Far Afield
Bert wrote a widely-read column essentially every week for forty years, encouraging people to observe, understand, enjoy, and protect birds and other wildlife.
Bert began writing his column in the Jackson Hole News on June 11, 1980, called Birds of Jackson Hole. In 2002, the Jackson Hole News and the Jackson Hole Guide merged to become the Jackson Hole News & Guide. His column became known as FAR AFIELD. These early columns are available by subscription at newspapers.com and for searching at the Teton County Library.
Bert wrote more than 2000 columns. What follows is 719 links to Bert’s column from March 23, 2020, going back to April 21, 2006. These are the columns available on the jhnewsandguide.com website. To read these columns you must have at least a digital subscription to the Jackson Hole News and Guide for $60 per year ($48 for seniors).
On March 25, 2020, the Jackson Hole News and Guide had to temporarily suspend the FAR AFIELD column and many other columns as a cost-saving move in response to COVID-19. But people are still sending their observations of birds and other animals that are being compiled by the editors and others and published as Field Notes.
To search this page, type Control-F in your browser.
Links to Far Afield Columns by Bert Raynes
2020 03 23 Nature-watchers: Welcome back the Cassin’s finch Among the many welcome sights each spring are Cassin’s finches. Here’s something I wrote about this species in 1983.
2020 03 18 Spring is the time to brush up on finches Don’t be surprised if some afternoon very soon the snow fields on the mountains and buttes have that silvery-shiny spring-now look, because Cassin’s finches are returning.
2020 03 11 Winter quickly fades, birds return singing A certain stirring in our world, a little excitement. A positive welcoming.
2020 03 04 Build a house welcoming to birds In the United States, about 50 species of birds have been known to nest in man-made birdhouses, species as varied as house wren and wood duck, bluebird and screech owl.
2020 03 02 Birdhouse dimensions for various species
2020 02 26 Gregarious grosbeaks make room for finches The red squirrel who has been dominant at our feeder for months had some other business for a while one morning last week, and so a few birds had a fair chance. Nine evening grosbeaks came first. Then two mountain chickadees and a couple of juncoes even.
2020 02 19 Slow, prickly rodent smells good to dogs None of the stories about or descriptions of porcupines that I recall ever mentioned this about porcupines and dogs: Porcupine smell (or odor) is simply irresistible to dogs.
2020 02 12 Christmas birds are easier to count than an Iowa caucus By golly, seems like a bunch of this good ole boys out in I-O-Way need to have a computer instead of an adding machine to find out how many voters they had.
2020 02 05 Rod Drewien lauded for work with cranes Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative Director Ben Williamson and President Susan Clark have announced a lifetime achievement award for Roderick C. Drewien.
2020 01 29 Goldeneyes are here, so here is some info At this time of year you can hear the sound of the wings of ducks, especially goldeneyes, as they fly overhead at dawn or dusk. The sound is usually faint, but if you can hear it, it should impress.
2020 01 22 Clark’s nutcrackers are seed specialists They were called Clark’s crows not long ago, and in these parts it’s not unusual to hear people call them that today.
2020 01 15 Eagles are becoming a common winter sight Many eagle sightings currently in the valley.
2020 01 08 Making bird teeth from mice embryos Well, you just never know what you might see when you go out to look at birds. One day it was a porcupine.
2019 12 31 Jackson Hole Christmas Bird Counters tally up their sightings Jackson Hole’s 50th Christmas Bird Count, Dec. 21, attracted a record 69 participants, with 56 species recorded to date.
2019 12 24 You never know what you’ll see in the wild Well, you just never know what you might see when you go out to look at birds. One day it was a porcupine.
2019 12 18 Solitaires deliver song most any season Townsend’s solitaires make vertical migrations from higher elevations to lower ones and back.
2019 12 11 Winter birds are arriving for the season Did you know winter is a good time for bird watching?
2019 12 04 Wandering blue jays catch birders’ eyes Previously known as an Eastern backyard bird, the range of the blue jay is expanding northwest.
2019 11 27 Americans still have much to be thankful for So many difficulties, troubles, events, tragedies and problems in our country today — in the world. Coming fast and furious, reported on incessantly, as in an avalanche. So many that the average American, if not directly involved and preoccupied, can at times fail to recognize and remember how great it is to be an American.
2019 11 20 Look up: the clouds are all around you Among the many statistics not readily to my hand is the average number of days each year that are cloud-free over Jackson Hole.
2019 11 13 Trumpeter and tundra swans fly for winter grounds Seen any swans lately?
2019 11 06 Abnormal visitors swoop into Jackson Hole in the fall When an out-of-range bird shows up, it’s fun to try to see it.
2019 10 30 Some names suit birds perfectly The latest crop of bird sightings made me think back to this “Fieldnotes” column from the Nov. 8, 1989, edition of the Jackson Hole News:
2019 10 23 Whip up some Finch Fries or just fill your feeders With cold, snow and rain, bird lovers get to wondering how to help our feathered friends make it through the winter.
2019 10 16 Airborne arachnids follow windy destiny And this day balloon spiders have chosen to migrate.
2019 10 09 Jackson Hole keeps changing yet still feels like home “It’s not the same, but it’s home.”
2019 10 02 Dark muzzles popping out of water often means river otter Around these parts — Jackson Hole — you might see a dark muzzle pop up out of even a small irrigation ditch. The odds are river otter.
2019 09 25 Dragonflies make a mystery appearance Notice any dragonflies lately?
2019 09 24 Hummingbirds can’t walk (and other fun bird facts) Listen up, children, for some facts about hummingbirds.
2019 09 18 Fun bird fact: hummingbirds can’t walk Hummingbirds cannot walk or hop, though they can use their feet to scoot sideways while perched.
2019 09 11 Leaves dry and birds move on as fall nears It’s Sept. 8 … maybe the 9th. Trees are touched with yellow along the river.
2019 09 04 Fall stirs thoughts of Anasazi and fireweed There’s a legend about the Anasazi, the vanished Ancient People known once to have to have occupied much of this continent’s Southwest.
2019 08 28 Look, but don’t touch, the mystery nest The bird’s nest that local Mary Gerty pointed out was lying beneath a mature cottonwood tree.
2019 08 21 When those in office fail, we citizens should take note A lot of people take that part of the Constitution, at least, seriously and present themselves as acceptable to occupy that office. Sadly, a terrifyingly large percentage of men and women who feel themselves qualified under the Constitution to run for president do not believe this same Constitution applies to the rest of us citizens.
2019 08 14 Bats are actually nifty little critters A recent report of a Grand Teton National Park visitor being bitten by a rabid bat calls to mind some past writings about bats.
2019 08 07 Wherever your travels take you, take a full canteen of water Who would’ve ever predicted that everyone, everywhere would have a water bottle — reminiscent of a baby’s feeding bottle — always at hand? Not me, that’s certain.
2019 07 31 Those pesky blackbirds Coming back to blackbirds again, here are some words I’ve previously written about blackbirds of this region.
2019 07 24 Bird silhouettes aid in identification In the frontispieces of his field guides to birds, Roger Tory Peterson presents ‘roadside silhouettes’ of several dozen birds as one more aid in identification.
2019 07 17 Let’s all show a little respect to the magpie Since I admire magpies and understand that animals basically go about the business of survival of themselves and their offspring as their evolution directs and without either evil intent or moral suasion, I’m always taken aback whenever someone expresses a dislike or even hatred of them.
2019 07 10 Quick winged hummers brighten summer In Jackson Hole, hummingbirds are most often noted and are easiest to see in July and August.
2019 07 03 Oh-so-common robins are worth a birder’s notice Here’s something I wrote about robins in a 1999 Far Afield column in the Jackson Hole News:
2019 06 26 With eggs hatching birds need their space Nesting season is in full swing. Thirty-nine years ago I wrote the following in my “Birds in Jackson Hole” column:
2019 06 19 Forget the calendar, the pewee marks start of summer Today is the first day of summer. I take my clue from the western wood-pewee. When that flycatcher returns and begins to call, it’s summer for…
2019 06 12 Birds sing love songs to potential mates Birdsong. Another facet of bird study a person could make a career out of or a lifelong hobby. (It helps if you can hear very well, although t…
2019 06 05 Foxes in the Hole may be fur farm escapees At times, around 100 years or so ago, some early settlers in this region created fur farms. As with all farming it’s hard to make a living; al…
2019 05 29 Tanagers have a look like a tropical visitor Here’s something I wrote a while back that seems right for this week, too.
2019 05 22 Birders tally 70 species in weekend count This spring’s migration is pretty darn good.
2019 05 16 A pelican holds more in its bill than its gut Pelicans are huge. Few birds are bigger; some of those that are can’t fly.
2019 05 08 Pick up trash, plastics to keep birds healthy World Migratory Bird Day celebrates protected birds: “Be the solution to plastics pollution.”
2019 05 01 Prep feeders, houses for returning birds In a particular spot here in Jackson’s Hole a suet feeder hangs in winter and a hummingbird feeder lives from May into September. It’s a spot …
2019 04 24 The new spring brings swallows and beauty The bird, mammal and flower sightings I’ve been hearing about put me in mind of something I wrote in one of my books.
2019 04 17 Snow in April is part of spring’s tug-of-war The recent weather reminded me of something I once wrote about April in Jackson Hole.
2019 04 10 Birds indicate change in nature and season A while back — say, 50 years ago — back when the prevailing weather in Jackson Hole was changing from cold and wet to warm and dry, so were bi…
2019 04 03 Creatures come out as buds start to burst One day white stuff come, stay long time. One day white stuff starts to go away. What does it all mean?
2019 03 27 Signs of a new spring are starting to sprout Vernal equinox, coinciding with a beautiful super full moon, occurred March 20. Which is to say, spring arrives any day now.
2019 03 20 Bald eagles and ravens play together up high Earlier this month two budding bird-watchers, Shannon Dale and Tom Turiano, noticed a bald eagle and a raven on a platform intended for an osp…
2019 03 13 Ravens pair up, preen and celebrate spring On March 10, a tableau right out my window. Sitting together, a male and a female raven. I’m pretty certain they are a pair because the male w…
2019 03 06 Cold and deep snow doesn’t deter birds In and around Jackson Hole the winter of 2018-19 has been snowy at last.
2019 02 27 Downhill bug hunts work for nuthatches If you feed small birds and you live near the woods you may be visited by a white-breasted nuthatch.
2019 02 20 Search for seeds, bugs brings in rosy finches This past week birdwatchers Nancy Shea, Ron and Kai Gessler and Jen Hoffman reported small flocks of rosy finches in Kelly and on Henry’s Road. People have been expecting to see some by this time of winter in the Hole. Here’s why: “Winter brings rosy finches down from the timberline of the high mountains of the Northern Rockies to the valleys and onto the basins and plains in search of seeds and occasional insects.
2019 02 13 Partridges, dippers make winter visits Every now and then in Jackson Hole a small number of gray partridge (Perdix perdix) nee Hungarian partridge nee European partridge show up and are seen locally for a while.
2019 01 30 Some color in the sky surely delights the eye This appeared in the Jackson Hole News on Dec. 28, 2000: On a chilly morning last week I ran late for my regular routine, consisting of a sprint up Snow King Mountain, a quick dip in Flat Creek and a couple of hours of intensive aerobic physical therapy.
2019 01 23 Big winter moon puts things in perspective As this column is being assembled by a merry troupe, it’s not yet known if the skies will clear and permit a view of the lunar eclipse. One time the Muse and I saw a spectacular wolf moon. I wrote about it in my book “Valley So Sweet.”
2019 01 23 Every time you look, my mountains change “My Mountains” first appeared in “Valley So Sweet.” My Mountains:On this February morning the southeastern horizon lit up with a luminous peach and yellow glow. A couple of minutes later the mountains to my west and north were touched with rosy pink, a more common illumination.
2019 01 16 Counters’ tally shows healthy bird numbers The “Tale of Two Counts” was penned by Susan Patla.
2019 01 09 As snow falls, blizzard of ‘road birds’ flies When Beverly Boynton encountered a flurry of small birds scurrying around to evade her car, she thought, rather eloquently, “It’s a blizzard o…
2019 01 03 Happy New Year’s Day, the unmovable date Holiday Season 2018 brings thoughts of other holidays, other years, as described in “Wandering Holidays” from my book “The Curmudgeon Chronicles.”
