September 7, 2022 If you’re familiar with the Carroll College campus, you’ve probably walked past it countless times. It’s a small, bushy patch of plants […]
A silver shimmer on the water: the Gyrinus whirligig beetles
September 6, 2022 They ripple over the water in a shimmery silver school, hundreds of them darting in elegant curves across the smooth surface. The […]
Uncommonly noisy hoppers: the Great Basin crackler (Circotettix undulatus)
August 30, 2022 I’m sitting in the shade of a ponderosa pine on this hot afternoon, looking out over the bunchgrasses and sagebrush of the […]
Getting to know western aster (Symphyotrichum ascendens)
August 29, 2022 It’s a patch of pale purple among late summer’s dry crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) and the buzzing songs of the insects. A […]
Five late-summer wildflowers and the complex world of their bees
August 18, 2022 Sometimes, a day in the field doesn’t go as planned. I had started out this morning thinking that it would be a […]
Fly killer, bee lover: the secret life of Mentzelia decapetala
July 31, 2022 I’m standing along Helena, Montana’s Centennial Trail on this hot summer evening, contemplating a mystery. The mystery is a plant: Mentzelia decapetala, […]
Bumblebees of Helena: getting to know our fuzzy neighbors
July 27, 2022 She’s fuzzy and yellow, the size of my thumb. The pollen basket on her hind leg holds an orange loaf as she […]
Creatures in the milkweed: searching for Montana’s monarchs
July 21, 2022 I first notice the scent from 40 yards away, subtle but powerful. The milkweed is fragrant, almost like carnations. I’m at the […]
Full of life: a morning in the sagebrush
July 12, 2022 As soon as I step out of the car, the smell of the sagebrush washes over me. It’s a heady smell, bitter […]
Into the night on furry wings
I didn’t even know he was a silk moth when I first met him. It was October, a smoky afternoon pierced by the song of […]