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…
Read MoreWell, 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…
Read More“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…
Read MoreSo here we are in March of 2021, marking the one-year anniversary since COVID-19 changed our lives. Over the past 12 months I’d wager many…
Read MoreI would imagine that our recent spate of 40-something degree weather has most of us aglow with the prospect of warmer temperatures and, dare I…
Read MoreLast week we took a look at the American robin, a bird regarded as a sign of spring but-confoundingly-has been popping up all over northern…
Read MoreOkay folks, show of hands. How many of you were raised to believe that robins are the first signs of spring? I know I was.…
Read MoreSo last week we ventured into unfamiliar territory, melding nature references with quotes from William Shakespeare-primarily from his play As You Like It, and the…
Read MoreI’ll be the first to admit, I’m not a Shakespeare scholar. In fact, in high school I had but one brush with the Bard (a…
Read MoreFrom a distance it looked like a Volkswagen Beetle slung upside down in a tree. An old-style Bug, that is. Dark brown in color. Oh,…
Read MoreEvery year about this time, the Good Natured World Headquarters staff starts fielding questions about tracks in the snow. And every other year or so…
Read MoreThe other day as I was walking to work, taking in the sights and sounds of a warm-ish winter morning, I noticed that the neighborhood…
Read MoreIt’s snowy owl season once again. Look for this regal visitor from the north in farm country, atop fence posts and utility poles. Good Natured: Snowy Owls January 8, 2021 Not only do I remember where I saw my first white owl, I also remember when. I was four years old, poking around my
Read MoreGood news, Good-Natured procrastinators! Even though the holiday season is nigh, there’s still time to handcraft a gift for that special someone on your list.…
Read MoreLast week’s Good Natured column ended with a cliffhanger… Who, or what, was destroying the Ohio buckeye tree at the Wildflower Sanctuary in Batavia? In…
Read MoreThe Wildflower Sanctuary in Batavia is just that-a peaceful place to commune with nature and bask in the tranquility of plants and animals living in…
Read MoreWitch hazel and I have had an on-again, off-again relationship for more than 50 years. A wee bit accident prone, I’ve lost track of the…
Read MoreThere’s no place like home. Dorothy Gale said it as she clacked her ruby slippers together, and Perry Como and the Carpenters sang about it,…
Read MoreWhat comes to mind when you think of a good neighbor? State Farm? The folks next door? Bald-faced hornets? Okay, that last one may sound…
Read MoreGenerally speaking, eruptions attract a lot of attention. There’s no mistaking when a volcano blows, or a crowd expresses its views. Or when a facial…
Read MoreBlotchy and big-adults average over 4 ft. in length-nonvenomous fox snakes are our area’s longest native constrictors. This time of year, they are heading for hibernacula, areas that might include garages, crawlspaces and basements. Good Natured: Snakes in Fall November 6, 2020 We all have our dreams…a fancy house, a fast car, maybe fame
Read MoreI can remember every detail of the day I told my high school guidance counselor that I wanted to be a naturalist. First, there was…
Read MoreWorking as the park safety supervisor for the St. Charles Park District, patrolling our public lands late into the night, Tim Timberlake has had plenty…
Read MoreWe’ve all been there… That awkward moment when you realize there’s a poppy seed from your morning muffin wedged between your two front teeth. Or…
Read MoreTurkey vultures are the sorts of birds that command attention. For one, they’re VULTURES-dark-feathered and hunchbacked, they look vaguely creepy even under the best of…
Read MoreCertain signs of fall are unmistakable. The changing colors of the leaves, the masses of migratory geese. And the persistent, almost petulant, calls of young…
Read MoreWhen was the last time you got a face-ful of spider web? If you live in northern Illinois, and have walked outside recently, particularly in…
Read MoreUsually when people write about wildflowers they use words like beautiful to describe the blossoms. Or terms like vigorous or conservative to describe the growth…
Read More“Let me show you something hideous!” My friend Mrs. Janet was pretty emphatic as she pulled her phone from her purse. Knowing that Janet works…
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