Category Archives: wildlife

Bee Balm: A Good Bet

I admit it. It’s an addiction. The first step is admitting it, right? Much as I love nature and wild things, I just can’t pass up a greenhouse. There’s something about all those plants, spread out in a wild crazy … Continue reading

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Red Osier Dogwood: Winter Fire

This time of year, all the color seems to have drained from the world. No flowers yet, no  butterflies. Even the birds are hiding till the warm weather comes. In the early spring drabness, this shrub stands out like flame … Continue reading

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Crocus or Croak

An early April snowstorm, to make fools of us all. But see that little yellow dot in the snowbank? That’s a crocus. Last spring, I had one lonely crocus in my long-neglected garden. Just one. And on the first warm … Continue reading

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Flocks: Guest Photographer Diane Hale Smith

Thanks to Diane Hale Smith for these beautiful photographs! It’s spring. Really it is, in spite of the weather. The birds know. They can tell because there’s more light in the world. The days are longer, the nights are shrinking, … Continue reading

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Crows: Science and Fiction

More and more, cities across the US are being discovered by crows as the perfect place for a slumber party. Crows love to roost in cities on winter nights. And the crows congregate in vast numbers–some roosts are made up of hundreds … Continue reading

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Burdock: Hooked Like Velcro

One day in 1941, a Swiss scientist was walking his dog, and noticed with annoyance, like so many other dog-walkers before and since, that his pet had blundered into the tall prickly plant called burdock. And as he was picking the … Continue reading

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The Crow Show

They start moving as the sun begins to go down. The first birds are so far away they look like grains of pepper against the gray sky. The crows are heading into Amsterdam for their nightly jamboree. Amsterdam, NY, like … Continue reading

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Sacred Tree

One morning in Sri Lanka. I happened to get up early, and wandered out of the hotel to see what was going on. It was in the small city of Dambulla, and our hotel was a few hundred yards away … Continue reading

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The Future of Elephants

This is my favorite moment in Sri Lanka. When I went to Sri Lanka, I didn’t know much about the country. But I knew that, more than anything else, I wanted to see one of my favorite animals: elephants. Wild elephants, in … Continue reading

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Queen Anne’s Lace: Carrots and Butterflies

No, the train isn’t barrelling down the track here. The weeds growing up through the railroad tracks and under the wheels show how many months or even years it’s been since this train went anywhere. Railroad tracks are interesting little habitats. … Continue reading

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