Note: This story is the third and final in a series about Lake Helena and getting to know a place in nature over time. In […]
Of bitterns and bank swallows: Lake Helena, part 2
This story is the second in a series about Lake Helena and getting to know a place in nature over time. If you haven’t heard […]
Nature at Lake Helena, part 1: shorebirds to the Arctic
May 15, 2024 A light rain fell during the night, and the west end of Lake Helena is wrapped in a gentle gray fog as […]
A hopeful sign for a bird in decline: helping Montana’s tree swallows
The nest boxes haven’t been up for five minutes, and already a small cloud of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) is swirling around them. A dusky, […]
Learning from starlings: urban ecosystems and weedy species
Nature is all around us, all the time. Wherever we are, we live in an ecosystem. It may be far from pristine. It may be […]
An explosion of voices: listening to the birds and the Huatulco River
It’s a cool morning on the outskirts of Santa María Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico. The streetlights are still glowing in the waning darkness, illuminating the road […]
Connection, wonder, and the birds that span a continent
It was June in North Carolina, USA, the humid morning of a day that promised to be hot. The orchard orioles (Icterus spurius) sang sweetly […]
Crossing the wall: from Montana to Oaxaca
Yellow-rumped warblers are among the most common warblers in North America. There are an estimated 170 million of them, small, elegant birds clothed in yellow, […]
Hidden world in the aspens: getting to know voles and more
July 30, 2023 “We know where all the birds are. We don’t know where all the mammals are,” Cody Lane tells me. We’re walking through […]
A naturalist journey through Kokanee Glacier Park
High in the Rocky Mountains, there’s a vast landscape where the wind sighs over rock and heather. The trees struggle up the steep ridges and […]