2018 12 27 Even if we can’t tell, the season is shifting A reflection from New Year’s past, an entry from “Valley So Sweet”:
2018 12 19 Eagles, ducks, ravens star in the bird count Susan Marsh, the Jackson Hole Christmas Bird Count coordinator, compiled these very preliminary results from the Dec. 16 bird count. Other not…
2018 12 12 Christmastime birds ready to be counted The annual Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count is coming up this Friday through Saturday. This will be the 119th iteration of one of the largest an…
2018 12 05 Big birdbrains recall their winter caches The black-capped chickadee coming to your feeder or accompanying you on your oversnow outing has, of necessity, two feeding strategies. In war…
2018 11 19 Looking at look-alikes among feeder visitors Here are some bird ID tips I shared in a previous column:
2018 11 19 Snow teases us a bit, then it’s really here A reflection from the recent past, an entry from “Valley So Sweet”:
2018 11 14 Big bird, small bird, light bird, heavy bird The question is: “What is the biggest webfooted bird?”
2018 11 07 Love your chickens, but keep it to a peck Election 2018 is over. I hope you’re satisfied. More importantly, I hope I’m satisfied.
2018 10 31 An Eastern blue jay drops in for a drink Migrant Eastern blue jays are not as rare in Jackson Hole as they were 30-plus years ago, and here may be another one. Cathy Poindexter, who l…
2018 10 24 Dressed up or down, everyone should vote On TV this past Sunday there appeared a guy — surely a celebrity — going to vote, wearing his tuxedo. And a big grin. He said that since he re…
2018 10 17 Resources are finite; let’s not be madmen Almost a half-century ago Gladwin Hall, pioneer environmental reporter for The New York Times, wrote a book titled “Madman in a Lifeboat.” It’…
2018 10 10 Dippers dive for food, sing on coldest days Shannon Dale sometimes hikes up the old Teton Pass Road to Crater Lake. Her rewards are plenty: exercise, wildflowers, mountain air and some b…
2018 10 03 Soft frog trills float up from the ground Herpetologist Deb Patla, who studies amphibians and related critters in Grand Teton National Park and beyond, offered some insight into observ…
2018 09 26 Autumn: Leaves fall and cows mother up Sometimes when I think about what to write, earlier compositions come to hand. And sometimes I figure I can’t do better. Here are two from “Va…
2018 09 19 Fall makes birds act a little funny at times On a very recent morning I was a little surprised to spot two adult bald eagles sitting side by side on a tree limb often used by eagles as a …
2018 09 12 Where are the nuts? Ask the nutcrackers They were Clark’s crows for a long time, named after Captain William Clark, who first recorded it along the Clearwater River in Idaho. They lo…
2018 09 05 As September arrives, summer moves uphill Now is the time, if you’re able to, if you are capable of it, to get up to the higher elevations. To treeline. To high mountain meadows, to wh…
2018 08 29 Making the big jump into the the blue sky Almost all of our birds, whether resident or migratory, have completed their nesting chores. Some have begun to flock together before departing…
2018 08 22 These days I’ll settle for a memory walk Last week I was bestowed with the Murie Spirit of Conservation Award.
2018 08 15 Report a rubber boa if you come upon one The August issue of Wyoming Wildlife Magazine has a worthwhile article about the rubber boa that is found in our region. It’s seldom seen, par…
2018 08 08 Living is a tough test for the newest critters The following was written some time ago, but something similar could apply today:
2018 08 01 A few basic rules help in insect identification You probably know all about damselflies, locusts and moths; I had to look them up.
2018 07 25 New species of animal still wait for discovery A couple of years ago a budding young behavioral ecologist made an interesting discovery when she sat down to rest on a hike in Bridger-Teton …
2018 07 18 Wildflowers beautify peak summer days ’Tis prime wildflower time in the valley. And prime time for flowers not wild, albeit in some instances, rampant: scarlet gilia, blue penstamo…
2018 07 11 Birds unable to enjoy a lazy, hazy summer These used to be known as the lazy, hazy days of summer. Perhaps, but they are days of intense activity for most birds, for this is the height…
2018 07 04 Don’t you wish you could fly like an eagle? In Jackson Hole two eagle species can be seen: the golden eagle and, at lower elevations, at water courses, the bald eagle. Large, impressive …
2018 06 27 Robins keep it clean, carry off the waste Bird nesting activity must be peaking now in our region. This reminds me of a little riff that I dashed off a while back:
2018 06 20 When you see a tree be sure to say hello Some years ago I wrote a paean to trees. Because our trees are so vigorous and just plain green this year, I’d like to repeat it:
2018 06 13 Recalling encounters with short-eared owls A former Victor, Idaho, resident visiting Carol and Chuck Schneebeck identified a short-eared owl as it captured a vole in South Park. Here is…
2018 06 06 Divide shapes habitat of our flora and fauna I live west of the Continental Divide. The Continental Divide is a hydrographic distinction:
2018 05 30 So many charming, small, brownish birds Much as I like, admire and enjoy being in the company of birders, ornithologists and biologists, some of their offhand remarks do jar me. For …
2018 05 23 Soon it will be tough to find a bit of quiet Once upon a time I sought quiet in the out-of-doors. Nowadays I try to hear anything outdoors.
2018 05 16 The hummer squeaks, or tweets, wings hum Hummingbirds are back. Not many, but a few brave (or foolish?) ones. The urge to migrate and reproduce is irresistible.
2018 05 09 Bird boxes for birds’ delight, not humans’ So, it’s spring, and you’ve seen your first mountain bluebird, and the sap is rising, and you want to put up a bird house to attract a nesting…
2018 05 02 Snow slows migration but sure won’t stop it Hummingbirds are making their way into — and probably through — Jackson Hole this spring. I’m looking at a little snow squall as this is writt…
2018 04 25 Tree swallows have come back to the Hole Once the voice of a returning red-winged blackbird is heard, the sign of coming spring, nature watchers look for the next birds to reinforce a…
2018 04 18 No, they’re not larks, they just use the name Many people, if not most, anticipate the arrival of a particular species in the spring. The first red-wing song, the first mountain bluebird o…
2018 04 11 Orphan barn owlets in need of foster nests Three barn owl nests were exposed during routine operations in Idaho a couple of weeks ago. Photographs that appeared in this paper and its si…
2018 04 04 Starlings find a spot by being tough guys Honest. The starling is glossy purple on its back, nape and cap; is glossy green on its face, wing and underparts;
2018 03 28 Return of waterfowl signals winter’s end The cover photo for the March 20 Jackson Hole Daily is a charming Virginian rail. The photographer, Thomas Stanton, an experienced wildlife le…
2018 03 21 Changing the clock to lengthen the day It seems that more people are complaining still about the change to daylight saving time this year than ever. After all these weeks people sti…
2018 03 14 Mountain bluebirds swoop back to Hole It’s bluebird weather. In our part of the Rockies that can be a pleasant mild sunny day in mid-March or a wet sloppy melty day. Whatever. A mo…
2018 03 07 ’18 Moose Day count tallies 90 individuals Here’s an example of how an interim report ought to sound:
2018 02 28 Spring signals seen despite wintry days An essay from my book “Valley So Sweet” was written a quarter century ago, but the message is still appropriate today.
2018 02 21 Odd weather brings out-of-season birds Nature Mapping Jackson Hole is a group of volunteer citizens working collectively to create a longterm dataset containing wildlife observation…
2018 02 14 Those who catch fish don’t seem to get cold When I talked with my friend, Joe Burke, about his recent ice fishing outing with 4-H kids at the Snake River Sporting Club, I fondly recalled…
2018 02 07 Peaks prompt musing even when fogged in If you are in a hole, by definition you may expect to see mountains all round you.
2018 01 31 Birds hang on by their toes through winter At this time of year — the end of January, the beginning of February — birds start showing up about 7:30 a.m. The first birds are usually chic…
2018 01 24 Keep peepers peeled for common redpolls Around a month ago there were news stories about numerous snowy owls seen in the northeast states in what is called an “incursion.” Incursion …
2018 01 17 December bird tally turns up 59 species You’ve waited long enough for the results of the Jackson Hole Christmas Bird Count (and a brief recap of the Teton County, Idaho, Audubon count).
2018 01 10 It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a flying squirrel By Bert Raynes Seeing a flying squirrel is cause for excitement, because while they are not uncommon in this area they are seldom seen. Monica Bockman’s exci…
2018 01 03 The state of the union appears off track By Bert Raynes In January merely a dozen years ago I mused thusly, reflecting on what now we might look back on as the good old days. Look back 48 years:
2017 12 27 Bird count finds lots of eagles, 1 rare jay Words from the organizer of the annual bird count in her preliminary waiting-for-a-few-more-field-reports mode:
2017 12 20 Solstice approaches, birders tally species Here’s a little essay I wrote a while back for my book “Valley So Sweet.” Except for chickadees having returned sooner this winter and the dea…
2017 12 13 Snowless valley floor can hurt some critters Looking at a snow-free Jackson Hole valley floor in mid-December is a disturbing sight. There is a lot of snow above around 8,500 feet in the …
2017 12 06 One bird, two bird, a red bird, a blue bird The beginning of December 2017. Hard to believe the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count is just days away.
2017 11 29 Words from yesteryear still relevant today Sometimes the words coming out of the mouth of politicians are not only worth listening to but also worth repeating.
2017 11 22 Thanksgiving’s birds have a big family tree Back when the turkeys available for roasting were uniformly plump and ready for preparation, back when all a shopper needed to concern herself…
2017 11 15 Why do chukars flap when running uphill? A request of residents and visitors to our region who are fortunate enough to be able to get outdoors in our winter: Winter is the most stress…
2017 11 08 Rough-legged hawks are bound for Jackson By Bert Raynes It’s about time for rough-legged hawks to come on down to the Intermountain Region for the winter, down to what is, for them, a moderate clima…
2017 11 01 Flocks in migration never fail to fascinate Now we are in November. Somewhat late for even known bird stragglers to be migrating. However recent days that, as a layman, I would call Indi…
2017 10 25 There’s a reason they’re called ‘fool’s hen’ One ought, perhaps, to admire rather than dismiss as foolish the occasional wild animal that can still regard man with curiosity or indifferent …
2017 1018 Animals on the move in and out of the valley Why do some animals migrate? And some not?
2017 10 11 As trees shed leaves, hints of winter arrive A couple of days ago I was taken on a ride into Grand Teton National Park to see and experience … whatever. This fall the leaf color seems t…
2017 10 04 Big storms blow birds into foreign habitats On a late fall day 14 years ago a bird of the sea was found marooned in a puddle on the high school parking lot in Afton.
2017 09 27 As valley changes it’s still home Now here’s a bit of nostalgia from the near-ago, as found in my book “Valley So Sweet.”
2017 09 20 Birds linger in Tetons as autumn settles in The air has become cool and crisp, and the leaves have begun to turn. On Friday fall will officially arrive.
2017 09 13 Local plein air master honored in new book This week I want to note a handsome new book, “Plein Air Master and Mentor,” a suitable retrospective of artist Gregory McHuron.
2017 09 06 Fall settles over valley as Labor Day passes Labor Day has come and gone. How the months slip by.
2017 08 30 Birds go quiet, roost as the totality passes I hope you got the opportunity to experience the total solar eclipse of 2017.
2017 08 23 The eclipse is behind, and fall is just ahead Ah, there you are, fellow space traveler.
2017 08 16 Lewis described his woodpecker the best This summer there was a reliable report of a nesting Lewis’ woodpecker in the Gros Ventre campground.
2017 08 09 It’s a super summer for flowers and frogs A summer hike around or near Two Ocean and Emma Matilda lakes was a longed-for ritual with us at one time. Someone, after all, had to feed the…
2017 08 02 Eclipse sure to stir up emotions, snarl traffic My mind insists I’ve experienced at least a partial solar eclipse but my mind also won’t provide evidence.
2017 07 26 Wood trucks signal the sign of summer fading The abrupt, albeit expected, silencing and migration of the western wood-pewee is the surest sign summer is over. Another is the increasingly …
2017 07 19 Jackson misses colorful sky show On this past Sunday night the aurora borealis paid the U.S. a visit. Some lucky people who were up late, outdoors and looking north saw red or…
2017 07 12 Hatchlings take flight and turn into fledglings A bird’s first flight must be a real kick.
2017 07 05 The Fourth warrants thoughtful jubilation Thoughts on a July Fourth morning in 2017: “The domain of the citizen is vanishing in America, and in its absence democracy is becoming ever m…
2017 06 28 Tiny hummingbirds set the valley abuzz Hummingbirds are such wondrous creatures.
2017 06 21 Don’t let solar eclipse black out the solstice In some parts of our continent there is a big to-do about the path that a forthcoming solar eclipse will take.
2017 06 14 How to handle jams of traffic and moose It was an entirely unexpected discovery found back in 1968.
