Author: Mike Dunn
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Swarm
To a degree seldom grasped even by entomologists, the modern insect fauna has become predominantly social. ~Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson, The Ants. I had too much to do on such a beautiful weekend, but I did manage a stroll through the woods on Saturday. I checked on the status of a small population… Read more…
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A Speck of Gold
You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you. ~ Andy Warhol Walking out the door yesterday, I looked down and saw a speck of gold. Funny thing was, it was on the back of an odd-looking fly. I stooped to take a closer look, fully expecting it to… Read more…
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A Rose-y Spring
What strong colored fellows, black, white, and fiery rose-red breasts! ~Henry David Thoreau They’re back…it will only be for a couple of weeks, but I will enjoy every minute of it. Saturday morning, I saw my first Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the season. Uncharacteristically, it was a female (males usually arrive first in their travels north… Read more…
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Dog Plant
For myself I hold no preferences among flowers, so long as they are wild, free, spontaneous. ~Edward Abbey A neighbor sent me a plant ID request a week or so ago asking if I knew the name of a wildflower she had seen on her property. The picture she sent showed some large basal leaves… Read more…
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That Has Got to Itch
The frog says, times fun when you’re having flies! ~David Bankson Earlier in the week I was walking around the yard doing a little filming to help with a project on the importance of native plants (see Hometown Habitat). I was using the 500mm telephoto and a 1.4 teleconverter in hopes of getting some birds,… Read more…
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Chippies
What a clean, pert, dapper, nervous little fellow he is! How fast his heart beats, as he stands up on the wall by the roadside, and, with hands spread out upon his breast, regards you intently! ~John Burroughs in his essay entitled, The Chipmunk, 1900 Okay, I may be biased, but Eastern Chipmunks have got… Read more…
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Yard Tour
April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks Go. ~Christopher Morley It happens every year. Things start changing so fast in the spring woods that I can’t quite keep up. There are also the chores associated with spring – fixing up stuff around the house, getting the garden prepped and planted, and so… Read more…
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Blending In
When we see leaf-eating insects green, and bark-feeders mottled grey, the alpine ptarmigan white in winter, the red-grouse the colour of heather, and the black-grouse that of peaty earth, we must believe that these tints are of service to these birds and insects in preserving them from danger. ~Charles Darwin Yesterday, while working in the… Read more…
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Dawn Chorus
Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark. ~Rabindranath Tagore One of the things I love about early mornings here in the woods is the sound of sunrise. Much of the usual background noise of distant traffic and barking dogs has not yet started, so what you… Read more…
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FOY Story
One who reviews pleasant experiences and puts them on record increases the value of them to himself; he gathers up his own feelings and reflections, and is thereby better able to understand and to measure the fullness of what he has enjoyed. ~Edward Grey I have recorded my observations of nature on and off for… Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 