- Date
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- Popular post
6 important pollinators other than bees
December 12, 2023Animals, Gardening for Wildlife, Naturalist Answers
When you hear the word pollinator, often the first image that comes to mind is a bee. With good reason, too: bees are common pollinators in many natural habitats and are easy to recognize. However, they don’t deserve all the credit. Th...
People who love the outdoors often march to the beat of their own drum. While that can make for excellent conversation, it can also make gift-giving a nightmare. Whether you’re shopping for yourself or a outdoorsy person in your life, th...
Do sharks really die if they stop swimming?
November 28, 2023Animals, Biologist Ruins Everything, Ocean and Marine Life
I have a tendency to a be a bit of a busybody. While my preferred comparison for all that running around has always been the ever-mobile wolverine (the namesake for Gulo in Nature!) another animal is a frequent comparison. People often u...
Pictures of a “baby crow” have been all over Pinterest and Reddit for a couple of years now, winning hearts with their poofy goth aesthetic. Notably not a single nature account is involved in all the sharing. Meanwhile, some experts have...
The difference between hawks and eagles comes up often when I take people birding. Dazzled by some large bird of prey, we’ll admire it through our binoculars for a while. Sooner or later, someone asks, “”well, is that a hawk or an eagle?...
Fall is the time of year when I start hearing from homeowners about insect home invasions. My previous post, Why are there so many bugs in my house? explains this issue specifically. Stink bugs are among the most common unwelcome guests ...
I had so much fun tracking down scary nature facts for Halloween that I decided to continue that theme in future posts. Conveniently, several readers asked for weird nature facts to impress their friends or make an amusing topic in socia...
7 do’s and don’ts to responsibly enjoy the outdoors
October 3, 2023Beginner Naturalist Tips, Outdoor Tips
Nature is all of our shared heritage. That means that the outdoors are for everyone to enjoy. However, it also means that we need to be responsible in how we do so. Unfortunately, all nature enthusiasts, including myself, have witnessed ...
Just like mosses, ferns are another widespread part of the wall of green people encounter in the outdoors. They’re found all over the world, but often blend into the background and fall beneath our notice. Ferns don’t grow like wildflowe...
How do birds navigate during migration?
September 19, 2023Biologist Ruins Everything, Birds, Naturalist Answers
Bird migration is one of the most impressive wonders of the natural world. Every Fall, birds in the Northern hemisphere fly South to spend the Winter in warmer climates. This can mean fantastic journeys of thousands of miles including tr...
As late summer approaches across much of the globe, cicadas emerge from the ground to breed. These large, loud insects are fascinating for backyard wildlife enjoyers. However, they spend most of their time living high up in trees, so it’...
In many previous posts, I’ve mentioned animals that molt. Birds do it, insects and arachnids do it, not to mention many marine animals. Heck, even people do it! But what exactly is molting (or as the British spell it, moulting)? What doe...
