Scott Shalaway

Challenge yourself with shed hunting

Thursday, February 19, 2009 by Scott Shalaway

From late winter through early spring, whenever I’m in the woods, I keep my eyes peeled for shed antlers. Sheds, the antlers white-tailed deer bucks lose each year, are a terrific addition to my collection of natural artifacts.
The first few I found were still attached to skulls, antlers of unlucky road kills, so it […]

The 2009 Great Backyard Bird Count is a success

Thursday, February 12, 2009 by Scott Shalaway

The highlights of this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count Feb. 13-16 are likely to include reports of northern species moving south in huge numbers. White-winged crossbills, pine siskins, common redpolls, and snow buntings only occasionally visit our latitude, but 2009 has seen an impressive southbound invasion by these species.
The Great Backyard Bird Count is […]

Daisy finds one playin’ possum

Thursday, February 5, 2009 by Scott Shalaway

A few years ago on a cold winter night, Daisy, my yellow Lab, and I took a walk in the woods after a snow storm.
Daisy enjoyed plowing through the ankle-deep snow with her nose. At one point she wallowed in the snow the way she rolls in mud holes in the spring.
As we returned toward […]

Facts on the yellow-bellied sapsucker

Thursday, January 29, 2009 by Scott Shalaway

To the uninitiated, the yellow-bellied sapsucker sounds like a mythical creature.
“Where is it in the field guide?” they ask. “Right next to the “bleary-eyed bedthrasher?”
“No,” I answer. “It’s a woodpecker.”
Four
There are actually four species of sapsuckers in North America, but only the yellow-belly is found here in the […]

New to many: White-winged crossbills

Thursday, January 22, 2009 by Scott Shalaway

If you’ve seen or heard unfamiliar birds recently, it’s probably not your imagination.
The mystery bird is about the size of a white-throated sparrow and is found primarily in groves of evergreens — spruce, hemlock and pine trees.
Males are red with dark wings; females are drab olive-gray. Both sexes have two bold white bars […]

Hypothermia — A cold killer

Thursday, January 15, 2009 by Scott Shalaway

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 […]

January is the beginning of nesting season for birds

Thursday, January 8, 2009 by Scott Shalaway

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 […]

These Web sites are just right for nature lovers

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 by Scott Shalaway

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 […]

A Christmas Eve to remember

Wednesday, December 24, 2008 by Scott Shalaway

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. […]

You’ll want to find these books under the tree

Thursday, December 4, 2008 by Scott Shalaway

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 […]