NatureRemains

The thin, green strip has been mowed again—that narrow band of grass and weeds that runs in the few feet of unplowed land on either side of the lane that I walk along each day. Chicory, Cichorium intybus The danger in letting it grow, I have not quite determined, for nothing woody remains along the field's edge—nothing that, if not cut severely back each month, would soon overtake the road. Yet the tractor trims it harshly. On rural land, nothing must grow unbound. Each chicory, each great... Read Full Story

The Great Borer Expedition II A journey into the untamed brush of southern Ohio in pursuit of the Amorpha Borer, a seldom seen longhorned beetle, described by the few who have found it as ‘the most beautiful insect in the world.’ The Team (in alphabetical order) Even when she’s without her favorite hat, Heather Aubke wears her reputation well. She's the Indiana Jones of the volunteer naturalist crowd. Often found with her nose-to-the-ground while camera-stalking an interesting bug, an... Read Full Story

Marblehead Light This may not be the image that first pops into your mind at the mention of the word Ohio . Ohio’s a Midwestern state, right? Farmland boasting fertile fields of both corn and beans, a hint of hill country to the east where the Appalachian plateau rises from the Ohio River Valley, and Columbus situated at its center—including, of course, the sprawling campus of The Ohio State University, where, this time each year, thousands relapse into a case of Buckeye Fever that... Read Full Story

My hummingbird is happy for the change…in me. A newly cleaned and freshly filled reservoir hangs, brimming with cool nectar, in what feels like September’s first fall breeze. I’d gotten lazy in my tending of the small, plastic globe suspended from the eave of the upstairs front porch and blamed, instead, the awful August heat for the mildew-blackened holes and clouded liquid of the neglected hummingbird feeder. The demands of summer ran away with me. Carefree hours spent on the porch... Read Full Story

I had just made the last trip outside for the night, flipping on the porch light and grabbing the few remaining items from the clothesline across the yard. Glad that I’d caught them before the heavy summer night could leave its cool dampness with them once more, clothes in hand, I moved mindlessly toward the back door, already falling into sleep. The sounds from the woods and field, strong and rhythmic, buzzy, buggy--on any other night would have lured me into the darkness for one last pass... Read Full Story

Prothonotary Warbler in Wet Woods I recall a brief greeting several years ago in an exchange one spring afternoon beside a boardwalk. “The prothonotary has returned!” he said. But as I stepped onto the wooden-planked path looping the lake at our local nature center, the excitement this announcer had hoped to read on my face as he joyfully told me of his discovery was clearly absent. I didn’t know this bird and, although I might have been able to conjure up a vague image in my mind from... Read Full Story

Like many others, I’ve been kept off the trail for days by this extreme heat--a wave so wide-ranging and long-lasting that I’m hard-pressed to find a direction to explore, a place escaping the blanket of humidity that, each day by dinnertime, catapults the heat index well above 100 degrees. Waiting out its wrath from within my air-conditioned cocoon, the only exercise I’ve undertaken in these last days has been little more than wading through a backlog of images. Twig-rush, Cladium... Read Full Story

Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea The Midwest Native Plant Symposium brought together a combination of botanical experts, local native plant vendors and plant/nature enthusiasts for a weekend of wild activities of all sorts. Mornings began with bird walks, just as the sun was making its way onto the sprawling greenscape of Mount Saint John . As anyone with an interest in our birds or bugs soon discovers, they owe their existence to an intimate connection with our native plants as well... Read Full Story

Excuse me, while I ramble, but being off-task is something I do well--something that, no matter how earnestly I try to walk that straight and narrow path, always takes me on a detour. I eventually find my way back, but not without having pored cover-to-cover over multiple field guides, browsed internet images, and consulted the text, once again. In the end, I am better for my effort. But, the process isn’t linear, by any means. I zig and zag my way through each and every outing. My interest... Read Full Story

The face beyond the windowpane, drawn to the light from within, bumps noisily head to glass, as I, on the other side, peer carefully nose to glass, drawn to the darkness of this night, and look out to see who’s knocking. This is a Reddish-Brown Stag Beetle, Lucanus capreolus , and his fearsome appearance at your window on a balmy summer night might cause you to wonder what his intentions are. Who’s he after with those long, elbowed antennae and over-sized mandibles? He looks quite the brute... Read Full Story