In the dark hours of morning, the first snow fell, unannounced and unpredicted. Barely a dusting, it whitened the ground and stuck in the crevices of tree trunks. Read the Full Story >>
Doug Pifer
Doug Pifer is an artist, naturalist, and writer. He has a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Penn State and has been an editor and art educator. His illustrations have appeared in various books and magazines and he has been a contributor to The Observer for several years. He lives with his wife and assorted animals on 5.7 acres in a historic farmhouse near Shepherdstown.
The Butterfly and the Pawpaw
I had seen zebra swallowtails before and had long admired them. Smaller than the big yellow tiger swallowtail, the zebra has sharply triangular forewings, dramatic tail streamers, and a bold, racy pattern of black and white. The white seen up close is actually very pale green. Two crimson and two blue spots adorn the hind wings just ahead of the streamers, and two crimson stripes run along the underside of the hind wings. All these longitudinal stripes enhance their streamlined look. Their beauty is unsurpassed. When half a dozen zebra swallowtails land close together in the wet mud near our mailbox, it looks like a butterfly bouquet. Read the Full Story >>
As The Crow Flies: The Hayfield Deer
The fence builders said they saw a small spotted fawn there as they worked. After we moved into the house in August, we saw it feeding and playing there every day. Other deer jumped the fence, grazed, or bedded down beside it for a while, and then jumped out. But the fawn stayed. Summer progressed. She grew bigger, lost her spots, but stayed on. We knew she was female because she squatted to pee. While we saw her daily, she never seemed bothered by us as we went about our business. Even our dogs seemed to ignore her. Read the Full Story >>