2017 06 07 A hummingbird’s life is mostly on the wing A few weeks ago, in a particular spot here in Jackson Hole, a suet feeder hung in winter and a hummingbird feeder lived from May into September…
2017 05 31 Green blankets valley, including some birds Green has somehow taken dominance on the floor of Jackson Hole, where a few short weeks ago everything was white. Folks who pay attention to t…
2017 05 24 The age of perception Every once in a while I try to write an editorial. Here is one, an oldie from 1992 that is still representative of what I believe:
2017 05 17 Spring explodes with soft green light, birds Joseph Piccoli lowered into his chair, grunted and expounded to a waiting world, “What a gorgeous world.” Words of wisdom, appreciation, antic…
2017 05 10 The song of kinglets is heard in the valley “Little King.” I refer, of course, to the nickname for each of the two kinglets in our region.
2017 05 03 Science march shows emotion leads charge Arthur Cleveland Bent, in his 1925 “Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl, Part II,” wrote of the Canada goose in a fashion that is large…
2017 04 26 Strutting grouse signal the arrival of spring Spring. Sensations from years ago: two selections from my book “Valley So Sweet.”
2017 04 19 Support, respect science, whenever you can A couple of weeks ago I thought I’d spotted a new trend in the world, one that we should all welcome. It has to do with live news television r…
2017 04 12 When spring arrives, chislers get amorous A week ago six ground squirrels, chiselers, emerged from recently snowless ground cover and interacted rather vigorously with each other. Two …
2017 04 05 Watch eaglets online, see big birds at home The following is from “A Field Guide to the Nest Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds” by Colin Harrison.
2017 03 29 It’s that time of year when things emerge Here’s a seasonally appropriate selection from “Valley So Sweet,” a book of mine that came out in 1995:
2017 03 22 Be cynical if experts cite lack of evidence Here’s an excerpt from my book “The Curmudgeon Chronicles”:
2017 03 15 Fruit-seeking waxwings have sleek plumage Seldom in storied numbers in our neck of the woods, waxwings are pleasant outdoor companions. There are two species of waxwings in North Ameri…
2017 03 08 Owls work hard to survive a hard winter Owls are temperamentally alike in behavior but differ in size. The pygmy owl in our region averages 7.3 inches in length and weighs about 1.5 ounces, while our great horned owl averages 21.8 inches in length and weighs about 53.3 ounces.
2017 03 01 Ravens can teach people how to enjoy winter Without actually counting them I’d bet I’ve written more words about ravens than about any other bird. Ravens are responding to lengthening da…
2017 02 22 Fossils reveal winged dinosaur colors Some of the following is from a column I published in December 2010.
2017 02 15 Long winters are tough on wild residents “Winter Wings” is a book in honor of some of the bird species that try to survive winter in the Rocky Mountains. A small volume, the book feat…
2017 02 01 Sometimes birds of prey hunt in parking lots Here, verbatim, is an observation from a girl named Avery Binstadt:
2017 01 25 Little robin red breast stayed for the winter A robin was first heard and then seen Thursday, Jan. 19, in Jackson (Susan Patla).
2017 01 18 Winter is a fine time for birding in Tetons This week I’ll start with something from “Winter Wings,” a book published in 2003 that features my writing and Thomas Mangelsen’s photos:
2017 01 11 Arriving just in time for a pygmy-owl meal Here’s how Susan Marsh, an experienced bird and animal watcher, author and botanist, described a face-to-face encounter recently in Jackson Hole:
2017 01 04 Signs of spring reveal themselves at solstice Here’s a New Year’s tale I penned for my book of essays, “Valley So Sweet.”
2016 12 28 Christmas bird count is diminished by cold Jackson Hole Christmas Bird Count was conducted by a cheery group of civilian scientists on Saturday the 17th. Thirty-four people went out on …
2016 12 21 Scout and refuge aid bluebirds with boxes Early results from the Jackson Christmas Bird Count are coming in. We had 34 counters this year. With only 1/3 of the people reporting this ea…
2016 12 14 Townsend’s solitaire sings a winter melody Townsend’s solitaires make vertical migrations from higher elevations to lower ones and back. Large numbers, no doubt a majority, move from th…
2016 12 07 It’s sure fine weather for annual bird count An early winter morning in Jackson Hole, windy, snowing, and the small birds have come from their nighttime roosts to the bird feeder early. J…
2016 11 30 The winter of our gourmet meal planning Americans have a lot to be thankful for. I hope you recognized enough of those bounties to let you enjoy Thanksgiving 2016.
2016 11 23 Tradition upheld: Holiday roads will be icy It’s Thanksgiving time in America, a tradition that started with the settlement of this continent by Caucasian people and was given a boost by…
2016 11 16 Most remarkable election number? 96.59 The blue-banner headline in the Nov. 9 Jackson Hole News & Guide had a lot of results of the general election in Teton County: a close mayor…
2016 11 09 Mark your calendarfor night sky shows Some predictions hold up better than others.
2016 11 02 Once election passes, the birds will remain Deadline for this column is Sunday. Publication is the subsequent Wednesday, so this column will publish before the general election.
2016 10 26 Leaves disappear, election nears It used to be unremarkable when political contests were determined and the loser would contact the winner and congratulate him or her, publicly…
2016 10 19 Despite the politics, nature presses onward Mid-October and shortly there will be an awful day. There will be shrieks and terrible noises, there will be anguished cries, there will be st…
2016 10 12 It’s sure a heck of a way to choose president Columbus Day 2016 fell on the 10th of October, the second Monday of the month. Each year it’s celebrated on a Monday in the United States, and…
2016 10 05 Just what is a bird? Think feathers, wings Rather often through the years I’ve been asked just what is a bird, after all? Pretty much the same question and I’ve probably given pretty mu…
2016 09 28 Seasons they’re changin’ and politics afoot When the autumn equinox has passed and on one afternoon both a hummingbird and a Steller’s jay show up at Becky Pedersen’s feeders in Star Val…
2016 09 21 Shrikes impale prey to eat or to impress A shrike is a songbird. Songbird refers to all North American perching birds except for a few flycatchers.
2016 09 14 Smoke is annoying but also has benefits A succession of smoke-filled Jackson Hole skies has yielded to more familiar blue Rocky Mountain skies. The smoke came from forest and range f…
2016 09 07 Birds exhibit varied charming behaviors One week six years ago I was unable to write a column. My friends at the newspaper created a column from “Birds of Sage and Scree,” a book of …
2016 08 31 Summer is waning, and ever so quickly A couple of recollections from my book ‘Valley So Sweet”:
2016 08 24 An extinction that lefta huge hole in the sky Just 30 years ago — which is to say, back when our nation’s motto was “America the Bold and Determined” and not, as it’s becoming, “America th…
2016 08 17 A century ago, a start at keeping birds alive A century minus one day ago, on Aug. 16, 1916, the convention for the protection of migratory birds was signed. It was the first treaty ever a…
2016 08 10 How far we’ve come? A long way? Shorter? Around 20 years ago I attempted a couple of short essays which appeared in my book “The Curmudgeon Chronicles.” Here they are:
2016 08 03 Smoke in the valley; and no hair in the pits There’s smoke in those there hills.
2016 07 27 Anyone can grow up to be president. Really You’ve probably noticed that our country is holding elections this November. Fellow citizens are competing for offices from which to represent…
2016 07 20 Tiny owls now seem to be not all that rare About a month ago this newspaper had a front-page article by Mike Koshmrl about flammulated owls and the owls’ surprisingly large population i…
2016 07 13 What’s the best use of government anyway? Twenty years ago my sister-in-law declaimed that I was a member of one of the two major political parties in the country. What’s more, I have …
2016 07 06 Counting your eggs — which bird wins? Editor’s note: This column originally appeared July 17, 1996, in the Jackson Hole News.
2016 06 29 Bird lovers, lawyers observe fine details If you’re going to be a successful trial attorney you have to be attentive to details.
2016 06 22 Light on feathers brings color Summer solstice is here. The longest day of the year is upon us. We enjoy the lingering twilight and the brief nights.
2016 06 15 It’s mimicry, for sure, but just what kind? Everybody, simply everybody, knows that viceroy butterflies have evolved to resemble monarch butterflies because monarch butterflies taste rea…
2016 06 08 We just call it ‘grass,’ but there’s more to it A big majority of people I connect with one way or another are commenting that Jackson Hole this spring is delightfully green. Greens of all s…
2016 06 01 Flying white fluffiesspread new tree life Not long ago it seemed to be the custom of television people on local stations anywhere in the snow belt area to talk about “the white stuff” …
2016 05 25 Hanging on the wind, waiting for a rodent A red-tailed hawk is probably in your future. Although red-tailed hawks are at the top of the food chain and thus relatively few in number, th…
2016 05 18 Don’t be the madman in the boat In 1973 Gladwin Hill was wrapping up his career as an environmental reporter — much of it was with The New York Times — and published a book h…
2016 05 11 Robins return early, get worms Let’s hear it for the American robin.
2016 05 04 Pretty painted ladies came en masse in ’91 A quarter century ago painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui) made a major migration in North America. In our hemisphere painted lady butter…
2016 04 27 A blur and a hum —another sign of spring Snippets from the ticker tape:
2016 04 20 Sharp-shinned hawk finds backyard meal Sometime Friday afternoon a winged predator took a bird in my yard. Struck, killed and ate it. Partially defeathering it and eating almost all of it.
2016 04 13 Starlings conquered a whole new continent Even if you are not interested in birds you’re likely to know a dozen or a dozen and a half species. Robins, crows, bluebirds, a few ducks, a …
2016 04 06 Spring in the Rockies means many squirrels In and around Jackson Hole there are seven species of squirrels and chipmunks: Northern flying squirrel, red squirrel, golden-mantled ground s…
2016 03 30 With spring’s arrival, birds are romancing On Thursday more than 200 citizens enjoyed one another’s company, a potluck dinner and a talk by Jason Wilmot, a wildlife biologist with the B…
2016 03 23 Rosy-finch sightings are signs of spring Seems that all it takes in these parts of the Rockies to switch thoughts of an early spring back to winter — not even later winter, midwinter …
2016 03 16 Numbers don’t always add up to good data A couple of decades ago I put together a little pocket guide, “The Birds of Jackson Hole.” At that time for the magnificent sum of $1.85 the g…
2016 03 09 Ravens and romance: It’s time to get it on Not long ago I poked around in “Ravens in Winter,” a quarter-century-old book by Bernd Heinrich.
2016 03 02 Owls in small bodies act just like big owls Among the owls that a person can see in and around Jackson Hole are the small ones. Owls that, when adult, are the size of your fist. Owls lik…
2016 02 24 Warm days, starlings suggest spring is near Take heed: Bears are out in parts of Yellowstone National Park. They can be out anywhere in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, so take your be…
2016 02 17 Astronomy grows ears, hears gravitational waves At one point in my life I entertained the notion that there were people, even scientists, who spend their time trying to prove Einstein’s gene…
2016 02 10 Citizen scientists help government studies Since Nature Mapping Jackson Hole started seven years ago more than 40,000 observations have been vetted and cataloged. Those observations are…
2016 01 27 Here’s some bird trivia to impress your pals You can never run out of interesting facts about birds. I talked about some in my Jan. 10, 1996, column:
2016 01 20 Out in the cold a duck succumbs It was cold during the remaining hours of the year 2015. From somewhere in the skies near the Snake River in Jackson Hole a duck settled on a …
2016 01 13 If ravens are so smart, why spend the winter? Can you realize it is halfway through January, the first month of the new year 2016? Can you accept how rapidly the days are streaking by? Tak…
2016 01 06 Birds best humans in chorus line behavior One thing to do or anyway to think about doing each new year is to go through old papers, magazines and clippings and throw some away. If not …
2015 12 30 Frigid weather follows good bird count day Here’s wishing you and yours a healthy, happy and rewarding 2016.
2015 12 23 Some 50 volunteers help count birds in cold Last Saturday, Dec. 19, some 50 volunteers turned out to conduct the annual Jackson Hole Christmas Bird Count. The count area is large, a 15-m…
2015 12 16 Light trickles away as solstice approaches We all have had smart ancestors. Maybe not enough of them and likely not our direct forebears, but individuals will puzzle things out pretty m…
2015 12 09 The only thing we have to fear is fear itself Woke up intent on doing an upbeat holiday column, and then the TV noise in the house mentioned that Monday, Dec. 7, was Pearl Harbor Day. That…
2015 12 02 Counting the days until we count the birds All day long on this forthcoming Dec. 19 a merry yet determined band of volunteer census-takers will be out making a count of birds in a tradi…
2015 11 25 Be thankful Thanksgiving doesn’t wander Here are some musings about the season I originally penned years ago, most recently printed in the sage 1998 volume “Curmudgeon Chronicles.”
