Mimicry in animals is a common form of protection from predators. For instance, two distasteful or toxic butterflies may mimic each other for mutual defense,… Continue reading
In the middle of October, bird watchers estimated about 40 short-eared owls were seen hunting on the wetlands — probably a record number. What was… Continue reading
A meteorologist from the National Weather Service’s local office recently told a newspaper reporter that heavy, wet, snow would materialize in a few days. He… Continue reading
Someone once asked me “Is evolution still happening?” My brief answer was “Of course, it’s always happening.” I would have gone on to explain a… Continue reading
Stealth was abandoned. Completely. The obvious game trail had betrayed me and disintegrated into the sloppily woven patchwork of salmonberry and blueberry bushes mixed with… Continue reading
Crows, jays, ravens, magpies and their various other relatives (nutcrackers, choughs, jackdaws, etc.) belong to the taxonomic family Corvidae. It’s a sizeable family of about… Continue reading
In our region there are a few fully parasitic plants, totally dependent on other plants for carbon, water, and nutrients. Some of them are not… Continue reading
I never met John Gierach, but I feel like I know him as well as you can know anyone from their books and he had… Continue reading
It’s early fall and we sometimes enjoy seeing fuzzy orange and black caterpillars trekking over the trails on their way to better foraging or a… Continue reading
Community members, agencies team up to work on trail with nearly 150-year-old history
Skip Ambrose has floated the upper Yukon River almost every year since Richard Nixon was President. Back then, in 1973, only 12 pairs of peregrine… Continue reading
On a dark and dismal day in late September, I cheered myself up by remembering some pleasing observations in recent weeks: • On the dike… Continue reading
“I’m so tired.” I had no idea how to reply. As a basketball coach you tell players to push through. As a high school teacher… Continue reading
People often think of fungi as dietary items or as agents of rot and decay. Fair enough, but those are only two small windows into… Continue reading
Their staccato voices can make a muskeg bog as loud as a city street, though most are so small they could sit in a coffee… Continue reading
In late August I went on a day cruise to Tracy Arm. The weather was good for observing: gray, overcast skies to reduce the glare… Continue reading
The alpine deer cabbage was yellow and gold, a sign of the coming fall. From a distance even the leaves turned brown seemed to take… Continue reading
