birds trailing off to either side. These flocking …
Summertime is always marked by an explosion of life. The air is filled with birdsong, flowers are blooming, and frogs sing from ponds and wetlands. Perhaps the busiest lives in summer, though, are invertebrates. These are small animals with no internal skeletons. They include things like spiders, insects, pillbugs, mites, and snails. For simplicity’s sake, bugs. But where do these bugs …
