I believe it is a chicken bone!

Nature

End of the Trail, December 2023: Waterfall

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Waterfall at Old Man's Cave. Photo © John Friesen.

Water Wonders

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine My Chosen Spot Contest Honorable Mention The birds of Pennsylvania are a lot different from the birds of New Mexico. Pennsylvania is where this story took place, and New Mexico is where I live.On Monday, I went on a hike...

The Escapade

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine “Slow and steady wins the race,” I rehearsed to myself for the who-knows-how-many-eth time as I inched my way around the splendid oak. With my chin to the horizon I searched determinedly, hoping to catch sight of the...

Creation Close-ups, December 2023

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Mailbox, December 2023

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You Can Draw a Cardinal

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From the Editor’s Quill, December 2023

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Study Guide Puzzles, December 2023

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My Chosen Spot Illustrated

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine My Chosen Spot Contest Honorable Mention

You Can Draw a Mallard Submissions

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Covers, December 2023

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Deep Sky Surprises

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine M78. Photo © Dogwood Ridge. Anxiously I scanned the sky as I stepped outside the door. Supper was over, and I was headed to the barn to do some chores. Darkness was falling across the valley, and several stars were...

Beavers on the Susquehanna

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine My Chosen Spot Contest Second Place Winner Beaver swimming. Photo © Mirage3|Dreamstime.com. Hopefully this week I’ll see a beaver, I thought as I sat by the Susquehanna River near a beaver lodge in the bank of an island. I...

Wondernose: What animal’s name has become a verb meaning “hunt” or “search”?

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine This kind of thing happens a lot with our language, Wondernose. Take, for instance, the word “balloon.” You know what a balloon is, but can you also tell me what the word “balloon” means when used as a verb? That’s right....

Pictures & Poems, December 2023

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Bird Feeder Word Search

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine My Chosen Spot Contest Honorable Mention

A Week at My Chosen Spot

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine My Chosen Spot contest Grand Prize winner Immature Red-vented Bulbul. Photo © Samuel Ching. When I saw the announcement in the July Nature Friend about the “My Chosen Spot” contest, I knew I should write about our...

Let’s Take a Hike, December 2023: Woodpeckers

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Male Hairy Woodpecker (top) and female Downy Woodpecker (bottom). Photo © Alan Schroeder.

Wonders of the Night

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine My Chosen Spot Contest First Place Winner A gray rain spattered dismally down on the dripping earth. Forlorn rivulets of water trickled through little gullies in the soil and were lost in the larger rushing streams of the...

Invisibles, December 2023: Bighorn Sheep

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Covers, December 2023

Dec 1, 2023

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Let’s Take a Hike, December 2023: Woodpeckers

Dec 1, 2023

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Male Hairy Woodpecker (top) and female Downy Woodpecker (bottom). Photo © Alan Schroeder.

The Escapade

Dec 1, 2023

Birds

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Covers, December 2023

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Let’s Take a Hike, December 2023: Woodpeckers

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Male Hairy Woodpecker (top) and female Downy Woodpecker (bottom). Photo © Alan Schroeder.

The Escapade

A Week at My Chosen Spot

My Chosen Spot Illustrated

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine My Chosen Spot Contest Honorable Mention

Pictures & Poems, December 2023

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Creation Close-ups, December 2023

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You Can Draw a Mallard Submissions

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You Can Draw a Cardinal

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Water Wonders

My Chosen Spot

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine My Chosen Spot Contest Third Place Winner Bobcat. Photo © Hotshotsworldwide|Dreamstime.com. The pond? The tree stand? Some place along the creek which meanders through the wood? So many, many lovely nature nooks—how could...

Bird Feeder Word Search

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Magazine My Chosen Spot Contest Honorable Mention

Study Guide Puzzles, December 2023

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Favorite Focus, December 2023

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Ruffed Grouse. Photo © Lois Tschetter. Bald Eagle. Photo © Brandon Hollinger. Black-capped Chickadee. Photo © John Leck. Blanca Lake. Photo © Nathan Leinbach. Frost patterns on soap bubble. Photo © Rosalie M....

Bird Suet Recipes

View the November 2023 Nature Friend Magazine 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 butterCombine:—2 cups unmedicated...

Favorite Focus, November 2023

View the November 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Pine Warbler. Photo © Weston Martin, Greencastle, PA. Photo © Peter Shirk, New Columbia, PA. Eastern lubber grasshopper. Photo © Abigail Russell, Austin, TX. Green darner dragonfly. Photo © Colette Barrett. Letchworth...

Let’s Take a Hike, November 2023: White-breasted Nuthatch

View the November 2023 Nature Friend Magazine White-breasted Nuthatch. Photo © Anna Boggs.

