The natural world observed and explained.
Nature
February 25, 2025 I've found it difficult to get a good clear picture of a Chickadee. In the woods they are fast and cautious, but they hold still longer at the bird feeder. Figuring out if I have a picture of a Black-capped or Carolina Chickadee is just
Nature
February 20, 2025 This afternoon at Anson B. Nixon Park the snow was flying, until it wasn't. A day of dramatic skies, bursts of snow and a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers. Pileated Woodpeckers will excavate a number of cavities in trees throughout the year. One they will use
Nature
February 19 , 2025 The sun was variable, the temperature cold, the wind was rather mild for the past few days. A flock of robins were hard a work picking through the leaf litter in this season of the hunger moon. The days are short and what food the summer left
Nature
A bright, cold mid-February day. I heard more than I got decent pictures of. About iNaturalist About Anson B. Nixon Park About cagksq
Nature
You've likely seen the work of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker whether you know it or not. Sapsuckers make wells in trees to access sap. These wells form neat lines. Sometimes, many old wells on a tree can look like a natural pattern in the bark. Look at some local
Nature
February 14, 2025 Wintering birds could warm up by foraging in direct sunlight. However, research shows that mixed-species flocks of wintering sparrows chose to avoid predators and forage in the shade, even in cold weather when sunlight would offer warmth. Researchers found that foraging in sunlight makes birds easier targets
Nature
February 12, 2025 If you want to understand nature (and have a bit of fun), you need to learn about taxonomy. If you paid attention in high school biology, you might already know what's coming, but stick with the rest of us while I explain—it's
Nature
Many birds can sleep with one half of their brain while the other half remains awake.
Nature
February 8, 2025 In the midst of winter with snow in the forecast one spring flower has already appeared. Skunk cabbage is the first of the 'spring ephemerals' - woodland wildflowers that take advantage of spring sunlight reaching the forest floor before the trees leaf out. In our
Nature
Beeches, oaks and hornbeams hold on to their leaves through most of the winter - a phenomena called marcescence.
Nature
At first, it's hard to believe that such a big, loud, and demanding prescence calls our woods home.