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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
Posted in flowers, plant parts, seeds, Uncategorized, wildlife
Tagged bee balm, native plants, plants for hummingbirds
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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
Posted in edible, native American, plant parts, spring, Uncategorized, wildlife, winter
Tagged plants for basket weaving, red osier, red osier dogwood
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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
Posted in flowers, insects, spring, Uncategorized, wildlife
Tagged bees in spring, crocus
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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
Posted in adaptations, birds, photos, spring, wildlife
Tagged bird flocking behavior, diane hale smith
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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
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
Posted in adaptations, birds, edible, great ideas, plant parts, seeds, Uncategorized, wildlife
Tagged burdock, invention of velcro, velcro
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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
Posted in birds, environment, Uncategorized, wildlife
Tagged amsterdam, crow census, crow roosts, crows, ny
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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
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
Posted in environment, sri lanka, wildlife
Tagged asian elephants, human-elephant conflict, sri lanka elephants
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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
