The eastern part of Hydra doesn’t hold quite as many outstanding deep-sky targets as the western half of the constellation, but there are several objects here that are worth taking the time to find…
Articles & Stories
Dealing with Deer
When I began gardening on my own over a decade ago, I never imagined that my greatest difficulty in achieving a harvest would be the herds of beautiful white-tailed deer that rambled through our farm…
Photograph the Series
One of the most rewarding mornings I’ve spent photographing wildflowers happened not because I photographed a lot of species, but rather because I took a series of photographs…
Western Hydra
Hydra holds a diverse array of telescopic targets. The constellation contains several beautiful double stars, as well as a fairly bright planetary nebula, a globular star cluster, a bright open star cluster, and a fine barred spiral galaxy…
In Search of Ducks!
After some awkward minutes trying to figure out flippers—how to secure them to wading boots, walk with them, and maneuver them through the tiny leg openings in “the boat”—I was back in the water. A few feet from shore my feet could no longer touch the bottom. I was off…or was I?
Wacky Woodcock
Does it seem to you that the woods is full of hidden eyes…like, there are things in the woods watching you that you can’t see? I encountered a pair of those hidden eyes one day while I was sitting in a blind hoping to photograph a drumming grouse.
From the Editor’s Quill, April 2025
I’ve been eager to read the submissions that came in for the Trails and Tales contest. Finally, the deadline came and it was time to dig in…
Ransacked!
Someone or something seemed to be sabotaging our efforts to create an arrangement of colorful flora. Yesterday, my brother’s petunias had vanished, and today, my sister’s violets were the victims. So far, my flowerpot had remained untouched—but for how long?
Wondernose: What tree has dead bark that’s very useful to man?
Ordinarily, dead bark would be the part of a tree left rotting in the woods after the valuable parts have been harvested. Not so with our mystery tree. The bark gets harvested, and the rest of the tree is left standing!
In the Heart of My Tree
Nature enchants me.
But I am not a birder.
Nor a stargazer.
Nor a leaf-ologist.
I looked for poetry
in all of these.
I was eluded.
And then I found it—
a charming cadence—
In the Heart of My Tree
Exploring Nature, April 2025
Morels…migrations…and more. Nature highlights for April!
Peanuts in Pennsylvania?
I carefully shelled the 100 peanuts he had given me and planted them in the makeshift greenhouse on the south porch around three weeks before last frost… Last off all comes the best part…enjoying cheap peanuts.
The Secret Lives of Night Herons: Nature’s Twilight Fishermen
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Black-crowned Night Heron. Photo © Allen Shank. As the sun dips below the horizon and most birds settle in for the night, another shift of hunters emerges...
One-In-a-Hole
Strong, gusty winds moved through our area early on Good Friday morning, even bringing a skiff of snow before daylight.After lunch, my son David, grandson Paul, and I hiked to the golf course that...
It’s Spring!
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive “For lo, the winter is past…the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come.” (Song of Solomon 2:11, 12)Yes, spring needs an...