by Kevin Shank | Mar 1, 2023 | 2023, 03 March, Articles & Stories, From the Editor's Quill, Puzzle, Scavenger Hunt
View the March 2023 Nature Friend Magazine
by Kevin Shank | Feb 20, 2023
— through my lens. (Submit large .jpeg files.)— through my brushes. (Submit originals or large .jpeg.)— through my pens. We are choosing the month of March as the basis for a contest. We have readership throughout the world, so some of you experience March as warm...
by Kevin Shank | Nov 1, 2022 | 2022, 11 November, Birds, Cardinals, Tanagers, & Allies, Contest, Learning By Doing, Mailbox
View the November 2022 Nature Friend Magazine
by Kevin Shank | Oct 1, 2022 | 2022, 10 October Bonus Readers' Issue, Articles & Stories, Contest, Insects & Arachnids, Plants & Fungi, Wildflowers
by Kevin Shank | Sep 26, 2022 | 2022, 09 September, Articles & Stories, From the Editor's Quill, Mammals, Puzzle, Scavenger Hunt
by David Allgyer | Sep 1, 2022 | 2022, 09 September, Articles & Stories, Birds, Warblers, Woodpeckers
Prothonotary Warbler. Photo © Dogwood Ridge. The adventure started at dawn. The young birders still slept. The lovely smell of honeysuckle braced the morning. As the early rain squall dripped to quiet stillness, a green blur shot around the corner of the brick house...
by Eugene Martin | Sep 1, 2022 | 2022, 09 September, Articles & Stories, Birds, Blackbirds, Orioles, Meadowlarks, Butterflies, Moths & Skippers, Contest, Freshwater, Insects & Arachnids, Sparrows, Thrushes, Warblers, Water Life, Waterfowl - Geese, Swans, Ducks, Loons, Grebes
Stream and wild lupines. Photo © Dreamstime.com. With a last cautious effort, the sun finally peeked over the eastern horizon. Gaining confidence, it rose fully, flooding the earth with its warmth and light. The mist covering the vales protestingly writhed in an...
by Ezra Looy | Sep 1, 2022 | 2022, 09 September, Articles & Stories, Birds, Contest, Finches, Crossbills, & Grosbeaks, Hawks, Eagles, & Kites, Nuthatches, Owls, Warblers, Woodpeckers, Wrens
Blue-winged Warbler. Photo © Dogwood Ridge. Before I started my twenty-four-hour birding adventure, I knelt beside our creek and looked into the water. As I did, I prayed for a successful birding day, and I thanked God for the opportunity to do this contest.To start,...
by Kevin Shank | Aug 23, 2022
Choose a wildflower and media, but be forewarned—color sells. It is really hard to beat color. And be creative. We encourage you to make your flower fun to view. Consider the setting—should it be a simple portrait of the blossom, or should it have a critter? Should it...
by Kevin Shank | Aug 19, 2022
We want your stories, puzzles, or Learning by Doing lesson about insects or arachnids. Could be sugaring or black-lighting for moths, visiting flower gardens, microscopic pursuits of insects, rearing caterpillars, etc. Can include your art and photos. Use your...
by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Butterflies, Moths & Skippers, Contest, From the Editor's Quill, Insects & Arachnids, Puzzle, Scavenger Hunt
by G. Allen Gustafson | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Birds, Contest, Hummingbirds
Female Anna’s Hummingbird. Photo © G. Allen Gustafson.
by Alva Steury Jr. | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Birds, Contest, Warblers
Northern Parula. Photo © Alva Steury Jr.
by Jason Yoder | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Birds, Blackbirds, Orioles, Meadowlarks, Contest, Covers
by Melvern Martin | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Birds, Contest, Warblers
Cerulean Warbler. Photo © Melvern Martin.
by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Birds, Contest, Herons, Egrets, & Bitterns, Hummingbirds, Shorebirds, Swallows, Warblers, Woodpeckers
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 © Jarrett Martin. Hairy Woodpecker. Photo © Josiah Olson. Green Heron....
