People might say a crow is a crow, but in the Potomac and Shenandoah Valley, when you see a crow it could be one of three different species. By far, the most common is the American crow, followed by the slightly smaller Fish crow. Occasionally a Northern raven will join them. All three species nest here and can be seen all year. But they’re more evident and easier to see in winter. Read the Full Story >>
Appreciating Nature
Local voices share observations, experiences, and thoughts about the living world that surround us and the many ways to connect with and enjoy nature.
Tracing the Travels of Saw-Whet Owls
The caravan of cars reached the top of South Mountain. A couple-dozen riders emerged into the night, bundled into parkas and wearing winter coats. As we inhaled crisp November air, our ears were blasted with a continuous amplified recording that sounded like a big truck backing up. Read the Full Story >>
Bringing Back Bobwhite Quail
On our wall hangs an ammunition poster printed in the 1940s featuring a crouched rabbit and ten Bobwhite quail. Painted by sporting artist Lynn Bogue Hunt, it celebrates bygone days when hunting was a favorite fall pastime. Read the Full Story >>
Welcome Back, Bob White!
The whistled call, “Bob-White,” is seldom heard here anymore. But that may be about to change. Interested farmers and landowners in Virginia and West Virginia now have an opportunity to bring the cheerful little quail back to their original habitat. Read the Full Story >>
Rough-Wings Are Somber Swallows
I saw my first rough-winged swallow when I was a teenager fishing along a creek in western Pennsylvania. I thought it wasn’t much to look at. It had a graceful swallow shape, but otherwise it was plain and dull. Skimming low over water catching insects along with other swallows, a rough-wing lacks their polished plumage and contrasting, iridescent colors. The back, head, and wings are wood-brown and the throat is drab, shading to gray on the chest and sides. The belly is a dirty, brownish white. Only the undertail feathers are dazzling white. The black, shiny bill looks very short, even for a swallow. Read the Full Story >>
Swan Pond Attracts Wintering Waterfowl
A sign beside Route 45 says: “1.5 miles north is Swan Pond Manor, a 2,000-acre retreat set aside in 1745 for use of Thomas Lord Fairfax, once the proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia who established an estate at Greenway Court, Frederick County in 1738. So named because wild swans inhabited [the] site.” Read the Full Story >>
Audubon Remains America’s Premier Bird Artist
John James Audubon was a French immigrant who adopted nineteenth-century America as his home. Early on, he resolved to roam the country hunting and drawing birds. “Audubon” has become synonymous with birds and conservation, but few today appreciate his indefatigable genius. Read the Full Story >>
Snowfall Reveals a Fox’s Hunting Methods
Several inches of snow blanketed the ground when I went to the barn to feed the animals. Snow stuck to every branch, stem, and twig, but my eye caught a glimpse of movement in the buffer of trees along the stream. Ducking behind the barn to avoid detection, I glimpsed a red fox about to spring into the air and pounce on a mouse. Read the Full Story >>
Otters Are Back in our Rivers
Once common throughout the United States, river otters were heavily trapped during the nineteenth century when tall hats were in style for classy European and American gentlemen. Beaver and otter felt was the standard material for such hats. Otter became the ultimate standard for durability against which all other furs were compared. Read the Full Story >>
Grassland Nesting Birds are Disappearing
Eastern meadowlarks used to be common birds in local hayfields. Now they’re on a growing list of field-nesting birds—bobwhite quail, vesper sparrow, American kestrel, and red-winged blackbird—whose numbers have seriously dropped. Now you can drive though the countryside and never see any of them. Read the Full Story >>
Song of the Wood Thrush
Wood thrush song sounds like cathedral organ music to me. Muted by distance, it’s even sweeter. It invokes childhood evenings in June seated on a porch step, enchanted by an unknown birdsong coming from the neighbor’s woods. Read the Full Story >>
After 20 Years—a Purple Martin Colony!
For over 20 years, my wife and I have wanted purple martins to nest where we lived. We bought books about attracting martins. I set up a wooden, three-story purple martin house with the proper measurements and studied the best places to attract the birds. I made white-painted gourd houses, hung them from a telescoping pole the proper height above the ground, and installed a baffle to deter climbing raccoons and other predators. Read the Full Story >>
A Winter Bird Walk at the National Fish Health Laboratory
I recently toured the grounds of the National Fish Heath Laboratory, a beautiful facility in Leetown (WV). There are numerous freshwater ponds, a natural wetland, and a woodland trail. The Fish Health Lab belongs to the U.S. Geological Survey. Grounds are closed to the public except by appointment, and visitors must be accompanied by a member of USGS staff. My host was staff member Heather Walsh. I came to familiarize myself with the place so I could help lead a winter bird walk there later this month with the Potomac Valley Audubon Society (PVAS). Heather has been leading nature activities with various organizations for the past year—part of an educational outreach program to the public. Read the Full Story >>
Your Neighborhood Wren
As the sun broke through the rain clouds recently, a Carolina wren sat on the arm of a wooden yard chair next to our big forsythia bush, singing for all he was worth. His wet and molting feathers looked bedraggled, but the sun was shining, his mate was perched nearby, and all was right in his world. I love wrens. They go cheerily about their business hunting spiders in shadowy places, tails cocked upwards, wings quivering, and eyes aglitter. Hereabouts, we have the house wren, the Carolina wren, and the winter wren. Two others, the marsh wren and the sedge wren, are less often seen. Read the Full Story >>
Stories in Tree Bark Announce More Than Just the Season
The big tulip tree in the front yard has beautiful bark. Like most mature trees, its bark has deep furrows or cracks, but is smooth in between. The fractures in the corky bark surface interconnect like chains in a wonderful pattern. On the widest part of the trunk, next to the ground, lichens and mosses Read the Full Story >>