2015 11 18 Redpolls have a way to keep a snack handy Sometimes my impression of the evolution, or at least the history, of man is that of intervals of larger followed by larger weapons. We appare…
2015 11 11 Valley floor changes overnight with snow Last week the latest JenTen production, “Far Afield: A Conservation Love Story,” premiered at the Center for the Arts. The film sold out in Ja…
2015 11 04 ‘Far Afield’ is coming to a screen near you Dear Reader:
2015 10 28 How nutcrackers keep grizzlies from hunger A Clark’s nutcracker visited one day this weekend. It stopped at two locations looking the feeding situation over. Nothing appealed. It left. …
2015 10 21 If you’re getting old, get as old as you can Here’s a compilation of thoughts from my 1998 book “The Curmudgeon Chronicles.”
2015 10 14 A chipmunk requiem as winter approaches First light reveals a dead chipmunk on the deck. An apparently intact least chipmunk but for its missing tail. Just, well … there, overnight…
2015 10 07 Opportunistic otter provides good show When you go north out of Jackson on U.S. 89 in some 3 or 4 miles you will be able to get a great view of the Teton mountains to your left. If …
2015 09 30 Fall is for lovers and leaf peekers A moose couple coupled in a neighbor’s driveway a week ago. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t witness. Not that I would have been a “gentleman” a…
2015 09 23 Wondering how much evolution affects GOP Just a week ago there was for me an interesting choice to make between two television spectacles. One was the widely ballyhooed Republican can…
2015 09 16 A roundabout query about saw-whet owls My friend was poking around at an old campsite — who knows why — up in the Gros Ventre and came across an intact jar, cover still on, and a my…
2015 09 09 Simple slogan needs some amplification There’s an outstanding slogan: A fed bear is a dead bear.
2015 09 02 Birds go somewhere when they leave here Where do they go?
2015 08 26 Democracy, smoke, and the coming fall There are certain beliefs, perhaps facts, or not, in one’s head, ready to pop forth at odd times in conversations. Or in columns. For me one s…
2015 08 19 Politicking to persist until November 2016 The other day a young adult remarked that it’s going to be painful to listen to so much politicking, such as goes on in the media now, clear u…
2015 08 12 Politics rears its head as our summer wanes It seems like only a couple of years ago when I envied political writers for their constant stream of odd events to comment on. Politicians, g…
2015 08 05 Songbirds leap nest when instinct says to Try to imagine: You’re a nestling songbird, robin-size creature or smaller. A month ago you were an egg; two weeks ago you were a helpless nes…
2015 07 29 Platforms are vital to politics, our country We U.S. citizens choose our presidents — the most powerful individuals in the world — in the damnedest way. Ugh.
2015 07 22 NASA did a great job with photos of Pluto Nothing seems to warm my cold, imperfect heart more than watching or chatting with people in love with their jobs, super enthusiastic about wh…
2015 07 15 What happened to all our Franklin’s gulls? Back in the day, say, 40 years ago, back when the town of Jackson’s Fourth of July parade’s final attraction was a county commissioner cleanin…
2015 07 08 When birds look sick, first stop feeding them Birds can be deceiving.
2015 07 01 All birds bathe, but not all bathe the same Once upon a time, long ago and in another place, I had occasion to spend 72 hours of a Midwestern summer confined to a screened-in porch. It h…
2015 06 24 Nothing says summer like crowds of rodents This morning the backyard bustled. The eye catches quick glimpses of various small animals moving about on the short grasses. They move errati…
2015 06 17 Finding a new species by the side of the road A letter to the editor that appeared in the June 3 Jackson Hole News & Guide rather summarizes the genesis of NatureMappingJH.org for me. Ca…
2015 06 10 Continental Divide is worth recognizing At this time of year the title of my 1995 book “Valley So Sweet” seems particularly apropos. Here are two chapters for your enjoyment.
2015 06 03 AJ the curlew is back from winter in Mexico There are two AJs in town.
2015 05 27 Happy 25th birthday to Hubble Telescope The superlative Hubble Space Telescope chemistry laboratory, astrophysical and astronomical observatory and galactic imaging generator was lau…
2015 05 20 Wrong place for birds is perfect for birders Around this time of year, April-May, literally billions of birds have been or are on their various migrations throughout North America.
2015 05 13 Ready to wave signs protesting anything For several weeks now I’ve had an almost irresistible urge to protest. There’s so much protesting going on everywhere against almost everything…
2015 05 06 Sexed-up sage grouse herald a new spring In springtime a columnist’s thoughts lightly turn to love and life and the riot of changes seen in nature at this time of year.
2015 04 29 Moisture from snow will help green growth May is upon us. In what seems to be an early spring, what with snow cover gone or sparse on the valley floor and lower mountain slopes, aspen …
2015 04 22 Today’s big question: Split or jump species? Today’s column was created by Susan Patla in an act of considerable kindness; she’s a busy nongame biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish De…
2015 04 15 Pelicans existed here long before any of us American white pelicans nest on inland freshwater lakes after wintering on salt water alongside brown pelicans.
2015 04 08 Reptiles, amphibians find homes in the Hole What follows came from a handout that Deb Patla, field coordinator for the Cooperative Amphibian Monitoring Project in the Yellowstone ecosystem…
2015 04 01 It’s a beautiful spring,and ahead of schedule Leafing through “Valley So Sweet” (Raynes, B., White Willow Press, 1995), one might think some of these short essays about seasonal comings an…
2015 03 25 Vanguards of spring are arriving in the Hole Here they are, and here they come — the vanguards are arriving.
2015 03 18 Offhand observations from lovers of wildlife At a recent small informal gathering of Jackson Hole folks a yellow legal pad invited comments of recent wildlife observations. Not Nature Map…
2015 03 11 Quammen will speak at mappers’ potluck Listen up, everybody!
2015 03 04 Who’s out there with those big blue eyes? It was one of those inquiries in which the search for an answer opens some interesting new facts, understandings and revelations.
2015 02 25 Trees ignore calendar but feel temperatures Jackson Hole has experienced unusual weather in February 2015.
2015 02 18 The talk of the town: a way warm winter It’s the talk of the town. Weather, that is. The weather is always a topic and in every town. In Jackson Hole this year the weather has been u…
2015 02 11 How can chickadees open all those seeds? After all these years and literally tons of birdseed and suets and hundreds of thousands of bird landings and takeoffs I watch with admiration…
2015 02 04 Ice found on the ground, in the sky as well Ice halos around the almost full moon were visible in Jackson Hole during the early evening hours of Jan. 28 and 29. As their name implies, ri…
2015 01 28 Wildlife art teaches a lot about its subjects An exhibit titled “A Parade of Plumage: Engravings by Francois Nicolas Martinet” will be up until April 26 in the National Museum of Wildlife …
2015 01 21 Hardy birds withstand Wyoming winters At this month’s meeting of the Jackson Hole Bird and Nature Club an attendee remarked that “winter is half over.” She was pleased, meaning tha…
2015 01 14 A frozen ice ball? No, we’re past that now Mid-January 2015. It’s possible now to believe days are longer. Earlier morning daylight and a hint of lingering dusk in evenings. Finally, it…
2014 12 31 Hail year 2014! Now we must yield to 2015 Preliminary results of the 2014 annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count indicate a rather ordinary count of species censused. About 40-plus so far…
2014 12 24 Yeah, you do have time to read this article In gift-giving times past I have sometimes hawked my books for consideration as appropriate candidates, along with selected books by local wri…
2014 12 17 Fickle or forthright, weather still decides Dec. 13 and the southern portion of the National Elk Refuge is essentially free of snow. To find any real snow in Jackson Hole today one must …
2014 12 10 Bird counts replace bloody Christmases tradition Here, verbatim, is the first invitation to census birds at Christmas rather than kill birds and animals in a twisted, grisly kind of observation:
2014 12 03 If the heat don’t do it the storms will get us Hope you had a grand Thanksgiving. Easy travels if you went out of your home base or unfrazzled arrivals for any out-of-towners. A good time f…
2014 11 26 Herds of automobiles roam Antelope Pass A Star Valley resident remarked that on Thursday she was pleased to see a half-dozen mountain goats as she entered the Snake River canyon just…
2014 11 19 Philae finds its comet after 10 years trying The Philae has landed … and landed, then bounced and settled a bit uneasily.
2104 11 12 Prince Charles, red wine and word compost Disclosure, possibly full:
2014 11 05 Don’t tell me she/he beat whoozis this time Oh, I’m aware you were hoping for an exhaustive, learned dissection of the results of the recent election. Trouble is, the publication date of…
2014 10 29 Get out and complain, it’s your patriotic duty Almost November, and you know what that means: It could snow any day now. And you won’t be ready.
2014 10 22 My dear deer mouse, stay out of my house Depending on just where the line is drawn, there are about 30 small wild mammal species in Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. A list …
2014 10 15 Migration’s mysteries still have us guessing Why do birds migrate?
2014 10 08 What if you’re a frog and winter’s coming? What follows are remarks by Debra Patla. She has been studying wild amphibians in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem since 1993 as a Northern R…
2014 10 01 Sometimes folks love wild animals to death A headline on the cover page of last Thursday’s Jackson Hole Daily read, “Moose dies in photo op.” The discouraging story told of people, visi…
2014 09 24 News pulled straight from the wastebasket From whatever the modern equivalent of a newsroom wastebasket is:
2014 09 17 A good fence must be a fence that’s friendly Wyoming is a “fence out” state.
2014 09 10 Magpies’ good work earns them no praise For some reason already obscure, I was trying to recall an incident in our lives, so I went to my stack of read books. Didn’t find what I was …
2014 09 03 Bison hunt starts —and the bison know it The bison hunt opened last week in Jackson Hole. A dozen bison were killed on opening day near or on the National Elk Refuge; Eric Cole, refuge …
2014 08 27 I explain thunder; dog doesn’t listen A flash of light, a pause, then a clap of thunder followed — with hardly a pause — by a puppy trying to get close, really close, to me. A rumb…
2014 08 20 Nighthawks are back, eating midnight meals Common nighthawks disappeared from Jackson Hole skies some dozen or so years ago. Puzzling then and still. There were never many of these inse…
2014 08 13 It seems to be a tank, but, no, it’s a katydid We were unprepared.
2014 08 06 Our long-billed local has flown to Mexico Reprinted here in its entirety is a news release handsomely written by Lori Iverson, information specialist at the National Elk Refuge. It con…
2014 07 30 Summer tales to mix with a cool beverage My offerings to you this week appeared first in my book “Valley So Sweet” two decades ago:
2014 07 23 Mankind’s giant leap took us to …. where? Sunday, July 20, 2014, was the 45th anniversary of mankind’s setting foot on Earth’s moon. It was an engineering and technological success, a …
2014 07 16 Cul de canard helps anglers get their fish In this space last week the topic was why and how birds preen themselves. To keep themselves clean and airworthy.
2014 07 09 Preening isn’t vanity, not for the feathered Nature watcher or not, you’re likely to have noticed some bird preen. You may not have recognized what that bird was actually doing.
2014 07 02 Ravens, other corvids are smart scalawags Here’s Mark Twain on Indiana house crows, close relatives in the Corvus family to our common raven and crow. He was being annoyed by a murder …
2014 06 25 The Silent Messenger asks all of us to listen Jackson Hole hosts two museums of note: the National Museum of Wildlife Art and the Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum. Recorded histo…
2014 06 18 Can’t have too much of a promising trend The June 10 regular meeting of the Jackson Hole Bird and Nature Club welcomed a full house. Literally. In fact, there was an overflow crowd. H…
2014 06 11 Get a whiff of the lilacs … and the petrichor Western wood-pewees have arrived in Jackson Hole and have been heard. Heard not by me but by those with working ears. So it’s officially summer.
2014 06 04 For the polyandrous, women rule the roost In the United States there are only two breeding polyandrous birds, and both species occur in Jackson Hole.
2014 05 28 Look! Up in the air!It’s, uh, it’s … a bird Most people who notice birds at all enjoy them without caring what the birds are named. A little more interest and a recognition of overall co…
2014 05 21 Man, beast and bird,it’s a busy time of year A window I often peer through reveals a lot of green and greening going on out yonder. At other times of a year there’s a lot of white occupyi…
2014 05 14 What it takes to be a stick in the mud Sandpipers come in a range of sizes, from 5 inches to 2 feet; quite a range. The more than half a hundred species include curlews, godwits, ye…
2014 05 07 Great egrets spotted, tiny hummers arrive The great egret is a stately white roadway bird about as tall as a great blue heron. It’s rare in Wyoming. One (two?) was seen twice in the va…
2014 04 30 News from Enceladus about a hidden ocean Thanks to a neat lady in Etna, I occasionally read dispatches from NASA. I grasp some of the science being made in space and certainly admire …
2014 04 23 Hill ‘slip-sliding away,’ birds make comeback Nature. Mother Nature. That natural force that will govern in the short or long run. How long or short a time some action will take Mother Nat…
2014 04 16 Pretty, smart, loyal … What’s not to love? The first black-billed magpie the Muse and I ever saw was in Nebraska. Somewhere in the rural outback, in a ranch home that may or may not hav…
2014 04 09 In this nest osprey … but in that one … ? They’re baaack!
