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Fading glory

May 31, 2015 - It was warm, almost hot this afternoon, and after my granddaughter and daughter-in-law headed back north, I piled my plu...
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The skipper parade starts

May 30, 2015 - On a beautifully sunny day—perfect weather, if not for the looming drought (several days of solid rain would be even mor...
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Yellow flags unfurled

May 29, 2015 - One of the surest signs that May is drawing to a close is the appearance, in a bewildering array of colors, shapes, and...
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Dot, dot, dot-tails

May 28, 2015 - After several years on the hunt, odonates have become something of an obsession... a magnificent and productive one, to...
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Attracted to purple

May 27, 2015 - The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, which arrived at the beginning of May, are now firmly in residence and, no doubt, on egg...
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Pretty in Pinxter

May 26, 2015 - In the litany of gorgeous spring flowers, Rhododendron periclymenoides is certainly at the top of any 10 Best list. This...
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For Memorial Day

May 25, 2015 - We always "march" to the town's Memorial Day parade, which traditionally kicks off at 10 in the morning and involves alm...
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Fishy tradition

May 24, 2015 - Between putting together a rhubarb-strawberry-ginger crisp and trying to get all my camera gear in good shape for an aft...
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Babies at the nursery

May 23, 2015 - I had to head to the supermarket this afternoon, but before I made it over there, I stopped at the Henne refuge for a qu...
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A genuine pearl

May 22, 2015 - The Phyciodes group of butterflies—a.k.a., the Crescents—are found mostly south and west of us, but one species, the Pea...
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Low-rent gems

May 21, 2015 - I fell in love with Tree Peonies—a misnomer, since they don't get more than six feet high—at first sight. I can't exactl...
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The baskettails

May 19, 2015 - The baskettails, a group of dragonflies that are nestled within the Emerald clan, are among the first odonates to take t...
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Along came a spider... wort

May 19, 2015 - I awoke to one of the sweetest sounds in the world: the splash of rain. We've been in a steadily deepening drought, so I...
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Hover craft

May 18, 2015 - Before I trekked today, I did a quick tour of the backyard, and, with what I spotted—great new dragonflies and butterfli...
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Damsel undistressed

May 17, 2015 - I have been looking for damselflies, those more-slender cousins of dragonflies, for about a week, and this morning, the...
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Larch renewal

May 15, 2015 - The American Larch, Larix laricina, is one enigmatic evergreen. In fact, it really isn't right to call it by the same ov...
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Out of the canopy

May 14, 2015 - Red-eyed Vireos are among the noisiest of singers, drawing constant attention to themselves with a sweet song that is us...
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Gone to seed

May 14, 2015 - I have to give grudging admiration to the Dandelion, that much-maligned, often poisoned, and mostly unloved weed that mo...
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Bluebird of nastiness

May 13, 2015 - So there I was, atop Babcock Ridge, my camera in one hand, my homemade parabolic microphone rig in the other. It was abo...
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Oriole at last

May 11, 2015 - I was walking by the millpond, en route to my daily obsession—checking the natural world for the appearance of odonates—...
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Elfin identified... I think

May 11, 2015 - I went back to the Bell Cedar Swamp refuge in the early afternoon to try to spot more odonates, but, except for one quic...
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Blazing ferns

May 10, 2015 - Sadly, neither I nor my wife have living mothers to honor on what would be their day, so, since my wife basically loathe...
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Knowing jack

May 09, 2015 - One of my all-time favorite flowers started appearing in the wetlands over the past few days when an arrowhead of Arisae...
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No rue-ing allowed

May 08, 2015 - I'm pretty sure I have never rued a good walk, and today, even though a kind of rue figured heavily in my latest journey...
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Ode to spring

May 07, 2015 - We spent much of the morning and early afternoon at a funeral for a wonderful friend of my mom's—a dear woman we grew up...
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She comes on like a rose!

May 06, 2015 - In my generally misspent youth, I was a rock 'n roller—the lead singer of a band that most certainly was a legend in our...
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Lepidopteran punctuation

May 05, 2015 - I thought today would be the first dragonfly day, and I headed out to the Henne preserve hopeful of coming home with the...
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Gracing the forest floor

May 04, 2015 - Wood anemones are not especially large. They're certainly not rare. And I suppose that very few people even notice them...
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The hummers are back

May 03, 2015 - I put the snazzy hummingbird feeder that I received for my birthday last year up on my May 1 birthday this year, and yes...
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The rising of the green

May 02, 2015 - Canada Mayflowers aren't the first green to rise out of the ground—that honor would have to belong to the Skunk Cabbage—...
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