The first warming rays of the morning sun slice through the open tent flap, like fingers of light, and herald another new day. I crawl out of my sleeping bag and gaze at the top of the trees that are just beginning to be touched by the crimson sunlight. The first warblers of Spring are [...]
Continue Reading →It is that time of the year again when nature takes a break and plants, trees, insects, reptiles, fish, amphibians, birds and mammals have adapted to this season of rest. Some animals go dormant or hibernate, others migrate southward, but some remain active even throughout the cold season. We humans, too, should take a cue [...]
Continue Reading →As we are all landlubbers, it’s easy to forget that we live on a very watery planet. Oceans cover 70% of the globe, but only 12% are protected. Of all the carbon dioxide produced on Earth, 50% is absorbed by the oceans, and 50% of the air we breathe is produced by oxygen-manufacturing phytoplankton in [...]
Continue Reading →Late Spring and early summer is the greatest time of the year for all wild creatures. The days are long and warm, food supplies are plentiful, and it’s mating time. Hummingbirds and House Wrens are nesting, Tiger Swallowtails and Monarch butterflies emerge, Wood Duck and Mallard ducklings hatch and venture forth with their mothers, the [...]
Continue Reading →The British call them ladybirds, we know them as ladybugs, and some call them lady beetles – they are honoured in many tongues. By whatever name they go, these dome-shaped beetles of the family coccinallidae are the delightful creatures that, at this time of the year, suddenly appear everywhere as they emerge from their winter [...]
Continue Reading →The United Nations has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). Initiatives throughout the year will be organized to share information, promote the protection of biodiversity, and encourage direct action to reduce the constant loss of biological diversity worldwide. (For details visit the official IYB website).
Why is this important? The poet Emily Dickinson [...]
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