2014 04 02 See a great gray owl? Don’t keep it a secret What can we say about owls? A lot.
2014 03 26 Move over, winter, it’s coming on spring Spring on the calendar and spring in Jackson Hole appear to be coinciding this year. Not always
2014 03 19 It’s spring. What are your signals of the season? Let us contemplate checklists for a bit. There’s the checklist you run down to make sure you have every item needed for some specific chore. A…
2014 03 12 Monday biggest day for Nature Mappers Do not miss the fifth annual Nature Mapping Potluck and Silent Auction. Bigger and better than ever before. Still free and open to all. Spend …
2014 03 05 Spring things spotted out and about of late A bi-level winter season persists in Jackson Hole.
2014 02 26 Each day is Moose Day when you are a moose If you spend enough time in Jackson Hole, your chances of seeing a moose are pretty good. Moose are big.
2014 02 19 Thaw reminds us that spring may not be far Weather makes news. This winter, in this hemisphere, lots of news. In Jackson Hole right now we’re experiencing what one has to consider a tha…
2014 02 12 Oh, what a cute bird … it must be a baby A bird fledges when it’s out of its nest, can fly and/or can find its own food. And it is essentially full size.
2014 02 05 Unusual bird sightings make us go ‘hmm …’ It may be all those daylight minutes we’ve gained since the solstice: earlier sunrises and a few lingering moments in the evening before night…
2014 01 29 Avian tourist enjoys Jackson Hole winter An Eastern blue jay — perhaps it should by now be referred to as “that blue jay” — seems happy to be overwintering in Jackson. It’s seen mostly …
2014 01 22 Some critters delight in frosty river games Was reminded of still another short essay from my book “Valley So Sweet,” and it’s on target for coming to the end of January 2014.
2014 01 15 Weather wimps? Ha. We survived 63 below “We’ve become weather wimps. As the world warms, the United States is getting fewer bitter cold spells like the once that gripped much of the …
2014 01 08 Bird counters tally 61 species on December day In last week’s Far Afield, much was made of pikas living in the Columbia River Gorge at extraordinarily low elevations. Living and thriving in…
2013 12 31 I wonder how pikas got themselves there 2014. A new year.
2013 12 24 A rough-legged winter around Jackson Hole Christmas Bird Count Day in Jackson Hole dawned clear and with a rosy-fingered morning light illuminating the tops of the Teton Mountains. Cle…
2013 12 18 From the Far North, winter hawks arrive Rough-legged hawks are large raptors, large buteos, that possess a distinct preference for open country in which to breed and hunt.
2013 12 11 Things to do, places to go, birds to count You have a few days left. There’s been Black Friday, Shop Till You Drop Saturday, Shape Up Sunday and Crank Up the Computer Monday. Oh, and Th…
2013 12 04 So many bird species, so little time to count The Jackson Hole Christmas Bird count’s designated area is some 170 square miles, rounded off. That’s a lot of territory.
2013 11 27 Everyone is a scientist in the era of Big Data Do you know about “Big Data”?
2013 11 20 2013 Christmas Bird Count is not far off The annual Jackson Hole and Audubon Christmas Bird Count is coming right up: Dec. 15, a Sunday this year. So get ready.
2013 11 13 Winter’s in the wings, ready for its entrance “Winters are long in the northern Rocky Mountains, long, severe and hard. Yet more than 20 different bird species remain there and survive thr…
2013 11 06 For science, solace look to the night sky We go out to look at the stars, not to listen to them. To look on what appears mostly unchanged and unchanging, aside from planets and a few o…
2013 10 30 Ain’t we something? Thanks 100 million There I was, along with hundreds of others, waiting to find out whether the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole had achieved its 2013 goal of…
2013 10 23 Pachyderms show us they can get our point Having lived with dogs for a long time, I now simply assume that, should I point a finger to suggest a dog look there or find something or go …
2013 10 16 Wonder if shutdown affects wild critters Let’s try to get something informative out of the shutdown…
2013 10 13 Federal shutdown 2013, Day 11 Let’s try to get something informative out of the shutdown.
2013 10 06 Mother Nature won’t take any shutdown Mother Nature doesn’t do shutdowns. She has way too much to do. She never takes a day off.
2013 10 02 Bet on winter coming, but not on Congress Early morning, Sept. 26, 2013. Jackson Hole, Wyo. Light snow. A light cover of snow on roofs, grass, some shrubs and trees and some vehicles. Two immediate thoughts: Here comes winter! and What happened to Indian summer…
2013 09 25 Respite from chaos of the world’s news You turn to this column, I know, to learn about current events. Where else to get the true skinny? Social media, whatever that is…
2013 09 18 Good-bye Voyagers – don\’t forget to call Barely two decades into the Space Age, in 1977, NASA launched two small unmanned spacecraft, Voyagers I and II, on separate tours of other planets in our solar system, taking observations and reporting their data back to Earth…
2013 09 11 Human nature at its worst in park, Syria Bulletin: Perplexing news from Grand Teton National Park.
2013 09 04 Autumn approaches a few subtle degrees September. Once upon a time September meant a slowing of summer’s bustle and a chance to look back and evaluate…
2013 08 28 We’d all look better if we were in a book This painting by Greg McHuron, published in “Birds of Sage and Scree” with accompanying text by Bert Raynes, depicts Wyoming’s state bird, the…
2013 08 21 Thoughts on summer as mornings turn cool I bet you know the feeling: Summer’s rushing past and you wanted to do more, accomplish more, even perhaps relax a bit, before winter…
2013 08 14 Off and fun-running for many good causes Old Bill’s Fun Run will be celebrated in Jackson Hole on Sept. 7. Coming right up…
2013 08 07 Jackson Hole’s abuzz for Hummertime ’13 Hummingbirds are making quite a whir for themselves around Jackson Hole this summer…
2013 07 31 Hot? Birds compress feathers to chill out Birds are warm-blooded. They do not depend on the sun as reptiles must. Birds maintain a relatively constant body temperature, producing heat by converting food into energy and keeping cool by panting to expel water vapor in their lungs and internal air sacs…
2013 07 24 Oh, did you want a round-trip ticket? Out there on Mars are two functioning instruments called rovers: Opportunity and Curiosity. Created on Earth, made in the USA, delivered in spectacular fashion, capable of some independent decisions when studying the past of another planet orbiting our Sun…
2013 07 17 When you hear \’clay,\’ does it have a color? You’ve probably heard the truism that declares that an error, once in print, is almost impossible to correct. Future references will simply repeat and repeat, for seldom is a confirmation – or denial – sought…
2013 07 10 What\’s all the ruckus behind bird flash mob? It certainly is appropriate that Lisa Sanford, executive director of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, was witness to a wildlife spectacle. With her family, Lisa was privileged to watch what is called in ornithological parlance “mobbing…
2013 07 03 And the answer is – chicken 1st, egg 2nd Which did come first: chicken or egg? I think that the answer is the chicken. Or maybe they evolved together as a complete package…
2013 06 26 Where are they now? Elvis, Alf, crop circles What has happened to crop circles? Not a word about them in what seems like a long while. What is going on…
2013 06 19 Birds do it, beeds do it, girlyboy worms do it Last week in this space I wrote about worms and Charles Darwin and Charles Darwin and worms. Darwin and worms are inextricably linked in science…
2013 06 12 Sure, it\’s a dirty job but worms eat it up The book slyly titled “The Earth Moved” is subtitled “On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms…
2013 06 05 A blooming profusion yellows the sage flats It’s a dandy season for arrowleaf balsamroot. The prevailing all-green landscape of early spring days in Jackson Hole now is sprinkled with large yellow wildflowers, especially on hillsides and sage flats…
2013 05 29 A most exciting time in the wildlife world My first-of-the-year Western tanager showed up May 21 at the half an orange left for him. Been on the lookout for tanagers…
2013 05 22 As thin as Twiggy, or a certain kind of bird “Thin as a rail.” A bit ago, female models and many real-life females wished fervently to be slim to the point of vanishing entirely: think “as a rail…
2013 05 15 Hey, it\’s your theory, don\’t get mad at me The sentence keeps coming to mind: “It is well known that when like-minded people get together they tend to end up thinking a more extreme version of what they thought before they started to talk…
2013 05 08 Noticing migrants’ comings and goings The victim of a scheduling conflict, the Tuesday meeting of the Jackson Hole Bird and Nature Club will not be held at Teton County Library.
2013 05 01 Spring will never be the ‘same old thing’ A couple of weeks ago, Jackson Hole was in winter mode. Now lots of folks think summer has arrived. In other words, it’s spring…
2013 04 24 Reacting to the news of a monstrous crime I remember back when it was all North Korea’s fault. Personally, I blamed almost everything the least bit “evil” on North Korea no matter what or where anything occurred. (I still kinda do…
2013 04 17 Big as they are, moose still fall to the small As promised last week, here is an essay about moose by Nature Mapper and wildlife guide-observer Louis Lasley – one human’s reaction to a fellow creature’s situation…
2013 04 10 The time of the year to see first returners Poets sometimes refer to the “awakening Earth.” Lesser writers discuss the arrival of certain signs of spring: emerging plants, budding trees, melting ponds and rivers, insects, the return of migrant birds.
2013 04 03 A drug good for man and man’s best friend The first time one of our cocker spaniels suffered an epileptic seizure we were pretty shaken up. Neither Meg nor I had ever before witnessed anyone with that kind of episode, and we had no idea what to do for the puppy.
2013 03 27 Books, bears, bosons and a few other things Here’s the deal: I don’t have a coherent column for this week. I don’t know why. No excuse. It’s getting to be spring, an exciting time to observe and report winter yielding to spring, yet I have no particular incident or even a trend for us to ponder today…
2013 03 20 ‘Birds gotta fly …’ though not all at once A black-billed magpie just strutted along a deck railing outside the window. A confident stride, an easy walk.
2013 03 13 Return of redwings a sure sign of spring Red-winged blackbirds normally don’t winter over in Jackson Hole or adjacent areas of the Rockies. In Wyoming some redwings do, east of the Divide, but most go south to winter.
2013 03 06 Spring, when grouse can’t help but strut Let us think of daffodils and of sage grouse.
2013 02 27 Strange life here hints at life on other planets People from Planet Earth look for evidence of life – past or present – on Mars. While they are at it, they search for signs elsewhere in our, or any, universe.
2013 02 20 Help spot those mangy, gangly, lovalbe moose Almost everybody knows what a moose looks like, one would suppose. Handsome beasts…
2013 02 13 Calling moose lovers: The big day is coming The following essay on Shiras moose was written by Aly Courtemanch, terrestrial habitat biologist for Wyoming Department of Game and Fish…
2013 02 06 The Citizen Scientist still plays a vital role On Christmas morning 1900, Frank Chapman and 27 other gentlemen of that period went out in 205 places around New York City to count birds.
2013 01 30 A quiet inauguration, a tradition to be loved So … this man walks into a room with his wife and his two daughters. The room happens to be in the White House, but it could be any house. Happens there’s the chief justice of the United States there, a camera and unseen other people.
2013 01 23 A winter mob arrives: It’s rosy-finch season This week Susan Patla has prepared this column for your information and reading pleasure. Susan is a Wyoming Game and Fish Department nongame biologist, a great nature and animal observer, a delightful friend…
2013 01 16 Put out all the lights to get good shut-eye A growing body of evidence indicates that light – in this instance artificial light – acts as a drug on the body. Light isn’t a drug, but it affects circadian rhythms and influences certain hormones.
2013 01 09 Food science brings us lunch that lasts forever One can speculate that a Homo species found that meat and other foodstuffs that were cooked or roasted smelled and tasted better than raw. Kee…
2013 01 02 Peace and good will have finally arrived Well, friends, here we go, racing into 2013. Just commencing the 21st century, really. And haven’t these first dozen years of the 21st century been peaceful throughout the world, demonstrating how mankind has learned from the past century full of wars that killed or hurt millions upon millions of humans, destroying cities and habitats, wasting resources…
2012 12 24 You look familiar…but you seem changed A Paul Gauguin painting titled “D’ou Venons Nous / Que Sommes Nous / Ou Allons Nous” is considered a masterpiece…
2012 12 19 What can be done … and will we do it? A few United States presidents ago, there was one who could “compartmentalize.” He was said to be able to concentrate on problems and concerns in sequence, setting aside urgent matters to deal with even more urgent ones. This was supposed to be a good thing.
