View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Male Superb Fairywren. Photo © Andrew Allen|CC-BY-4.0. In the brush, a male Superb Fairywren sat fluffing his feathers, occasionally pausing to chatter...
Articles & Stories
Packrat Treasures
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Bushy-tailed woodrat. Photo © Melani Wright|Dreamstime.com. So often when people hear the word “rat,” they shudder and think of the big black rats in the...
In Our Skies, September 2023: Annular Solar Eclipse
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine You’ve probably noticed that the Moon appears larger when it lies just above the horizon. This is just an optical illusion. However, the Moon actually...
Measuring the Universe—How Astronomers Try
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Stellar parallax diagram. The claims that modern-day astronomers make about the size of the universe seem almost unbelievable. To better understand the...
Learn About Straight-line Light
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine When I was a boy, I enjoyed making tents. I liked to use covers to make cozy tents with rooms and doorways. So if you enjoy making tents too, you will...
Aquila
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Aquila, the Eagle, is a mid-sized constellation that lies right along the summer Milky Way. Aquila is always fairly easy to find, but locating it is...
Lighting for Lightning
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Lightning flickered in the west. Invisible waves of wind rocked the treetops. Would it rain? The dry ground could use it.“If there is a storm tonight,...
Rock Wren Record
View the September 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Rock Wren. Photo © Zack Abbey / CC-BY-4.0. The parking lot was full. People milled around, all carrying binoculars, spotting scopes, or cameras. We...
“Zzuss!”
View the September 2023 Nature Friend Magazine “Zzuss—zzuss…” The alarm call rings through the silent forest. A bird, startled, leaves his branch and watches from a new perch. “Zzuss, zzuss, zzuss!”...
Wondernose: What animal is half cat and half weasel?
View the September 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Now, Wondernose, you must understand I’m not saying our mystery animal actually is part cat and part weasel. I am only describing what it looks like....
Weeds—How to Manage Them
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Mankind’s struggle with weeds is almost as old as life on earth. Since the very first man, almost all of those who have been involved in producing food...
Hummer Delights
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Ruby-throated Hummingbird nest. Photo © Kevin Shank. I perched on scaffolding, twenty feet above a quiet country road. Across the road, Roaring Creek...
Wondernose: What animal has most of its stomach in its legs?
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Sea spider. Photo © Francesco Ricciardi/iStock.com. That’s almost too weird to be true, isn’t it, Wondernose? But we don’t make up these stories. Let me...
One Busy Mom
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Female Common Grackle feeding a fledgling. Photo © Olivia Seger/Dreamstime.com. Out in the sunny yard, a Common Grackle flies toward the cedar shrub....
Weird and Wonderful—Beech Blight Aphids
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Beech blight aphids. Photo © Andrewasmith1/Dreamstime.com. “What is that?”My family spends a lot of time in nature, so we ask that question many times...
