Exploring Nature by Sheila Newenham
I can’t believe the profusion of wildflowers we stumbled upon! Looking for a relatively close, new hike for this spring afternoon, I decided on the Mineral Point Trail. It’s a four-mile out-and-back along Lake Pend Oreille through forested habitat. The trail courses up and down … Continue readingMineral Point Trail Wildflowers
In Yellowstone National Park, the Junction pack’s Slough Creek Den failed. They had had four surviving five-week-old wolf pups last seen on the day of my arrival in Gardiner. The pack has since abandoned the den site. Winter was rough even by Yellowstone standards; long … Continue readingFox Family
The HerbivoresBison In Yellowstone National Park, bison begin calving in early spring. Their young, colloquially known as “red dogs,” are the first wildlife babies, usually appearing in Lamar Valley and Little America in April. By early June, when I visited, it seemed like a full … Continue readingSpring Wildlife Watching in Yellowstone National Park
I didn’t expect to find myself in the middle of spring bird migration in Anchorage in late April. But that is exactly what happened. I guess when summer only lasts three months before the snow flies again, you’d better be here when it starts. I … Continue readingSpring Bird Migration in Anchorage
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
e·phem·er·al (əˈfem(ə)rəl): lasting for a very short time. They brighten the dull brown forest floors even before winter has really left. Spring ephemerals put all of their energy into carpeting the woodland in color and then fade away under the shade of the full canopy. … Continue readingWoodland Ephemerals: Hope Springs Eternal
I turn off Hwy 31 in Dundee onto Country School Road, and immediately, all the stress and chaos of suburbia falls away. I am heading to the Springbird Oasis Cottage, a retreat on fourteen acres of oak, hickory and maple woodlands with a network of … Continue readingSpringbird: An Oasis of Nature
Spring woodland wildflowers are fleeting. They decorate the sunny forest floor before the trees leaf out and shade them for the summer. Two weeks ago the blood root bloomed, last week the trout lilies stole the show. This week, the ground here at Johnson’s Mound … Continue readingA Spring Woodland
I haven’t seen a junco since mid-April. It’s hard to mark the day they leave except to note when some has time gone by since I’d last noticed one. Here, they mark the beginning of winter and the promise of spring. As the juncos leave, … Continue readingChanging Seasons: Spring