Natural history

You rely a lot on your ears when doing bird surveys, especially in the summertime. Thick foliage obstructs views, females are tending nests or young, and unless they are singing from an exposed perch, males may be hard to locate…

I came across this attractive land snail while doing some gardening. I was curious, as usual. For me, it doesn’t seem right not to know and understand the creatures sharing my property. And while I don’t want to become too…

As a kid, I used to find caterpillars and raise them to adulthood. Nowadays, I don’t even see many caterpillars. Gone are the days, or so it seems, when every tomato plant had to be monitored for sphinx moth larva (“tomato worms”), dill was decimated by Black Swallowtail caterpillars, and each milkweed had its Monarchs-in-the-making. […]

Some years I don™t catch many Tennessee Warblers (Vermivora peregrina), but this year seemed to be a good year for them. Their populations surge and wane with outbreaks of spruce budworms (Choristoneura fumiferana) on their northern nesting grounds. The budworms…

“The soft color tones combine to make a most charming picture of pleasing loveliness. He appears to be a well groomed aristocrat among birds.”

Another installment in Things One Finds Under Rotting Logs.

As I mentioned, on Saturday I participated in the North American Migration Count, in which individual counties are scoured by teams of birders each year on the second Saturday in May to produce a “snapshot” of spring bird migration. I…

The Harvester (Feniseca tarquinius) is a handsome small butterfly, but not outstanding; it is easily confused with other orangey species such as coppers or skippers.

Today, at dawn, I went out in the field to open my nets and heard the unique and exuberant R2D2-like song of the Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis). They were back from their southern winter vacations. As a banding intern in…