by Cheryl Shank | Sep 1, 2023 | 2023, 09 September, Articles & Stories, Birds, Cuckoos, Fairywrens
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine Male Superb Fairywren. Photo © Andrew Allen|CC-BY-4.0. In the brush, a male Superb Fairywren sat fluffing his feathers, occasionally pausing to chatter his sweet, rollicking song. His actions were regularly interspersed with...
by Judy Kauffman | Aug 1, 2023 | 2023, 08 August, Birds, Waterfowl - Geese, Swans, Ducks, Loons, Grebes, You Can Draw Lesson
View the August 2023 Nature Friend Magazine
by Kevin Shank | Mar 1, 2023 | 2023, 03 March, Art Contest, Birds, Blackbirds, Orioles, Meadowlarks, Contest, Herons, Egrets, & Bitterns, Hummingbirds, Owls, Pictures and Poems, Shorebirds, Stilts and Avocets, Waterfowl - Geese, Swans, Ducks, Loons, Grebes
View the March 2023 Nature Friend Magazine
by Cheryl Shank | Jan 1, 2023 | 2023, 01 January, Articles & Stories, Birds, The Birders' Trail, Warblers
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 day. Confirmed MacGillivray’s.” The words sparkled with...
by Myron Martin | Jan 1, 2023 | 2023, 01 January, Birds, Matching, Puzzle
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by Ryan M. Kurtz, 13 | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Birds, Contest, Finches, Crossbills, & Grosbeaks, Story Contest
Baby House Finch is only slightly aware of his surroundings. Instinct tells him he must get out! Frantically he pecks at the shell imprisoning him. At last he lies back, exhausted. After a short rest, he is at it again. He pecks and pecks for what seems like hours....
by Seth Good, 8 | Mar 3, 2022 | Articles & Stories, Birds, Cardinals, Tanagers, & Allies, Nuthatches, Pigeons & Doves, Sparrows, Thrushes, Waterfowl - Geese, Swans, Ducks, Loons, Grebes, Woodpeckers, Wrens
Sunday dawned a beautiful morning. The first birds I saw were cardinals—male and female. There were Chipping, English, and House Sparrows at the feeder. Out the kitchen window I saw a Junco and a Mourning Dove. At the feeder there were now starlings and Brown-headed...
by Eugene Martin | Feb 8, 2022 | 2022, 02 February, Articles & Stories, Birds, Chickadees & Titmice, Contest, Finches, Crossbills, & Grosbeaks, Hawks, Eagles, & Kites, Vireos
Sharp-shinned Hawk. Photo © Kevin Shank. Slowly I walked down beside the row of trees—binoculars, field guide, pen, and paper in my hand, drinking in the beauty of the predawn morning. A killdeer called even before I got to my secluded little circle beside the placid...
by Jonas Esh | Jan 10, 2022 | 2022, 01 January, Articles & Stories, Birds, Learning By Doing
House Wren. Photo © Kevin Shank. Find a wall-mount porch light.Take the top off.If the wiring is still in the light, tear the wiring out.Take the panes of glass out.Spray the panes of glass with spray paint. Any color will do. I used gold for mine.Find a piece of...
by Carolyn Nolt, 16, East Berlin, PA | Mar 29, 2021 | 2021, 03, March, Articles & Stories, Birds, Contest, The Birders' Trail
It just feels like snow out here, I thought. Low-hanging gray clouds filled the sky like an oppressive blanket. Not a breath of air stirred the few maple leaves scattered on the ground. Even the woods seemed strangely silent. I pulled my coat tighter around me and...
by Ethan Pluimer, 11, Sherwood, WI | Mar 25, 2021 | 2021, 04, April, Birds, The Birders' Trail
Black-necked Stilt. Photo © Birdiegal717/dreamstime.com. One warm June afternoon, my friend and I were birding at Horicon Marsh Wildlife Area. Horicon is an extremely large marsh, and rare birds often show up there. I had come well-prepared, and I expected to see a...