by Kevin Shank | Oct 1, 2026 | 2026, 10 October, Articles & Stories, Frogs and Toads, Hawks, Eagles, & Kites, Pictures and Poems, Ungulates
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by Kevin Shank | Oct 1, 2026 | 2026, 10 October, Creation Close-ups, Fall Foliage, Lunar Eclipse, Moon, Rodents, Ungulates
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by Kevin Shank | Oct 1, 2026 | 2026, 10 October, Hummingbirds, You Can Draw Submissions
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by Kevin Shank | Oct 1, 2026 | 2026, 10 October, Camp & Cabin Cookin'
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by Kevin Shank | Oct 1, 2026 | 2026, 10 October, Articles & Stories, Butterflies, Moths & Skippers, Favorite Focus, Herons, Egrets, & Bitterns
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Eastern Comma. Photos © Shilah Gormley. Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite National Park. Photo © Marie Miller. This Green Heron was the epitome of patience and focus. I photographed him for over two hours. For a one-hour stretch...
by Kevin Shank | Sep 3, 2026 | 2026, 09 September, Butterflies, Moths & Skippers, Favorite Focus, Moon
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Monarch butterfly. Photo © Detweiler Family. Sunset with crescent moon. Photo © Miciah Zimmerman.
by Kevin Shank | Sep 3, 2026 | 2026, 09 September, Focus Illustrated
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Hocking Hills State Park, Upper Falls. Photo © Jesse Weaver. Hocking Hills State Park, Cedar Falls. Photo © Jesse Weaver. Jesse Weaver writes that a previous photo lesson on stitching panoramas together inspired him to use...
by Kevin Shank | Sep 3, 2026 | 2026, 09 September, Articles & Stories, Fall Foliage, The Photo Focus
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Hightown, Highland County, Virginia. Photo © Shaphan Shank. Photos © Shaphan Shank. At the center of your composition, level both the tripod and the camera. If using a zoom, choose focal length. Set the white balance to a...
by Kevin Shank | Sep 3, 2026 | 2026, 09 September, Camp & Cabin Cookin'
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by Kevin Shank | Sep 1, 2026 | 2026, 09 September, Hawks, Eagles, & Kites, Kingfishers, Pictures and Poems, Ungulates
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by Kevin Shank | Sep 1, 2026 | 2026, 09 September, Herons, Egrets, & Bitterns, Thrushes, Waterfowl - Geese, Swans, Ducks, Loons, Grebes
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by Kevin Shank | Sep 1, 2026 | 2026, 09 September, Butterflies, Moths & Skippers, You Can Draw Submissions
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by Kevin Shank | Sep 1, 2026 | 2026, 09 September, Caption This, Cardinals, Tanagers, & Allies
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive “You lost?” Photo © Kevin Shank. We invite you to submit your caption for this photograph of a Painted Bunting on ice. This was photographed in Verona, Virginia, following a January ice storm. This bird should...
by Kevin Shank | Sep 1, 2026 | 2026, 09 September, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, In Our Skies, Meteors, Moon, Planets
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Mark your calendar and prep your telescope. September 8 about 3:00 p.m. EDT, the Moon will occult Jupiter. This is a daylight event. However, October 6, about 4:15 a.m. EDT, the Moon will occult Jupiter again, and this time...
by Kevin Shank | Sep 1, 2026 | 2026, 09 September, Acrostic, Matching, Primates, Puzzles, Study Guide, Warblers
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by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2026 | 2024, 06 June, 2026, 08 August, Articles & Stories, Carnivores, Mammals
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive It was with less humor and more odor, that we dutifully prepared a skunk story for Nature Friend, that evening in 2008. You see, there was a permeating, overwhelming, lingering, background (foreground), pungent odor...
by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2026 | 2026, 08 August, Blackbirds, Orioles, Meadowlarks, Butterflies, Moths & Skippers, Flycatchers, Hummingbirds, Parrots, Pictures and Poems
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by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2026 | 2026, 08 August, Butterflies, Moths & Skippers, Cardinals, Tanagers, & Allies, Creation Close-ups, Nuthatches, Swallows, Wildflowers
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by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2026 | 2026, 08 August, Thrushes, You Can Draw Submissions
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by Kevin Shank and Cheryl Shank | Aug 1, 2026 | 2026, 08 August, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Auks, Murres, Guillemots, & Puffins, Bats, Dragonflies & Damselflies, Exploring Nature, Grasshoppers and Katydids, Mushrooms, Snakes
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive August 5, the upper stage of SpaceX Falcon 9 will strike the Moon at about 06:30 UTC near the Einstein crater. Likely we won’t see it happen. Bats are beginning to migrate south. Use binoculars to look for them high in the...
by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2026 | 2026, 08 August, Articles & Stories, Hawks, Eagles, & Kites, Snakes
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Such noise! The birds were fussing, scolding, screaming, and downright hollering at the top of their little lungs, if birds holler. So much energy, so much racket.“There must be a snake,” I said to Bethany. We slipped down...
by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2026 | 2026, 08 August, Acrostic, Matching, Moon, Planets, Puzzles, Study Guide, Wildflowers
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Creative Commons licenses used: CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC-BY-SA 4.0.
by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2026 | 2026, 08 August, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Wildflowers
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Birdsong Pleasure Garden. Photo © Kevin Shank. The hummingbird clearwing moth would hardly stay still long enough for a photo. Darting left, zipping right, zooming up, swooping down—he was always in a hurry looking for the...
by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2026 | 2026, 08 August, Camp & Cabin Cookin'
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by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2026 | 2026, 08 August, Articles & Stories, Hawks, Eagles, & Kites
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive You have likely learned, by now, that a “student” Red-shouldered Hawk has kept me entertained as I prepared this issue. While I’ve heard three birds calling at once, I normally don’t see more than one at a time. He perches...
by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2026 | 2026, 08 August, Focus Illustrated
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive This is a water drop splash I captured in front of a sunflower. It illustrates the July 2026 Photo Focus lesson titled, “Capture the Splash,” by Anna Mast. Photo © Daniel Escbach.
by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2026 | 2026, 08 August, Butterflies, Moths & Skippers, Favorite Focus, Plants & Fungi, Rockets
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Last month we published this photo of a rocket fuel dump, and yesterday Esther Solum called to ask what the details were behind it. I thought it was a good question, and one that I would answer here so everyone can know.The...
by Kevin Shank | Jul 1, 2026 | 2026, 07 July, Caption This, Ungulates
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive “Dentures? Yes, they might help.”Photo © Darren Bennett|iStockphoto.com. We invite you to submit your caption for this photograph of an elk bugling. The photograph will be used on the back of the November issue,...
by Kevin Shank | Jul 1, 2026 | 2026, 07 July, Articles & Stories, The Birders' Trail, Warblers
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Swainson’s Warbler singing from a branch. Photo © epantha|iStockphoto.com. What was Cheryl telling Bethany? We were at a family reunion in Kentucky, and Cheryl was reporting a “find”—a life bird for her.I followed them...
by Kevin Shank | Jul 1, 2026 | 2026, 07 July, Butterflies, Moths & Skippers, Carnivores, Hummingbirds, Pictures and Poems, Warblers
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