Shorebirds

Big Day Birding

Big Day Birding

Canada Warbler. Photo © Dogwood Ridge. On May 13, 2022, my brother and I, along with five others, joined my grandfather on a big day birding trip. My grandfather, Andrew Troyer, keeps an annual big...

Spring Migration Photo Contest Honorable Mentions

Spring Migration Photo Contest Honorable Mentions

Least Bittern. Photo © Peter Shirk, 16. Barn Swallow. Photo © Alva Steury Jr. Rufous Hummingbird. Photo © Alvin Clair Auker. Great Blue Heron. Photo © Gabriel Schneider. Pileated Woodpecker. Photo ©...

In Search of Spring

In Search of Spring

Great Horned Owlets. Photo © Kevin Shank. My sister Malinda and I teach in a school in northern Indiana. One evening last spring, we visited one of the school families. We knew they often went back...

Spring Dog Birding

Spring Dog Birding

American Woodcock. Photo © Kevin Shank. The second week of May came, and so did the warblers and other migrating species. I had spring fever. Spring, Galen, warblers—all three—go hand in hand, so...

Exploring Nature, May 2022

Exploring Nature, May 2022

Ruffed Grouse eggs hatch in Virginia in late May. You may see them cross a forest road, if you drive through their habitat.May is peak migration for shorebirds at Cape May, New Jersey.The spring...

Exploring Nature, March 2022

Exploring Nature, March 2022

Snow trillium. Photo © Kevin Shank. Snow trilliums bloom mid-March to early April. This trillium was photographed near Franklin, West Virginia, March 21.Sharp-tailed Grouse are displaying on...

A Day to Remember

A Day to Remember

The hands of the clock showed 11:30 p.m. on December 4, 2020, when I was shaken free of the irrational nonsense that filled my dreams and was brought me back into the world of wakefulness, which was...

Crocodiles

Crocodiles

A crocodile basks in the sun on the banks of the Nile River. He has just eaten, so he will probably not need to hunt again for a long time. He sleeps, undisturbed. He looks like his name—crocodile....