Milkweed
Yes, we normally think of milkweed a summer blooming wildflower, but the seeds are beginning to fly from their pods, so I couldn't resist a post on them in October.…
Stink Bug Invasion
Have you noticed an invasion of your home by small brown bugs this autumn? These are brown marmorated stink bugs. Halyomorpha halys (Stål), the "Brown Marmorated Stink Bug," was accidentally…
In the Fog
We have run into morning fogs from time to time. Sometimes there is just a whisp in the valleys, while other times we hesitate to drive to work because the…
Mothday
At Saturday's Pet/Butterfly Day at Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve, my favorite finds were two moths which can be seen during the day. The clearwing moth flies and moves just like…
Meander in Meadowlark Meadow
In the Spring, we like Meadowlark Meadow for the melodies of all the nesting songbirds. But by August, the native grasses are taller than I am, and the Summer flowers,…
Praying Mantids
Praying mantids are distinctive insects, with elongated bodies, triangular heads, and spiny, prey-grabbing "raptorial" front legs (from the Greek word "raptor," meaning "thief"). Mantids are usually a combination of gray,…
Cattails
Everyone recognizes cattails - that tall almost grassy-looking plant that grows any place with a little standing water. Their "tails" are brown and fuzzy, and kids love to sword fight…
Monarch Waystations in Woodland Garden
Each fall, hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies migrate from the United States and Canada to overwintering areas in Mexico and California where they wait out the winter until conditions…
Dragons and Dinosaurs
We are used to seeing flowers and birds at the Nature Preserve, right? Would you be surprised to learn we have green dragons and red faced dinosaurs in the Woodland…
Spring of the Earth
One of my favorite birds is the beautiful Meadowlark. When you're driving in the countryside and you see cattle or horses in a grassy field, you're in meadowlark habitat. Watch…