Exploring Nature by Sheila Newenham
As the seasons change, so do the birds that frequent my backyard feeders. The regulars are always around – the ubiquitous house sparrows, the happy house finches, and the daily morning visits of blue jays looking for their peanuts, always announcing their arrival. The jays … Continue readingFall at the Feeders
It’s an unseasonably cool fall day but the sun makes it feel warm. After a lot of rain and even some snow flurries yesterday, the blue sky is a welcome sight. As the sun started to dip low in the sky, I went out for … Continue readingTree Stories
The war against the Japanese beetles starts every June. They cluster on the leaves of their preferred plants, my raspberries. They can defoliate and kill young plants. Mostly, they just eat my berries. On this comfortable day, the sky is blue dotted with puffy white … Continue readingLife on a Spicebush
Sunday morning, my dog, Bridger, was particularly interested in two spruce trees at the edge of our yard. With all of the wildlife that comes and goes, I was curious to see what he’d found. I went near where he was and cautiously looked under … Continue readingResident Ducks
Everything is greening up after a gray, gray winter. Our summer visitors are returning. This pair of geese has been nesting somewhere near our pond for many years now. Despite the small size of the pond, we’ve never been able to find their nest. Each … Continue readingSpring Around the Yard
In the seven summers we’ve lived in this house, I’ve occasionally seen a praying mantis in the yard, sometimes out front and sometimes out back. This past summer I began seeing one pretty regularly in and around the front bushes. She is kind of shy, … Continue readingPraying Mantis
It was fortunate that the first two nest boxes I checked didn’t have any animals in them. Today I did the preseason check of 4 pairs of bluebird nest boxes for the DuPage County Forest Preserve that I’m tasked with monitoring to encourage bluebird nesting … Continue readingThat’s not a bluebird!
In the middle of winter, it’s dusky at 4:30pm when something catches the corner of my eye as I pass by the window. A fox had just come out of the woods onto the frozen pond. I stopped to take in her beauty and grace … Continue readingBackyard Vixen