Oaks and acorns: The lifeblood of the outdoors
Just because a resource is common and abundant today doesn’t mean that will always be the case. When Europeans settled North America, for example,...
Understanding bird feeders
Last week I spent two days at a wild bird products trade show in Missouri. It’s a great way to see new products, but...
Dropping temperatures will mean hungry birds
Weather forecasters are calling for overnight low temperatures to dip into the 30s this week, so it's time to pull out the bird feeders...
Forensic ornithology is an interesting science
I made a new friend last weekend at the annual Berkeley Springs (W.Va.) Fall Birding Festival. Marcy Heacker and I spoke to the group...
Goldenrod unfairly fingered as allergy culprit
Though most wildflowers have faded by late September, goldenrod is just taking center stage. More than 100 species of goldenrod (genus Solidago) brighten North...
No time to waste: It’s time to buy a duck stamp
Though I've never hunted waterfowl, every year as fall approaches I buy a duck stamp. I get mine at a post office, but they...
Notes on whooping cranes and hummingbirds
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) recently announced plans to reintroduce a non-migratory flock of endangered whooping cranes in Louisiana. If this proposal...
Factory fishing jeopardizes important fish’s future
Quiz time. Name the most important fish in the sea. If you said tuna, halibut, flounder, marlin or swordfish, you're wrong, at least according...
Fall webworms aren’t really cause for alarm
Roger Patterson of southwestern Pennsylvania, writes, "Late this summer I have noticed what appear to be tent caterpillar tents in my lilac bushes. I'm...
Solving the mystery of what causes bald cardinals
Nancy Kincaid of Charleston, W.Va. writes, "My husband and I feed birds and squirrels in our backyard, and we have a special male cardinal...
