Exploring Nature by Sheila Newenham
Zero to Eighteen in Two Weeks Two years ago, a pair of Cassin’s vireos 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 Cassin’s Vireo 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
There are beavers in our pond again. I’d put some crabapple cuttings in the fire pit and on the habitat behind the woodpile for my voles. The next day there was this well-worn muddy path from the pond, and most of the cuttings were … Continue readingLiving with Beavers
One person’s problem is another’s pleasure. We are in the midst of the all-time wettest May on record in the Chicago area. And it’s only May 19th. The previous May precipitation record of 8.25″ set just last year. This is a symptom of our warming … Continue readingRecord Spring Rainfall
I often write about hidden gems – those wonderful things that have been right under our noses all along. That’s because when we make the time to stop and look, there is wonder all around us. A friend recently suggested a village park that has … Continue readingA Local Wonderland