View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Milky Way over Straker Lake. Photo © Steven Russell Smith. The Milky Way is a very ordinary-sounding name for an extraordinary subject. It describes the...
Articles & Stories
In Our Skies, September and October 2026
A calendar of astronomical events
Opportunity Day
I had been discouraged about birding this spring, until that morning…
Skunk Spray Go Away!
It was with less humor and more odor, that we dutifully prepared a skunk story for Nature Friend, that evening in 2008…
What Is a Hug From God?
“Let’s go for a walk!”
Ah! I used to be a part of that…
An Occul What?
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Moon and Venus, June 17, 2026. Photo © Adrian and Kevin Shank. “Did you hear there will be an occultation?”“An occul what?”“An occultation! The Moon will...
A Raid by Slave-making Ants
Come, look! The ants are “beating the war drums.”
Spider-watchers
On the front porch post is a bluebird box. The bluebirds raised two broods in that box this summer. Now they are done nesting, and the box serves another purpose…
Exploring Nature, August 2026
Nature highlights for August
Birding at Nature Friend
Such noise! The birds were fussing, scolding, screaming, and downright hollering at the top of their little lungs, if birds holler.
Water Works
Let’s try a few fun water projects.
Scutum
Scutum, the Shield, is a small constellation that lies along the summer Milky Way, just south of the Summer Triangle…
Birdsong Pleasure Garden
Why mow, when you can convert the space into a fun garden?
Lessons From the “Students”
You have likely learned, by now, that a “student” Red-shouldered Hawk has kept me entertained as I prepared this issue…
Capture the Splash
Photographing Water Splashes with Minimal Equipment View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Water droplets. Photo © Anna Boggs. Utterly bored, I stared out at the blinding snow until my eyes...