One of the frustrations of wildlife conservation is determining who’s in charge. At the state level, state agencies are responsible for managing most wildlife and fish populations. They set seasons and bag limits for species that are hunted and fished. They’re also responsible for the welfare of nongame species. In Pennsylvania, for example, the Game [...]
Among birders, Kirtland’s warblers are a top priority. They are rare because they have very specific habitat requirements — young jack pine forests five to 20 feet tall and six to 22 years old. Such stands are found in northern Michigan and parts of Wisconsin and Canada. They nest on the ground; presumably trees these [...]
Most summer evenings, shortly before dark, my wife and I take a walk through the hay field on the highest point on our property. It’s not really a hay field, it’s just an old field being encroached upon by the adjacent woods. I try to keep the invasive autumn olive at bay, but it’s a [...]
I met Bridget Stutchbury in the early 1980s at the University of Oklahoma Biological Station. I was teaching ornithology, and she was a visiting graduate student from Yale looking for a place to study the social behavior of purple martins. We had dozens of pairs of martins in six apartment houses right on campus, so [...]
The first firefly of the year appeared in my yard a month ago. As fireworks commemorate Independence Day, I’m reminded of the natural fireworks that go on all summer long. Fireflies or lightning bugs First, though, a few words of clarification. Fireflies, or lightning bugs as my dad called them, are neither flies, nor bugs. [...]
One of the unexpected treats of collecting the first blackberries of the season is stumbling upon an active bird nest. Bramble thickets are prime nest sites for species such as cardinals, catbirds, song sparrows, yellow-breasted chats, and indigo buntings. Males Male indigos are easy to find and even easier to recognize. They sing a complicated [...]
Some observers report more birds than ever. Other ask why none have returned. My experience has been equally confounding. I saw my first hummer this spring April 11, a full 11 days sooner than my previous first date, so I expected lots of birds this year. And the map of returning hummers at www.hummingbirds.net offered [...]
Whether your summer leisure time is spent on the beach, in the mountains, or on the back porch, a good book is a great companion. Recommendations Here are a few recent titles that I recommend. The only work of fiction on the list, Anthill: A Novel by E.O. Wilson, (2010, W.W. Norton & Co., $24.95) [...]
My wife and I dine out more often during the summer, especially when we’re on vacation. And for some reason, we favor the seafood part of the menu during warmer weather. And with that choice comes the uncertainty of knowing what meal to select. Seafood types Many types of seafood are overfished, and our meal [...]
“I like to play indoors better ’cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are.” Those words, by a fourth-grader in San Diego, are the essence of Richard Louv’s 2005 bestseller, Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-deficit Disorder — kids today spend too much time indoors and too little time outdoors. From [...]