Yellow-bellied Bully

View the November 2023 Nature Friend Magazine I think some birders have feeding stations simply because they enjoy watching for unusual birds or unusual behavior.Recently we had a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers coming to our suet log—one fairly large and the other...

Snowbank Rescue

View the November 2023 Nature Friend Magazine “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 at the window, caught...

Creation Close-ups, November 2023

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Covers, December 2023

Dec 1, 2023

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Insects & Arachnids

Mailbox, December 2023

Dec 1, 2023

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Water Life

Our Month of March

May 1, 2023

View the May 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide I probably laughed out loud when I saw this foot-in-the-mouth shot. I have no idea where the “foot” comes from. Is it part of the critter? Many of you are...

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Plants & Fungi

Yielding Seed After His Kind

Nov 1, 2023

View the November 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide 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...

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Reptiles & Amphibians

Creation Close-ups, September 2023

Sep 1, 2023

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Astronomy

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Mailbox, December 2023

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Deep Sky Surprises

Andromeda

View the December 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Andromeda Galaxy, M31. Photo © Shaphan Shank. Andromeda is one of those ideal constellations that is easy to find, and that contains a wide variety of outstanding telescopic targets. The main part of Andromeda is a...

From the Editor’s Quill, November 2023

View the November 2023 Nature Friend Magazine As I write this, no doubt some of you are looking forward to next Saturday when the October 14, 2023, annular solar eclipse takes place. Right now, the prediction is for us to have clouds that day. Whether or not we get to...

Mailbox, November 2023

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In Our Skies, November 2023: Meteor Showers

View the November 2023 Nature Friend Magazine 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 our perspective on Earth,...

Distant Starlight

View the November 2023 Nature Friend Magazine 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 greater the boundaries of...

Lacerta

View the November 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Lacerta, the Lizard, is a small and little-known constellation that lies along the band of the Milky Way right between the constellations Cygnus and Cassiopeia. Although its stars are all rather dim, its zigzagging...

Aquarius

View the October 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Helix Nebula, NGC 7293. Photo © Allexxandar/Dreamstime.com. Aquarius is a sprawling constellation that stretches across nearly 40° of the southern sky on autumn evenings. This constellation lies south of the Great Square...

Favorite Focus, October 2023

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In Our Skies, September 2023: Annular Solar Eclipse

View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine You’ve probably noticed that the Moon appears larger when it lies just above the horizon. This is just an optical illusion. However, the Moon actually does vary in its distance from Earth because its orbit is eliptical....

Measuring the Universe—How Astronomers Try

View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Stellar parallax diagram. The claims that modern-day astronomers make about the size of the universe seem almost unbelievable. To better understand the tremendous distances they’re describing, we could imagine shrinking...

Aquila

View the August 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Aquila, the Eagle, is a mid-sized constellation that lies right along the summer Milky Way just south of the zenith on September evenings in the mid-northern latitudes. Altair, the brightest star of Aquila, marks the...

2023 Annular Solar Eclipse Viewing

View the August 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide When?Saturday, October 14, 2023. Annularity reaches Oregon’s Pacific coast at about 9:13 a.m. PDT, and moves southeast, exiting into the Gulf of Mexico off the shores of Texas at 12:03 p.m. CDT.Where?All of North and...

Rocket Signs

View the July 2023 Nature Friend Magazine The January 2022 article for this column showed ways to tell the difference between meteors, airplanes, and satellites in the night sky. This month we are explaining some of the phenomena associated with rocket launches. There...

End of the Trail, July 2023: Northern Lights

View the July 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Photo © Todd Salat. When I first saw this splendid photo on Spaceweather.com, I knew I wanted to use it to illustrate an article touching on various phenomena some of you, our readers, have seen and inquired about.Mr. Todd...

Hercules

View the July 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide M13. Photo © Reinhold Wittich/Dreamstime.com. Hercules, the Strongman, is a large constellation that lies straight east of Bootes, the constellation we focused on last month. If you imagine a line connecting Arcturus and...

Creating a Milky Way Panorama

View the July 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide There are few things more beautiful than a breathtaking landscape or nightscape—especially one that includes the Lord’s incredible Milky Way! A panorama enhances everything we love about landscapes, because panoramas show...

Favorite Focus, July 2023

View the July 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Northern lights as seen in Kansas. Photo © Thaddeaus Magley. Fireflies. Photo © Steven Russell Smith. It looks to me like Steven Russel Smith’s creative juices were working overtime again. Let this picture sink in; then see...

Mailbox, July 2023

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Wondernose: What tree has needles and cones like an evergreen, yet sheds its leaves in the fall?

Nov 1, 2023

View the November 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Tamarack trees. Photo © Chloe7992|Dreamstime.com. Tamarack! You answer promptly, Wondernose, and you are correct. Another name, larch, would have been...

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Exploring Nature

Exploring Nature, May 2022

May 1, 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...

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