A deeply nasal “wank, wank, wank” issued from an oak tree next to the pine and I was struck with the pleasant thought that I was suddenly sharing the forest with a white-breasted nuthatch, a unique ...

I lied to my family and told them it was somebody else.” At the end of that year, Anna told Dr. Phil that Mama June had stolen her reality TV earnings, leaving her with a $17.89 in a savings account ...

Small, round and bouncy, they never fail to draw attention.  They’re family Paridae, the vocal and acrobatic passerines that across the pond are known as tits. In North America, of course, they’re our ...

Robin and fox sparrows arrive in the first few days of April. If the weather is extra nice, they may push things and come back a few days early in late March. The first spring robin is a bit of a ...

Among the chickadees at the feeder, Diane Birdsall was surprised to see a brown-backed (chestnut-backed) chickadee. A first ...

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – As snow settles on the ground and temperatures drop, it’s easy to think most animals are doing what plenty of people do—curling up somewhere warm and waiting out the freeze.

Our old golden retriever settled at my feet and fell asleep on the already-warm pavement. I heard the sound of my early-bird neighbor’s lawn mower and caught a whiff of freshly cut grass. There was no ...

Some places make you work for it, and then reward you so spectacularly that you forget you ever complained about the journey. Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park in Freeport is one of those destinations ...

Beady black eyes on a striped, tilted head blink up at me, and then back to my tasty gifts. Tiny claws delicately grip the tips of my fingers as the little mountain chickadee sorts through the pile of ...

Nothing holds him back.” So when the school’s annual talent show rolled around last year, Samuel wanted to demonstrate his ...