The Prolific Muskrat

Native to North America, muskrats are semi-aquatic rodents that inhabit wetlands and streams across the Continent; hunted and trapped for th...

An Odd Mix of Spring

Out back last evening, it looked, felt and smelled like late April. The lilacs and honeysuckle were in bloom, dandelions and violets speckl...

The Porcupine Caribou

Named for the Yukon River tributary that drains most of their range, the Porcupine Caribou Herd inhabits northeastern Alaska and the norther...

Future Exotic Terranes

The continents of planet Earth are composed of central, "stable" platforms to which smaller "exotic terranes" have accre...

Double-Dip of Winter

Lest we forget it is still March, wintery weather lingers in the Pacific Northwest and, thanks to a Canadian front, has re-invaded the Great...

The Garth Wetlands

Stretching across the Bear Creek floodplain in north Columbia, Missouri, the Garth Nature Preserve harbors one of the best urban wetlands th...

Mt. Salina

Having driven across the Great Plains on many occasions, I have come to know the cities and towns, their respective exit numbers and, most i...

Pine Grosbeaks

Pine grosbeaks are among my favorite Colorado birds. Though widespread throughout the mountains and higher foothills, these large, colorful...

Morning at the Canyon

Facing another mild, sunny morning along the Colorado Front range, I headed to Deer Creek Canyon Park in the foothills of southwest Metro De...

The Caspian Sea

A remnant of the Paratethys Sea, the Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water on Earth. Covering more than 143,000 square miles, it ...

More like March

After a week of summer-like weather across most of the U.S., cooler air has moved east of the Continental Divide. Nevertheless, sunny skies...

Ground Turbulence

My regular trips between Missouri and Colorado are usually a bit tiring but today's journey was especially difficult. After leaving Col...

Marsh Madness

While college basketball fans are focused on their brackets, a more natural madness is unfolding across our wetlands. Chorus frogs and spri...

May in March

We awoke in Cincinnati this morning under clear skies and enveloped in balmy air; the temperature was 60 degrees F. By mid morning, as we p...

Geophysical Provinces of Ohio

Though known primarily for its rolling farmlands, Ohio is a mosaic of geophysical provinces, defined by underlying geology, tectonic uplift ...

Black Squirrels

Having lived among gray tree squirrels and golden-brown fox squirrels throughout my life, I am always caught off guard when I re-encounter t...

Visiting the Past

This coming week, my wife and I will visit our home State of Ohio to see relatives and, perhaps, a friend or two. Having lived in other par...

Music of the Gods

While a minority of us enjoy a severe thunderstorm, the sound of distant thunder seems to comfort most humans. Like other universal emotion...

Mono Lake

Mono Lake is a 70 square-mile saline lake at the eastern foot of the Sierra Nevada Range, approximately 13 miles east of Yosemite National P...

A Blast of Summer

In its seasonal battle with winter, summer has launched a powerful invasion. Over the past 24 hours, strong southwesterly winds have raked ...

The Domestication of Animals

We humans have been domesticating animals for the past 12,000 years and they have played a crucial role in the rise of our civilization and ...

Education, Liberalism & Faith

Rick Santorum's proclamation that higher education indoctrinates students with godless, liberal ideology unleashed a political firestorm...

Restless Locals

While most summer songbirds won't arrive until April, some of our permanent and winter residents are often best observed during March, w...

White-Fronts at Eagle Bluffs

It was another spectacular morning at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area today; the sky was clear, the air was cool and both raptors and waterfo...

The Cost of Intelligence

We humans differ from "lower" mammals in several ways: the complexity of our large brains, our upright posture, our manual dexteri...

The Final Gauntlet

From a naturalist's point of view, the long march toward spring begins at the winter solstice as the days begin to lengthen and the amou...