Mallard | Nature Friend Magazine

Honk! Quack!

by Titus Nierwienski | Dec 1, 2022 | 2022, 12 December, Articles & Stories, Birds, The Birders' Trail, Waterfowl - Geese, Swans, Ducks, Loons, Grebes

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, we stopped and watched an assortment of ducks in some mud puddles. But...

Whooping Crane Wonders

by Ellie Tayler | Oct 1, 2022 | 2022, 10 October Bonus Readers' Issue, Articles & Stories, Birds, Cranes, Waterfowl - Geese, Swans, Ducks, Loons, Grebes

Whooping Crane. Photo © Dreamstime.com. Dawn broke clear and cold on a gorgeous autumn day. The date was October 27, 2021, and it would be a day to remember. My siblings, my mom, and I drove 1½ hours in the early morning to the Horicon National Wildlife refuge in...

A Week by the Creek

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...

We Like Water Wildlife

by Mary Ella and John Mark Ramer | Sep 1, 2022 | 2022, 09 September, Articles & Stories, Birds, Plants & Fungi, Water Life, Waterfowl - Geese, Swans, Ducks, Loons, Grebes, Wildflowers

Marsh with wild phlox. Photo © Dogwood Ridge. The twists and turns of the Big Spring are a water-life paradise. Flowing, rippling watercress and waving mosses grow in the waters. The clear “ok-a-ree!” of the Red-winged Blackbird wafts frequently from the cattail...