2012 12 12 Where do birds sleep on cold winter nights? On mornings in late fall or early winter in the northern Rockies, when it’s around freezing one way or another and it’s raining – again, day after day – one wonders where wildlife spend their nights.
2012 12 05 Whoopers up, down … it’s hard to say exactly The newsletter of the Whooping Crane Conservation Alliance is called “Grus Americana,” the scientific name for this great white bird.
2012 11 28 I say citizen scientist, you say crowdsourcing Be it known that I’m an enthusiastic supporter of citizen science. Witness my participation in Christmas bird counts for some, um, long, long time, contributions Meg and I made to the bird inventory of Jackson Hole, this column and, of course, Nature Mapping Jackson Hole.
2012 11 21 The common redpoll, now appearing here A frequent expression a bird-watcher hears from puzzled companions goes something like this: Oh. I like birds, but not those little brown birds – sparrows? – that all look alike.
2012 11 14 Scientific integrity- in DC, it’s a theory In his first inaugural address – on Jan. 20, 2009 – President Barack Obama proposed to “restore science to its rightful place.”
2012 11 07 Birds, touching Mars, more climate change As this is written, the elections are several days off. By the time it will be published, we should all know the results. If the people who come closest to espousing the conclusions and philosophies I do should lose, I shall fear for my country.
2012 10 31 Fall birding is great, Kiwanis Follies, too The autumn bird shuffle is under way. Migrant species have already left Jackson Hole country or are preparing to leave. By “preparing,” I mean putting on fat reserves.
2012 10 24 ‘Can’t survive winter,’ but some do manage A dead opossum was found in Jackson Hole a short time ago. No previous records of this animal in northwest Wyoming were known. Indeed, no opossum in nearby Idaho, Montana and Utah. Nebraska has a population.
2012 10 17 Fighting cheatgrass with fingers of death The first time I paid attention to cheatgrass was after Meg and I were stopped on a highway in Oregon by a wildfire. The whole prairie in a sweep from north to south was engulfed in flames. We were more than happy to be stopped.
2012 10 10 Shades of pale worth making distinctions October. I’ve grown used to looking forward to certain phenological events occurring in the natural history of Jackson Hole…
2012 10 03 Curiosity extends its mission to Red Planet You’ve intruded your body into your modern shrunken motor vehicle, or you’ve plopped into a welcoming seat of a valley car. Insert ignition key, turn to start and off you go.
2012 09 26 September pauses, bows out to October Smoke has been persistent in Jackson Hole for many days. That’s not unprecedented. Maybe it’s the reminder of how close flames are to us.
2012 09 19 What’s that red stuff dropped from the sky? One of the first tasks the firefighting planes undertook last week when the fire erupted near Horsethief Canyon in Jackson Hole was to lay down a continuous line of red slurry retardant in open terrain, a kind of defensible limit to fire attempting to go west.
2012 09 12 A grateful thank-you to Mr. and Mrs. Bill Worn out by all the requests for donations so that qualified recipients can receive matching funds from Old Bill’s Fun Run?
2012 09 05 Don’t let me earwig you about gross bugs Jackson Hole supports its fair share of insect species. Bugs and allied creatures. Insects and noninsects that may bite, annoy, damage plants. Their role in the overall food chain largely going unrecognized.
2012 08 29 Blurbs for two books that I just don’t like In his book “If a Lion Could Talk,” Stephen Budiansky supports a quote from an unidentified critic that attracted my attention: “The plural of an anecdote is not data…
2012 08 22 Look through smoke and see things clearly Bernie McHugh and Frances Clark took me owling. Besides being close and expert observers, birders and botanists, they can see through smoke…
2012 08 15 Politics rears its ugly head sooner or later At least I don’t need to worry about my words being taken out of context to distort my (their) meaning…
2012 08 08 Reading the clouds like an open book There’s a language of clouds. To be sure, a sign language…
2012 08 01 Our small mammals are mostly squirrely Four small mammals sharing the common name “squirrel” as their common English name live in Jackson Hole…
2012 07 25 Special delivery for Mars rover Curiosity Around midnight (Mountain Daylight Time) on Aug. 5, a NASA Science Laboratory vehicle is programmed to make a delivery to Mars. A pretty special delivery: Mars rover Curiosity…
2012 07 18 What can be learned from cuts on a bone? Geologists John M. Good and Kenneth L. Pierce co-authored their book “Recent and Ongoing Geology of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks,” now in its fifth updated reprinting…
2012 07 11 ‘Each morning, I get up with the sun’ * Circadian: occurring in approximately 24-hour periods; periodicity.
2012 07 04 Oh, that 3rd branch of our government Not every Founding Father was right about everything all the time.
2012 06 27 Raynolds Expedition visited Tetons in 1860 By 1860, a few years before the start of our Civil War and just a half-century after the 1805-06 Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery explored and mapped much of the American northwest, much of Yellowstone Country was known to few white men…
2012 06 20 Birds have much to learn in so little time During the past several days I’ve been watching a handful of babies grow up magpie.
2012 06 13 Follow little ball to learn about our place It turns out that I failed utterly to understand much concerning Venus’ transit of the sun (as seen from Earth). Guess I didn’t pay enough attention to reporting in various print sources that shuffle through the house.
2012 06 06 A very common bird, a seldom seen mark Well, I’ll be darned. A robin just paused on the railing of our deck and actually has and showed his (his, likely) two small white spots on the ends of his tail…
2012 05 30 When black-and-white isn’t black and white Total albinos have pink irises and other body parts because blood vessels at surfaces become visible in the absence of any pigmentation. In an albino bird, beak, feet and eyes are without pigmentation as well as the skin and feathers.
2012 05 23 Birds coming back to deserved welcome An interesting spring in Jackson Hole. Spring comes late to the hole, compared to other parts of the Lower 48, certainly, but it’s not routine…
2012 05 16 Three celestial events are coming up soon As a species, we now believe we’re gaining knowledge of our solar system, our universe. In any case, there are celestial events that can be predicted with astonishing accuracy.
2012 05 09 Willing to sign books, and not just my own The other day, a delightful, resourceful young woman asked me to sign a book. It was one of “my books,” but under certain circumstances I will sign almost anything.
2012 05 02 When all else fails, quote a good book To be a successful columnist, a person must be able to overcome writer’s block, illness, ennui and ordinary laziness and still come up with an insightful, meaningful, memorable essay – above all fresh and unique – time and time again…
2012 04 25 Visit from snow geese an unexpected treat The bird family Anatidae includes ducks, geese and swans. Doubtless, throughout human history, people have been aware of birds in this family. Most likely, they were hunted and domesticated early on.
2012 04 18 Got a question? Ask your ‘smartphone’ Notice: The contents of this piece may become obsolete by tomorrow.
2012 04 11 The All-American, all-season goldfinch In my experience, even folks who insist they know absolutely nothing about birds actually do know some.
2012 04 04 Thigh bone connects to the knee joint … Humans have evolved to walk on two legs. Our closest relatives – chimpanzees and other fellow primates – can walk on two legs, but not independently. They and all other animals are four-legged.
2012 03 28 Birds get sick, too, and lack health care For a good many years, I often used a gag line proclaiming, “Birds are just like people.”
2012 03 21 From out of the blue, for reasons unknown It’s a mystery. One I can almost hope the brain-mind researchers never solve. How does a memory, a recollection, create itself – apparently unbidden – and what can initiate it?
2012 03 14 Try building a shelter with your jaws, feet A bird’s bill is dynamic. The bill appears to be static, a fixture; bird watchers often use its shape to identify the family its owner belongs to…
2012 03 07 Doves offer chance to watch nature adapt The Eurasian collared dove is rapidly establishing itself throughout North America. A “successful” invasive species colonizing a new environment.
2012 02 29 Ponder all you want, but don’t forget to eat Have you ever pondered this conundrum: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I have, in the past. I decided they co-evolved, thus denying myself lots of impassioned argument.
2012 02 22 Jackson Hole wildlife always worth watching As you may guess, it’s hard to avoid the general subplot of politics in this presidential election year…
2012 02 15 A reasonable request with specific reasons And lo! There shall be a pedestrian bridge across the Snake River north of the present Wyoming Highway 22 “Wilson Bridge.”
2012 02 08 It takes only 1 session to be a Nature Mapper Sometimes, you can’t see the trees for the forest.
2912 02 01 Sometimes, some data gets left out of database This column, Far Afield, is based upon observations, essentially.
2012 01 25 Things a man can do and some he cannot It’s with a mixture of disbelief and bemusement I watch mere mortals before TV cameras declare that they could actually bestride the world and do any of the things they promise to do if elected president of the United States of America…
2012 01 18 Snowy owls could be coming to Wyoming Right now, the birding underground is aflutter with items about snowy owls.
2012 01 11 JH Christmas Bird Count results are in Annual bird counts held around year’s end have been conducted for year 2011…
2012 01 04 May New Year wishes persist for 12 months For times gone by. Take a cup for old friends, old loves and new. Not just at midnight on the eve of a new year, of course, but any time, all the time.
2011 12 28 No solstice should slip by without notice For any among you, dear readers, who didn’t receive a copy of the book “Valley So Sweet” (by me) as a gift or simply don’t own one, I feel your pain.
2011 12 21 No stepping on toes with vetted greeting Greetings. I wanted to send out some sort of holiday greeting to you, but it is so difficult in the current climate to know exactly what to say without offending someone.
2011 12 14 Sorry, Mr. Trump, no can do on the debate Item: It was with the greatest reluctance that I had to refuse Donald Trump’s invitation to debate my fellow candidates for an office I’m clearly not qualified to fill. But then, neither are they…
2011 12 07 Come out and count birds for fun, science The acclaimed Christmas Bird Count is almost upon us. It will be the 111th annual bird census, the granddaddy of all volunteer citizen science events and still growing in popularity.
2011 11 30 An urge to wonder about most everything I wonder: What did we all focus on or with or like before lasers came along? Whatever it was, it’s now forgotten. Can anybody still recall?
2011 11 23 No news being made in Congress, elsewhere I can’t wait for the next scandal. No, I mean it. I don’t care for scandals that occupy the front pages, so to speak, for more than a couple of days. Max.
2011 11 16 We must acknowledge intelligence in others You are intelligent. By definition and by example (you are reading this), you are recognized as an intelligent animal. You have the ability to understand, to learn and to deal with novel situations. OK, fine.
2011 11 09 Everyone is anxious for return of birds Where are the birds? More particularly, where are my birds?
2011 11 02 Heartfelt appreciation for Old Bill, Friends Neither Meg nor I was born and raised in Jackson Hole. We chose to settle here.
2011 10 26 Sometimes it takes an experienced pro In the midst of all the continuing kerfuffle over the debt crisis in our United(?) States, and the predictable spectacle of politicians and nonpols jousting but not solving anything, there came a real sight: An old pro showed them all how to get things done.
2011 10 19 And yet, I can’t recall your name, old friend A kind friend has suggested that my lack of recollection and association simply means I’m now a full-fledged member of the 30-30 club.
2011 10 12 Tell us how best to get your nature sightings Let us now consider the term “citizen science.”
2011 10 05 The very sight of you and I forget the date Ah, the life of birds. Specifically, the sex life of birds.
2011 09 28 The scientific method on display to public A continuing search by this columnist for a satisfactory definition of “science” has deemed the above the best so far.
2011 09 21 Where do birds go when they fly away? What does a common expression used by ornithologists, biologists and laypeople really mean if it goes something like, “They’re migrating” or “They’ve migrated”?
2011 09 14 Ten years later, trying to comprehend 9/11 Deadline for this column this time around was Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011. The 10th anniversary of 9/11/01, that day when Americans suffered a fiendishly clever, effective and long-lasting psychological direct attack from a then-unknown enemy.
2011 09 07 Leaf color chemistry too complex to predict Do look now. It’s getting to be that time of the year.
2011 08 31 It’s easy to get cynical when defining politics The big news in the United States has been and still is what’s going on in our eastern states.
2011 08 24 Outdoors, things are just a little out of sync Backcountry hikers and climbers in Jackson Hole and environs have lately encountered spring conditions just now arriving above around 10,000 feet…
2011 08 17 Good things follow a chance observation Query: Have you seen a porcupine lately?
2011 08 10 Correction can mean you’re not truly sorry For good reasons, I seldom post corrections in these columns. First of all, well … obviously.
