“What are you looking at, Father?” Joanna asked. She had just returned from the sink where she had swallowed a dose of cough syrup. Staying home from school was boring, and Father’s figure, leaning...
Articles & Stories
Wondernose: What tree has needles and cones like an evergreen, yet sheds its leaves in the fall?
Tamarack trees. Photo © Chloe7992|Dreamstime.com. Tamarack! You answer promptly, Wondernose, and you are correct. Another name, larch, would have been equally correct. Larch is the name used mostly...
Birds…of a Different Feather
Male Great Frigatebird. Photo © Guenterguni|iStock.com. When we hear the word bird, our mind’s eye might see a songbird, a duck, or maybe a parrot—a familiar creature with wings, beak, head, tail,...
In Our Skies, November 2023: Meteor Showers
As Earth orbits the Sun, it passes between the Sun and the outer planets. Each time Earth passes between the Sun and another planet, that planet is said to be at opposition. This is because, from...
Distant Starlight
Leo Triplet. Photo © Morris Yoder. As always when we learn more about God’s wonderful creation, we face mysteries that are hard to explain. It reminds us that the larger the sea of knowledge, the...
Bird Suet Recipes
Suet TreatMelt together:—1 cup lard—1 cup unsalted peanut butterAdd:—2½ cups oats—2½ cups cornmeal—Raisins, nuts, birdseed “Zick Dough” SuetMelt together:—1 cup lard—1 cup unsalted peanut...
Yielding Seed After His Kind
I like seed catalogs! There are few pastimes more pleasurable in a January snowstorm than to curl up in front of the wood stove with a steaming mug and a stack of seed catalogs. Of course, seed...
Composition Considerations
Now that you have a subject in your viewfinder, what makes a pleasing composition?The answers will vary, and usually there is not a right/wrong way. First of all, what is being photographed? If it...
In-Depth Binocular Buyer’s Guide
If you're an outdoor enthusiast and have not yet invested in a good pair of binoculars, you may be wondering where to start. With a wide range of options available, how do you choose the right...
I’m Hungry!!!!
Juvenile American Robin. Photo © Kristen Stombaugh. “CHIRP! . . . CHIRP!”What kind of bird sounds like that? I wondered.I was in waist-high grass a couple of yards from an electric fence when I...
A Peek Into an Apiary
I stared at the thermometer. “Eighty degrees. That’s a little warm to be in the sun, don’t you think?” I asked Mom.“It’s perfect weather to check the bees,” Mom assured me as she filled her bucket...
Wondernose: What animal has the biggest families among the mammals—up to twenty-one in a litter?
You say your dad’s sows sometimes have even more piglets than that at a time? All right, Wondernose, I’m not thinking of domesticated animals. And our mystery animal is much smaller than a sow....
Otters in the Pond
View the October 2023 Nature Friend Magazine River otter. Photo © Landewarphotography/Dreamstime.com. One nice, sunny midsummer morning my dad told me to go back to the pond and start our irrigation...
You Can Draw a Canada Goose
Rabbits Revealed
Eastern cottontail. Photo © Dreamstime.com. As I stepped out the shop door, a rabbit streaked out from under my feet. I stopped in my tracks and backed slowly into the shop. After telling Dad, I...