Pushing Testosterone

After blanketing cable TV and the internet with ads for erectile dysfunction drugs over the past few years (see The E.D. Epidemic ), the pha...

Saved by Flooding Rains

Under a tornado watch for most of the day, central Missouri has escaped severe weather due to recurrent periods of torrential rain.  Develop...

Cape Fear's Gift

Though I have been fascinated by nature as long as I can remember, my childhood explorations were limited to woods and fields near my Cincin...

Dark Days in the Heartland

For the past week, a stationary front has draped itself across the Midwest, separating warm, humid air to its south, from cool, dryer air to...

Jumping Spiders

For some reason, likely the cool, wet weather, a large number of jumping spiders have invaded our house this spring.  Found on all Continent...

China's Major Rivers

While a complete summary of China's Rivers is well beyond the scope of a blog post, there are four major river systems that cover the he...

The Appalachian Warbler

During my medicine residency, in Morgantown, West Virginia, I would often go hiking and birding at a hemlock preserve, east of town.  It was...

The Missouri-Arkansas Divide

The Missouri and Arkansas River watersheds, spreading across more than 1 million square miles and 170,000 square miles, respectively, cover ...

The Politics of Disaster

Many politicians, especially Conservative Republicans, want to shrink the scope of the Federal Government; focused on the rights of States, ...

The Cost of Lawns

While I have written posts about the negative effects of residential lawns ( Man and his Lawn , Lose some Lawn ) the ecologic impact of thes...

Survival on the Plains

The Great Plains of North America are the product of their geology and geography, further molded by wildfire, periodic drought, severe weath...

St. Marks NWR

Stretching along the Gulf Coast, 25 miles south of Tallahassee, Florida, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1931 to prote...

Florida's Great Bend

While the majority of Florida's coast is renowned for its fabulous beaches, they are nearly absent from Tarpon Bay, on the west coast of...

The Southern Vulture

Driving southeastward from Missouri today, I encountered the first flock of black vultures in southern Kentucky.  Unlike their larger cousin...

First Wave of Summer

Two months into this cool, wet spring, the first wave of summer has pushed across the American Heartland.  Thanks to high pressure over the ...

The Potomac River

The North Branch of the Potomac River rises on the Appalachian Plateau of West Virginia, within the boundaries of Fairfax Stone State Park. ...

The Choice of Motherhood

Women who choose the joys, trials and responsibilities of motherhood are, to say the least, vital to the welfare of human society; yet, the ...

The Sounds of May

We naturalists tend to associate certain natural sounds with specific times of the year.  For example, while the call of a white-breasted nu...

Spring Envelops Eagle Bluffs

Despite its slow and erratic progression, spring has finally taken control at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, southwest of Columbia.  Though...

The Blood of Life

Yesterday, my drive from Columbia to Cincinnati crossed soggy terrain.  Rivers and streams were out of their banks,  crop fields were muddy ...

Sierra Grande

The Clayton-Raton Volcanic Field stretches across northeastern New Mexico, extending into southern Colorado and extreme western Oklahoma.  P...

River Walk

Despite the cool, gray weather, birdlife was pleasingly varied along the Missouri River yesterday afternoon.  Hiking along the Katy Trail, w...

March in May

Thanks to a deep atmospheric trough that has nosed its way from Canada to the Gulf Coast, we have experienced raw, March-like weather in Mis...

Midwestern Mimics

In spring, when birdsong is most intense, even non-birders take note of the varied tunes offered by our mimic thrushes.  Composed of short, ...

Fast Forward into Spring

Heading back to Missouri yesterday, I left Denver and drove eastward across the High Plains. There, thanks to a continued drought and a raw ...