Exploring Nature by Sheila Newenham
When it comes to morel mushrooms, I’ve spent more time looking than finding. Far more. With that in mind, I wasn’t optimistic when I wandered out this spring to check last year’s burn area for morels. Local lore says that morels grow exceptionally well the … Continue readingPatience is a Basket of Morels
The first snow of the season was a few days ago. Just a couple of inches, not enough to bury the last of fall’s glory yet. Today will probably be the last of the frosty fall mushrooms and leaves. It’s been a prolific fungi season. … Continue readingA Frosty Fall Day
I jogged up the hill at the back of our property to try to locate the source of this new, intimidating smoke plume when my phone alerted. Watch Duty: New Wildfire. “Go Now” evacuations for the two main roads into my neighborhood. I turn and … Continue readingWhen Fire Comes
Zero to Eighteen in Two Weeks Two years ago, a pair of western flycatchers nested above a light under the eave of our garage in North Idaho. After the chicks fledged, Rob removed the nest. Our research suggested that songbirds prefer not to use the … Continue readingA Western Flycatcher Nest
How have I lived this long without knowing about needle ice!? Late last fall, I was on a hike when I first saw it. When it’s intact, it camouflages with the surrounding soil. Footfalls crunch over the top of it like ordinary frozen ground. Yet, … Continue readingNeedle Ice
When we moved into our house, the previous owners had left a metal water trough. Our five acres border over 100 acres of public forest land in a place where even private land is pretty wild. I’m excited to see the “backyard” wildlife we have. … Continue readingThe Water Drip
I stopped in my tracks. I’ve never seen so much beaver sign! Trampled, packed down snow, chewed limbs, and huge shavings from felling trees.. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I knew that the beavers were back. I’d seen signs of activity at their … Continue readingThe Beavers Next Door
I’m saying goodbye to this land that I’ve loved and nurtured, and that has nurtured me back. We arrived in June 2009 to a sterile, weedy landscape. Morning glory vines had overrun all of the landscape beds, their long tendril roots anchored firmly through the … Continue readingSaying Goodbye
The Wooing I fell down a rabbit hole of toad photography one Monday this May. I set out with my camera and journal to sit on a shady bench under my backyard willow. And I did. The sounds of amphibians coming from the pond were … Continue readingAmerican Toads
Wonderment I often get distracted walking past my patio doors by the sights outside: songbirds eating, bluejays demanding their peanuts, ducks waddling in the lawn, a swimming muskrat, a foraging beaver, hunting herons, coyotes passing through, deer, geese, anything and everything. My camera sits on … Continue readingBackyard Drama: Coyote versus Geese