With the onset of winter comes the threat of hypothermia — the dangerous lowering of the human body’s temperature.
As the number one killer of outdoor enthusiasts, everyone should understand the circumstances under which hypothermia occurs and its symptoms.
Mild weather
Surprisingly, however, hypothermia can occur even during relatively mild weather.
In fact, most cases of […]
On the afternoon of Dec. 26, the thermometer on the back porch read 73 degrees. Carolina wrens, cardinals and white-throated sparrows sang as if spring had replaced winter.
A few weeks earlier, the morning temperature had plunged to four degrees. In between we’ve had several measurable snow falls and school delays.
As I write this […]
Each holiday season I recommend books and other gifts that might interest readers. Today I give a gift to you — a series of Web sites chock full of valuable information that nature lovers will appreciate. And they’re free. If you don’t have Internet access at home, visit your local public library.
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/a/audubon
The University of […]
It was the night before Christmas about 15 years ago. Nora was barely 10, and Emma was still dreaming of kindergarten. We had just gotten home from a Christmas Eve church service.
About two inches of snow had fallen the day before, and it was cold, about 25 degrees, so a white Christmas seemed assured. […]
If you’ve got some avid readers on your holiday gift list, here are some titles I enthusiastically recommend.
The Owl and the Woodpecker: Encounters with America’s Most Iconic Birds by Paul Bannick (2008, $24.95, Mountaineers Books) is my book of the year.
Stunningly illustrated with more than 130 color photographs by the author, this book […]
Last week as I traveled across the southern tier of New York, V-shaped skeins of Canada geese crossed the sky from north to south.
It was a vintage November day — cold, gray and damp.
At a rest stop near Jamestown, another flock caught my eye. But these birds were bigger and pure white.
Tundra […]
A few days ago, while listening to Mike Tirico and Scott Van Pelt on ESPN radio, Van Pelt broke out laughing in near hysteria. Tirico asked him to explain himself.
It turned out Van Pelt was broadcasting from his home, and he was watching a bird feeder as he worked.
The distraction was a squirrel […]
November is usually a dismal month, thanks to cooler temperatures, gray skies, rain and mud. But not this year.
The first week of November has been perfect — bluebird skies and 70 degrees. It has felt like spring.
But weather forecasts report more seasonable weather will return; I doubt we’ll see such mild weather […]
With bird seed prices at record highs, resentment toward unwanted visitors at backyard feeders is likely to increase this winter. Who wants to spend nearly a dollar a pound for seed to feed deer, squirrels and pigeons?
If you’re willing to pay any price to feed any critter that visits the backyard, you can stop […]
Whenever I get a series of letters asking the same question, it’s time to address that issue in a column. Over the last few weeks, a handful of readers have asked about winter roosting boxes, so here goes.
Bluebirds, chickadees, titmice and nuthatches nest in cavities and readily use nest boxes, but did you know […]