2011 08 02 Poised at a precipice, did we really jump? In the middle of the kerfuffle over the debt crisis and the distressing spectacle of politicians and neo-pols, a real professional politician demonstrated how to do things adroitly.
2011 07 27 Shortsightedness in domestic investment Unlike the manned space shuttle program, the Hubble Space Telescope will just run out of propellant, or simply cease to function, and then – pity – it will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. Remnants will, I suppose, be lost at sea.
2011 07 20 Listen: New sound of summer thrumming A cicada outbreak in Jackson Hole? Who woulda thunk it?
2011 07 13 Maybe just products of their environment What impels some people to take the trouble to build and maintain a wooden box designed with a carefully chosen hole dimension to attract a specific bird species, hoping it will nest in it?
2011 07 06 Another approach to making good choices Psychologists have found (or just recognized) that when people are hungry or sexually aroused they tend to make impulsive decisions. Remarkably insightful, that.
2011 06 29 The hills are alive with arrowleaf balsamroot Not quite “The Sound of Music” lyrics, but of late my underworked mind puts odd phrases to the music of snatches of song from the past. An old melody. I haven’t understood a modern song lyric in decades.
2011 06 22 NASA does science brilliantly and well In the last few decades, space – – and land-based – astronomy have advanced sensationally. Dare I say, astronomically? No? OK, sorry.
2011 06 15 A bad case of kettles calling the pot black Anthony Weiner’s fellow representatives and senators in the other body are taking potshots at Weiner when it suits them politically and personally. Some, possibly, are actually offended…
2011 06 08 Time to take a hack at a couple of topics Starting in 1881, and until 1925, promoters and hustlers of the Great American Desert as farmland used a phrase coined by a Charles Dana Wilber to great effect and then to ultimate failure and misery.
2011 06 01 ‘Fallout’ not the same as ‘wardrobe failure’ Not often, and then primarily during migration periods, timing, weather and the calendar combine to give us insight into the vast numbers of birds that sometimes fly, undetected, through our skies. A phenomenon sometimes called a “fallout” of birds.
2011 05 25 Every little field mark has its significance “It has occurred to me” is a phrase I sometimes use when I truly mean to say, “It has finally dawned on me at long last.” Well, it has occurred to me that some of the blackbirds that are seen in these parts can be confused by an observer.
2011 05 18 ’95 column could’ve been written today The note, dated April 11, said, “My goodness – instead of writing a new column on this last week, you should have recycled this one!”
2011 05 11 Is it spring? Return of birds indicates yes In memory, kids danced around Maypoles on the first day in May. Some period later, there were news photos of communist countries staging military parades, while at home, trade unions sponsored picnics and lectures.
2011 05 04 Though winter resists, spring surely blooms It’s time to get serious about this climate change business. Call your senators.
2011 04 27 Asleep 7 or 8 months, easy prey when awake Our country has real crises that must be dealt with. There are always crises to deal with. Preferably by individuals who can distinguish between importance and rubbish.
2011 04 20 Nothing on my mind, nothing in my mind A pause in the hustle, a welcome slowing down, a hiatus. The spring break. Recovering from the rigors of winter and preparation for the rigors of summer. Get-away time.
2011 04 13 A low profile with a bodacious proboscis Not many shorebirds prefer Jackson Hole to other parts of North America in which to breed.
2011 04 06 At long last, tell us how far back in time The most vociferous segment of today’s Republican Party, if only just barely louder, has for months been exhorting its followers along the lines, “We are gonna take our country back!”
2011 03 30 Amateurs essential to science, expert says I cherry-picked through a book ostensibly about ferns. Here is some of the fruit.
2011 03 23 What to add about Japan, Middle East? Then, there’s Japan. A 9.0 earthquake followed immediately by a huge, unimaginable tsunami, resulting in runaway nuclear power plants.
2011 03 16 Signs of spring, other things are in the air The TV stations I watch and listen to have now, to my uncertain knowledge, twice shown off a new drone.
2011 03 09 Clothes make a man; feathers make a bird What, fundamentally, is a bird?
2011 03 02 Bat die-offs latest of wildlife tragedies It has been called the worst wildlife die-off in North American history. A fungus called white-nose syndrome has killed more than 1 million hibernating bats in just the last four years.
2011 02 23 Lincoln and Darwin: Still influential at 202 Earlier this month, I simply forgot my mention that Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were each born on the same day: Feb. 12, 1809. Different men, different cultures, different callings, yet similar in that each changed the – his – world.
2100 02 16 Truck meets eagle; eagle may just win Check out these remarkable images of a bald eagle. Not your ordinary pictures, but not Photoshopped, either.
2011 02 09 Imagine: Cats, dogs don’t even drink alike When you put your cat’s or dog’s water bowl down on the floor, you probably don’t stand around watching how he or she drinks. Your pets know how to drink. They’ve always known how; you don’t need to think about it.
2011 02 02 Toughing out winter amid hints of spring Wildlife observations come in all flavors. From quick, almost subliminal glimpses of an animal or bird as it disappears, a critter seen from your house or yard, clear to hours or days spent in a blind focused on a single scene…
2011 01 26 Birds’ lives not easy; admire their tenacity That New Year’s Eve Bird Deaths Mystery in Arkansas remains unsolved. No “natural” causes for thousands of mostly red-winged blackbirds falling from the night sky as a result of blunt-force trauma.
2011 01 12 Ruminations on an Arkansas bird kill All things considered, so to say, I guess this column should weigh in on the hefty bird kill in Arkansas a couple of weeks ago.
2011 01 05 Snows force wildlife into roads, danger Concerned Wyoming Game and Fish Department personnel, as well as concerned citizens, are urging everyone – residents of and visitors to Jackson Hole – to recognize that wild animals are under life-threatening stresses now as a result of early heavy snowfalls on higher elevations.
2010 12 29 Grateful for peace and goodwill to all Fortunately for all mankind, lessons learned in the bloody (bloodiest ever?) 20th century have enabled us all to rid ourselves of conflicts, wars, hatreds, genocides, terrorism, religious strifes and random thoughts of mayhem.
2010 12 22 There’s just a matter of a few hours left Here we are, coming to the close of perhaps the biggest gift-giving season of each year.
2010 12 15 Bighorn sheep back, visible on elk refuge Should you chance to be anywhere close to the National Elk Refuge adjacent to Jackson now, or if you are planning to visit Jackson Hole shortly, try to sandwich in a short jaunt to see, well, elk and, often, bison. But also make this a chance to see bighorn sheep up close.
2010 12 01 You can give thanks any day, every day The acknowledgement generally goes something like this: “Let us/me give thanks this Thanksgiving Day for – ,” and then you fill in the blank.
2010 11 24 No wonder the TSA chose blue uniforms Despite what (little) I’ve learned from some experience and a spate of even less reading, the control of the spread of infectious diseases may be far simpler than I’d anticipated. Ever.
2010 11 17 How to separate some winter look-alike birds With most hobbies, if all goes well, there’s a progression: beginner, intermediate, expert.
2010 11 10 Well, they can’t wear sunglasses, you know Here’s a little bit of bird lore recently arrived at. A new idea so new that I infer from the tone of the report that it is still suspect. But that’s so often the way with a new idea: immediate rejection (even ridicule), eventual acceptance (reluctant and after much proof), attribution (to someone else).
2010 11 03 Should a patient ask for a clockwise twist? It’s a surprise every year. Come October or November and suddenly one morning, there the Tetons are: familiarly all white. White down to and including the valley floor. Transformed overnight.
2010 10 27 My personal feelings: fear and marveling Far Afield isn’t a column about politics, with the caveat that politics gets into everything. Think about it. Certainly not excluding man’s relationship with nature. But…
2010 10 20 Has to be better than a martini with veggies It’d probably take the National Security Agency or equivalent to discover how many books of which genres are being published in the United States each year.
2010 10 13 ‘Fracking’ fluids end up deep underground Headline writers have to call it “fracking,” for whatever reasons. It’s short for “hydraulic fracturing.” Which is?
2010 10 06 Halloween originated in ancient astronomy Halloween, when and where I was a kid, was “observed” rather differently than it is now in these United States.
2010 09 29 Citizen-scientists spot, log unusual visitors In last week’s Field Notes section of this column, there was a last-minute sighting by Susan Patla of a Sabine’s gull on a Snake River gravel bar. It’s was juvenile bird.
2010 09 22 When bacteria talk, what do they say? Here’s the Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary definition of “bacterium”:
2010 09 15 For sandhill cranes, long migration begins Cranes are on the move. Look and listen for them.
2010 09 08 The life of birds gets even more complex Some months ago, I wrote in this space about the recent discovery that some North American bird species (i.e., a few orioles) actually re-nest during stopovers in their winter migrations.
2010 09 01 Don’t know what it is, but this bird’s got it For many of “our” birds – those species that reside or return to breed here in the Jackson Hole region and the Sorta North and Kinda West – breeding season is about over.
2010 08 25 Down for the count? How about a recount Turns out I’m not at all surprised to discover I can still be annoyed or outraged and disappointed at certain outcomes.
2010 08 18 Do animals act oddly after an earthquake? By Jay & Kathy Buchner Hi, this is Jay and Kathy Buchner. Last Thursday, we learned from a friend that Bert Raynes was feeling a bit under the weather and perhaps we should give him a call.
2010 08 11 A handful of many wonders of sage, scree Bert is under the weather. These are selections from “Birds of Sage and Scree,” a new book of paintings by Jackson Hole-based artist Greg McHuron and accompanying text by Bert.- eds.
2010 08 04 One reaction to a disturbing thought When was the last time anyone wrote you a poem? That long ago? Me too!
2010 07 28 Tragedy a reminder that weather is fickle During our first couple of visits to Jackson Hole – back away, it was – The Muse and I were slow learners: It took two drenchings and a couple of frostbitten hands to teach us something about how quickly the weather can turn in the Rockies. Once should have done it.
2010 07 21 In this progression, the egg comes first Mention has been made here most of this year of the bumper crop of rodents in Jackson Hole. Almost every observer, amateur or professional, has noted unusually large populations of mice, voles, pocket gopher and other small rodents.
2010 07 14 Fears for gulf cranes, joy in new bird book The ecological, economic, destructive, mind-numbing Gulf of Mexico tragedy is too huge and involves too many people and too much wildlife for my mind to grasp. Numbers are too huge to comprehend. The future is too bleak to fathom.
2010 07 07 Some see conundrum about plutonium-238 A front-page story in last week’s Jackson Hole News & Guide concerned a proposal by the U.S. Department of Energy to produce plutonium-238 at the Idaho National Laboratory.
2010 06 30 A bird is just a bird by any other name Just what is a bird, after all? Kick the word around – the concept, actually – in your minds. Bird.
2010 06 23 New Birds of Wyoming ready to be examined What with this and that, plus these, them and those, books around me tend to pile up. A few read, most unread. Sometimes hardly ever opened and flipped through. They stare at me, provocatively, seductively, promising a good time.
2010 06 16 What in the world is a mimic thrush? And now, in need of further ado, the gray catbird. Consult your favorite bird field guide, which is likely to mention that a gray catbird is a “mimic thrush.”
2010 06 09 Top execs need a way to get their daily grist A kind of debate has been crisscrossing in my mind of late and wants out. Oops – here it comes.
2010 06 02 Oh, those common names for some birds Their common name derives from their noticeably large conical bills: grosbeaks. Prominent, outsized beaks obviously evolved to crush seeds. Real schnozzolas.
2010 05 26 Mother Nature often plays with patterns It’s been a busy week around the bird baths and feeders with both resident birds and also migrants (here in Lake Whoa Big Boy).
2010 05 19 Making big promises that cannot be kept ” … to make sure it never happens again.” Great oratory, that. Welcome premise. Reassuring in intent but still oratory. Oratory as defined thusly: “public speaking that is characterized by the use of stock phrases and that appeals chiefly to the emotions.”
2010 05 12 Where there’s smoke there may be benefit Residents of the northern Rockies are familiar with forest and range fires. All too familiar for some. I’ll bet more than a few can recall the taste and smell of fire smoke right now upon reading this…
2010 05 05 ‘Drill, baby, drill’- but expect accidents In its April 26 issue, Newsweek (what’s left of it) had a Back Story piece that asked, “Has anything gotten better since that first Earth Day?”
2010 04 28 Deformed red-winged blackbird surviving The accompanying image shows a red-winged blackbird with a deformed bill. The upper mandible is deformed. It has grown far longer than the lower mandible, far longer than is normal.
