Good Natured | Hickory Knolls Discovery Center

Barred Owls

The other day I headed out to meet some friends for a walk at Tekakwitha Woods Forest Preserve, with a plan to proceed over to Jon Duerr FP on the other side of the Fox River. All in all, a pretty ordinary plan for our little group of nature nerds, […]

A Bird Eat Bird World

Ah, spring. What could be more glorious? Flowers are blooming, insects are buzzing, frogs are calling. And the birds? Well they’re doing what birds do best. They’re looking good in their breeding-season plumage; singing, of course, to declare their territories; and building their nests. […]

Tiger Beetles

I’ve never, by any stretch of the imagination, been considered quick. I can’t dash, I don’t dart. In fact, the only time I recall moving with any speed at all was once when I was being chased by a horde of angry yellowjackets. A flat-out sprint, and they still got me. […]

Red-Headed Woodpeckers

What’s black and white and red all over? Here in the TriCities’ corner of the natural world, not a lot. But the red-headed woodpecker is one notable exception. Most of the Picidae family members in our area (downy, hairy, red-bellied, northern flicker and, lately, pileated) feature a splish or splash of red- […]

Butternut Trees

Well, it happened again. After a prolonged absence-nearly eight years– Build Me Up Buttercup, that great song by The Foundations, once again is reverberating through my skull. Day and night I’m humming the catchy tune, whether I want to or not. All because I took a walk. […]

Monk Parakeets

A little over a year ago, in February 2020, I signed up for what promised to be the adventure of a lifetime. “Travel to Costa Rica,” the brochure said, “where it’s easier to be at one with nature than anywhere else in the world.” They had me at “nature,” but I kept reading anyway. […]

Overwintering Butterflies

Butterflies are easy. It’s a statement that naturalists make from time to time, and it refers to the fact that we don’t have to work very hard at all to get people interested in butterflies. Snakes and spiders, on the other hand, are tough, and slime molds are darn near impossible. But butterflies are easy. […]

Grackles

Grackles. They’re a bird you know, even if you don’t know birds. Remember back when you learned about robins and cardinals and blue jays? Grackles were the birds that we all called blackbirds. […]

Departure of the Dark Eyed Juncos

Well, it’s here. Can you feel it? Spring snuck in at 4:37 a.m. on Saturday, March 20, and with it came a host of spring arrivals. The crocuses that battled gamely against last week’s snow now once again are showing their colorful blooms. Daffodils are blossoming, tulips are forming buds and, glory be, the other day I heard a robin sing! […]

Song Sparrows

“Sweet, sweet, sweet…blah blah blah yada yada.” “Sweet, sweet, sweet…blah blah blah yada yada.” “Sweet, sweet, sweet…blah blah blah yada yada.” Sound familiar? No, it’s not the talk of some crazed sugar fiend craving yet another dessert (though I think I did babble something similar around Month 10 of The Quarantine. […]

‹1 2 3 4 ›»