View the October 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Juvenile American Robin. Photo © Kristen Stombaugh. “CHIRP! . . . CHIRP!”What kind of bird sounds like that? I wondered.I was in waist-high grass a...
The Birders’ Trail
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...
To Hear a Kentucky
View the July 2023 Nature Friend Magazine By mid-June most of our warblers are feeding young, quietly flitting about gathering food. Except for early in the day, their songs are few and far...
Spring Brings the Birds
View the June 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Ladder-backed Woodpecker. Photo © Josephine Dyck. Melodious notes herald the coming of spring at my home in western Texas. Doves, grackles, meadowlarks,...
Meeting Mrs. Nightjar
View the May 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Photos © Clement Martin. Africa’s sun poured all its fury on my head, bleaching my hair whiter still. My three Ugandan friends, my two younger brothers, and...
Spring in the North
View the April 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Pileated Woodpecker. Photo © Lois Tschetter. Spring is returning to the North. We know because it’s April—late April, in fact. But the scene out the window...
The American Bittern
View the March 2023 Nature Friend Magazine American Bittern. Photo © Shalom Shirk. Climbing off some logs in our pond, I didn’t expect the pleasant surprise God had in store for me.Wait! What was...
Our Hoary Redpoll Pursuits
View the February 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Hoary Redpoll. Photo © Simonas Minkevius/Dreamstime.com. Two years ago, the winter brought some unusual birds to us from the North country. One of these...
Winter Warbler Wonder
View the January Nature Friend Magazine MacGillivray's Warbler. Photo © Cheryl Shank. I reread the checklist comments: “Potential MacGillivray’s or COWA/MOWA…Found and photographed better the next...
Honk! Quack!
View the December 2022 Nature Friend Magazine Snow Geese flying. Photo © Matt Anderson/Dreamstime.com. One sunny day we decided to go to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area. After driving a ways,...
Chasing Whoo?
View the November 2022 Nature Friend Magazine Long-eared Owl. Photo © Dreamstime.com. Ice-crusted snow crunched, warning the woods of the coming intruders. Blue Jays screamed somewhere. “Are they...
H’owl You Get Rich?
Long-eared Owl. Photo © Matt Amstutz. Brrr. My arms trembled. My hands shook. I strained to steady the lens in the -10° C (14° F) chill. But was it the cold making me shiver? Or was something like...
The Big Catch
Great Blue Heron eating Northern Pike. Photo © Lelund Shaum. The morning was beautiful as Mr. Heron made his merry way to the swamp called “Shining Waters.” He was hoping to satisfy his growling...
Full-fledged Pest Controllers
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Photo © Kevin Shank. One sunny late spring morning Mr. Gray, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, hopped cheerfully about in the lush green bushes and trees on Oasis Ranch. His sunshiny...
Summertime Search
One warm summer day, my cousin and I had a contest to see who could find the most kinds of birds, animals, trees, plants, or leaves. We met at the trail that led into the woods. Our backpacks were...