by Daniel Murray | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Articles & Stories, Birds, Blackbirds, Orioles, Meadowlarks, Chickadees & Titmice, Contest, Hummingbirds, Kingfishers, Waxwings
Spring Migration Bird Contest Grand Prize It is a typical Monday morning at work in mid-May. The weather has finally dried out following the wettest April on record, and the sun is trying to peak through the clouds. I am trimming and cabling a large Bloodgood maple in...
by Karen Mast, 17 | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Articles & Stories, Birds, Contest, Herons, Egrets, & Bitterns, Nightjars, Shorebirds, Sparrows, Warblers, Woodpeckers
Spring Migration Bird Contest 1st Place
by Kevin Shank | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Birds, Blackbirds, Orioles, Meadowlarks, Contest, Covers, Warblers
by Blake Zimmerman, 12 | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Birds, Contest, Finches, Crossbills, & Grosbeaks, Story Contest, The Birders' Trail, Vultures
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 full of field guides, binoculars, and lunch. Our plan was to stay in...
by Galen Williams, 17 | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Birds, Contest, Shorebirds, Story Contest, Warblers
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 off I launched toward the closest woods. A good neighbor owned the woods...
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 Estella See, 14 | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Contest, Mammals, Story Contest
Baby baboon eating banana. Photo © Estella See, 14. On a hot, sunny day in Uganda, Africa, we set out to visit the baboons. Many baboons live in the big forests near Tororo, and it was always an exciting adventure to go visit them.As the road entered the forest, we...
by Andrea LaBelle, 16 | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Birds, Contest, Hawks, Eagles, & Kites, Kingfishers, Story Contest
It was the beginning of warmer weather, when the changing day length tells birds to begin their migration back north.This is a time that my family looks forward to, not only because we enjoy the warmth, but because we like the birds.Yes, birds.We have a pond in our...
by Weston Martin, 12 | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Contest, Mammals, Story Contest
One summer day when we had some visitors, we spied a little squirrel up in the treetops right next to our house. It was not much bigger than a chipmunk. Someone ran to get the field guide, and we decided it was a southern flying squirrel. That was a surprise, for most...
by Kelsey, 8, and Blake, 6, Stoutjesdyk | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Astronomy, Contest, Galaxies, Meteors, Story Contest
Once upon a cool August evening, our family happened to be camping in a dark, open area near Jasper, Alberta, Canada, where we had an amazing view of the sky.One evening, something caught our dad’s eye. He looked up to see a shooting star streak through the sky....
by Mark Hochstetler, 14 | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Birds, Contest, Story Contest, Swallows, Thrushes
Eastern Bluebird and Tree Swallow. Photo © Dreamstime.com. “Chee! Chee! Chee!” The strident notes eddied through the open living room window and pricked my ears. I dropped The War for Mansoul, which I was reading this noon break, and strode to the window. What was...
by Galen Horning, 8 | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Birds, Contest, Finches, Crossbills, & Grosbeaks, Story Contest
Common Redpoll. Photo © Dreamstime.com. My sister looked out the window and asked, “Is that a redpoll?”We all ran for the window. By then the birds had all flown away, so we had to go over to another window. Soon we saw the birds on a little snow pile.My sister said,...
by Christopher Raber, 10 | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Birds, Contest, Fish, Hawks, Eagles, & Kites, Story Contest
by Kevin Shank | Apr 5, 2022 | 2022, 04 April, Birds, Contest, Owls, Waterfowl - Geese, Swans, Ducks, Loons, Grebes, Woodpeckers
First Place Winner Great Horned Owl. Artwork © Lynette Miller, 17. Second Place Winner Wood Duck pair. Artwork © Reuben Miller, 16. Third Place Winner Red-bellied Woodpecker. Artwork © Laura Smucker, 15.
