Martin Mania

Behind our cottage on Sandy Lake, in northeast Ohio, two purple martin structures tower above the end of a dock, each harboring a dozen nest...

North through Appalachia

Leaving Athens, Ohio, this morning, we headed northeast through the Sunday Creek Valley, a tributary of the Hocking River.  As is typical ac...

Heading for the Hills

Invited to attend a wedding in southeastern Ohio, we left Columbia this morning and drove east on Interstate 70.  For most of our trip, we c...

Summer Dusk

It is in mid summer that we most appreciate dusk, a welcome reprieve from the late afternoon heat.  Venturing outdoors, we often enjoy a sof...

Mid Summer Relief

After more than a week of hot, humid weather, a cold front has dropped into central Missouri.  Igniting thunderstorms early this morning, wi...

The Trump Phenomenon

Donald Trump knows America.  He understands that racism and intolerance pervade our society, that many Americans fear "foreigners"...

Legions of Legumes

Yesterday morning, before the heat of the day, I removed tree seedlings from our flower beds.  While some were oaks or maples, the great maj...

Horsemint

The lavender blossoms of horsemint (also known as wild bergamot) were abundant at Forum Nature Area, in Columbia, this morning.  A common me...

Rendezvous with Pluto

This morning, 9.5 years and 3 billion miles after launching from Earth, the New Horizons spacecraft will zip past Pluto, coming within 7800 ...

The Residential Finch

Natives of the American West, house finches inhabit foothills, desert canyons and open woodlands, including urban parks and suburban neighbo...

Back in the Jungle

After a month in Colorado, I have returned to the heat and humidity of central Missouri.  Fed by these jungle-like conditions, including cop...

Prickly Poppies

By mid summer, clumps of prickly poppies are abundant along the Colorado Front Range, their large white flowers shimmering above ranchlands ...

U.S. Chamber promotes Smoking

We Americans, proud of our Democracy and enjoying unparalleled freedom, tend to assume that U.S. intervention across the globe is always wel...

The Nature of Alzheimer's Disease

First described by Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist, in 1906, Alzheimer's Disease is rapidly becoming the third most common ca...

Cool Change for Denver

Over the past 36 hours, a cold front dropped across the Front Range, putting an end to several weeks of hot, sunny weather.  Behind the fron...

Evolution of Large Flightless Birds

Looking at the current distribution of ratites (large flightless birds including ostriches, rheas, emus and cassowaries) and understanding t...

Shark Attacks on Humans

The plethora of shark attacks along the Carolina Coast this summer has spawned headlines across the country and, I assume, around the globe;...

The Asteroid Belt

As the sun formed, 5 billion years ago, surrounding gas and debris gradually coalesced into the planets, four inner solid planets and four o...

Season of Discovery

Naturalists and birders look forward to the cooler months of the year when large flocks of migrant cranes and waterfowl stop to rest and fee...