2010 04 21 Migration interrupted and what it may mean Absent only literally simultaneous observations of two pronghorn antelope herds on the National Elk Refuge and on lower Gros Ventre Mountain foothills…
2010 04 14 There are life forms living under the snow Not long ago, a remarkable couple who are friends of ours taught me a new phrase: subnivian space. How could I have missed knowing about subnivian space? It’s important. Around these parts, it’s all over the place, for months on end.
2010 04 07 How many antelope stayed in the valley? Questions remain in my mind about how many pronghorn wintered over in Jackson Hole in 2009-10. One bunch of around 30 did, observed in the National Elk Refuge by biologist Eric Cole…
2010 03 31 What’s noise to you is a love song to her Birdsong. Another facet of bird study a person could make a career out of or a lifelong hobby.
2010 03 24 Remembering a trip with Dr. Oberholser While I was leafing randomly through an issue of Birding magazine, the name Harry C. Oberholser jumped out at me. A familiar name to me and to some other birdwatchers but not often seen anywhere in print these days.
2010 03 17 Second Moose Day provides musing data The second annual Moose Day in Teton County was celebrated Feb. 22…
2010 03 10 Great Lakes deserve a great deal of care The Great Lakes of North America contain 20 percent of all the Earth’s fresh surface water…
2010 03 03 Your next sightings could change destiny Modern us evolved, it is thought, about 200,000 years ago. Some think later. Some think earlier…
2010 02 24 Hold the page upright and read all about it Back in the day, many commenters wanting to keep people from putting up signs, posters and/or advertisements on fences, barricades, posts, buildings – buildings, even – put up “Post No Bills” signage. Stop defacing such surfaces, the signs admonish. A classic dilemma…
2010 02 17 A community like no other: Jackson Hole Every place has its own history. Country, region, state, county, town – every person…
2010 02 10 Imagine this: Getting your money’s worth There’s a current threat level under which we live these days. The Homeland Security Department issues it. You may have heard of it…
2010 02 03 Maybe a look back can portend progress Thorium, a silvery white metal. Element 9 in Mendeleev’s Periodic Table, in the actinide series, close to uranium. Radioactive; most of the internal heating of Earth is attributed to thorium and uranium decay. Discovered in 1828 and named for the Norse god of thunder and war.
2010 01 27 Considering, but not choosing, any topic There’s little doubt – in my little mind, at least – that Congress has been the butt of jokes from the git-go…
2010 01 20 Musings don’t keep harsh reality away I have always admired who have the audacity to put a correction at the end of a new column. Seems to me that those personages must assume in a princely fashion that their audience actually reads their stuff in its entirely. Bully for them.
2010 01 19 Springtime on Mars, but still winter here Mars Spirit rover may no longer function. I almost wrote it had “died” in the manner in which people refer to an automobile that has quit running for good. More appropriately, it’s a battery that’s given up the ghost. Rovers work on solar power and storage batteries.
2010 01 13 Don’t make promises that cannot be kept ” … We’re going to make sure this will never happen again.” That’s a simple declarative sentence uttered more or less in that form by multitudes of people.
2010 01 06 Beginning the new year with a purpose Save the date, Jan. 29, 2010, for a bit of old-fashioned fun. There’s going to be a community potluck dinner on that Friday, beginning at 6 p.m.
2009 12 30 A toasty bird count in a quiet pre-winter Every Christmas Bird Count is memorable for the participants for a variety of reasons. Perhaps for spotting some unexpected or out-of-range species, perhaps for the enjoyable company you shared, maybe for the fun of a new experience…
2009 12 23 Solstice toasted here but dreaded on Mars The solstice is on my mind. Only natural; the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere has just occurred, back on Monday, Dec. 21. Truthfully, I’m writing this while assuming winter solstice ’09 did occur and that Earth will truly see another summer…
2009 12 16 Christmas bird count this Sunday, Dec. 20 This Sunday, this very Dec. 20, 2009, is the day to look for birds in Jackson Hole and count them. Dec. 20 is Christmas Bird Count Day in Jackson Hole.
2009 12 09 Fly me to the moon but not past Mars From whenever some species of homo became sentient – perhaps 200,000 years ago and right up to this very minute – manthings have invested endless time and treasure in attempts to understand the sun, the moon, all those strange yet familiar lights in the night sky…
2009 12 02 All birders welcome at Christmas Count There’s a Christmas Bird Count coming to a place near you…
2009 11 25 Thanksgiving is time to honor traditions Last Friday morning, Nov. 20, 2009, I tuned in on CSPAN 2 as the United States Senate began, um, let us say, deliberating its proposed health care reform bill. The Greatest Deliberative Body in the World and all that…
2009 11 18 When in doubt, leave it out, but look it up Some birds are pretty easy to identify: your magpie, your robin, your male mountain bluebird, mallard duck, mature bald eagle…
2009 11 11 Look, identify, make a note and report it Did you read about the Yellowstone Bio Blitz?
2009 11 04 Continental Divide is more than a name This past last weekend of October 2009 is providing a reminder of the existence of the Continental Divide. The western quarter of Wyoming is relatively dry, while eastern Wyoming is clobbered with early snow, wind and, well, winter…
2009 10 28 A case of wanderlust or just plain-old lost Last week in the Field Notes section of this column, a rather too-casual mention was made of a late hummingbird in the Hole. A mid-October hummer isn’t unprecedented, but not every year either…
2009 10 21 The year fall colors failed to arrive here Under our abruptly bare aspen trees, on a day last week, it was green. Not grass green; the grasses are brown. Green with green fallen aspen leaves. Even the driveway was green. I cannot recall an autumnal leaf fall like this, leaves neither yellow nor brown and dry, but green…
2009 10 14 From the backyard to the backcountry “From the Backyard to the Backcountry” is a slogan local citizen naturalists and scientists are using now to popularize nature mapping. Emphasis had been pretty much on mammals – moose, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, pikas – and mostly in national forest, park or mountainous settings.
2009 10 07 Finding water with fancy divining rods On Friday, Oct. 9, a NASA spacecraft will impact our moon in a search for water on it…
2009 09 30 Hummingbird feeder gets surprise visitor It has been our practice to keep a hummingbird feeder going until finally convinced no straggler could conceivably arrive in need of a quick energy drink…
2009 09 23 When will first snow hit the valley floor? Autumn here in the northwest, heading into October and winter. Many, if not most, plants go or have gone dormant…
2009 09 16 Know a good book? Try Charlie’s latest It’s one of those books you can put down but will return to. Again and again…
2009 09 09 What do you suppose makes that do that? On his 1773 voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, Ben Franklin, being Franklin, made many and varying observations…
2009 09 02 From 9 billion strong to none in 65 years On Sept. 1, 1914, the last passenger pigeon on earth died. It was early in that afternoon 95 years ago…
2009 08 26 Time for Game and Fish to bite the bullet The Wyoming Game and Fish Department declared earlier this month it has no official stance on phasing out lead bullets. Even though several kinds of non-lead bullets are available. Even though it’s inconceivable the presence of lead in the environment could have escaped its notice…
2009 08 19 They’re not just big; they’re pretty smart At 7:45 p.m. Aug. 12, a large murder of American crows flew over me, heading directly to an established roost a couple of air miles away. Perhaps 40 birds, coming from recently hayed fields and a day of foraging for insects, seeds, an unlucky vole. Bunched up leaders of the pack and the inevitable tail-end Charlie…
2009 08 12 A bird in the hand is… well, an individual Last week, brief mention was made here of two red-eyed vireos having been banded in Jackson Hole and that this songbird species is rare and, before this one, noted only in spring and fall in this region. The red-eyed vireo is deserving of more than a sentence or two…
2009 08 05 Observing wildlife is fun, advances science A major aspiration of the Nature Mapping Project is to encourage one and all, young and old, to observe and to report on wildlife…
2009 07 29 What you are spared and what you’re not Oh, to be a political columnist now that comity between our two major political parties was stillborn…
2009 07 22 Adventure for man, adventure by wildlife It’s summer, and wanderlust is in the air…
2009 07 15 Wildflower guide is a must-read right now This is a book alert. The book, hot off the press, is The Trail to Table Mountain: A Location Based Guide to 186 Plants Found in the Teton/Yellowstone Region, written and illustrated by Kelley Coburn…
2009 07 08 Where are our pikas; how are they faring? Pikas are cute. If they were larger than they are, they’d probably morph into charismatic. Y’know, up there with polar bears, wolves, whooping cranes or whales. But pikas are small, very small, thus remaining “cute.”
2009 07 01 Another soaring bird navigating our skies A while back – say 20, 30 years ago – a turkey vulture (a large scavenging bird) in Jackson Hole was a rare sight. Just didn’t seem to happen, even in those times of year when lots of carcasses or parts thereof are available in quantity…
2009 06 24 When there really is an owl in the camp Two very young great horned owls left their nest cavity under a cottonwood tree in the Gros Ventre Campground, Grand Teton National Park, on Friday…
2009 06 17 A bit of evidence that birds share feelings The following wildlife observation was made by Susan Drew in Wilson last month. Perhaps it may jog your memory of some observation you made and can share…
2009 06 10 Not all the creatures that fly are the birds Evolution toys with organisms that can fly. Hundreds of thousands of insects capable of flight exist now – maybe millions. Who knows how many …
2009 06 03 What might you see purely by observing? See, you’re a big-time birder and there’s this old friend visiting who’s also a hotshot birder, so you’re heading out for a long day of birding Jackson Hole. Gonna meet up with still another (recovering) birder, too…
2009 05 27 Let wildlife be wild; please do not disturb It’s time for one of those timely reminders. This, the one about avoiding interfering with nesting birds or their fledglings, getting between a four-legged mother and her offspring, or altering or destroying wildlife habitat…
2009 05 20 Welcoming those 1st Wyoming spring days You know you’re in Wyoming when there’s whitecaps in the birdbaths. Whether it was the stiff wind or simple curiosity that led a hummingbird into the garage…
2009 05 13 Service call in space requires special tools This column is scheduled to have been massaged from scratchings to digits to newsprint today, Wednesday, May 13. On May 11, the final servicing mission to upgrade and maintain the Hubble Space Telescope is – was – scheduled to launch.
2009 05 06 Probe, tear or crush, seize, strain or shear Birds have bills – or beaks if they should be raptors. Bills are akin to our jaws, yet quite different in many respects.In birds, the bill is …
2009 04 29 Volunteers provide the essential element Item: Moose Day, last April 18, 2009, in Jackson Hole, is considered to have been a success. People had fun with it, and data useful to game m…
2009 04 22 Volunteers earn their handsome payoffs Among the immutable precepts the News & Guide follows rigidly are its deadlines. Thus it is that I can’t tell you yet how Moose Day in the H…
2009 04 15 Whirling Dervish or specialized feeding A good dear friend yearns to see and to observe a phalarope. He should be in luck, according to that handy, nearly indispensable Pocket Guide to Birds of Jackson Hole. Wilson’s phalarope should return just about now. Mid-April in Jackson Hole…
2009 04 08 April 18: Moose Day in Jackson Hole area A request: We would like to designate April 18, 2009, a Saturday, as A Moose Day in Jackson Hole and surrounding areas.
2009 04 01 The unusual winter for birds – as usual Robins and crossbills. How odd to have both robins and two species of crossbills having wintered in our region in such impressive numbers. In …
2009 03 25 Enlisting all citizens for all of our wildlife What a community.
2009 03 18 If we don’t log it, it won’t become data For those of you who live organized lives and read the Jackson Hole News & Guide regularly on its publication date, a reminder: Tonight, Mar…
2009 03 11 See nature mapping work for our wildlife It probably wouldn’t surprise even the most casual reader of this column that Meg Raynes and I enjoyed many, many chats about wildlife, conser…
2009 03 04 Trying to resist those thoughts of spring The sun is streaming into the south window; the new snow has smoothed over various imperfections in the yard and is a soft-appearing surface; …
2009 02 25 Wildlife stories can be found everywhere Ernest La Belle lives in Wilson and has written the following wildlife saga, which he titled “You Came to My Door”:
2009 02 18 Share observations, help valley wildlife The Jackson Hole Daily, the sprightly little sister of this newspaper, carried an Associated Press piece on Feb. 10 that described some result…
2009 02 11 Those robins you see stayed for the berries One highlight of this winter’s active bird life in Jackson Hole has to be the presence of robins, sometimes in several dozens in a flock.
2009 02 04 Don’t say climate if you mean weather Climate and weather are not synonyms.
2009 01 28 Birdwatching: the tie that binds many of us John M. Good is a man of many and various experiences, talents and careers. He’s also an author and an enthusiastic book reader, willing to share
2009 01 21 What you can do for your valley’s wildlife Doggone. The December 14, 2008, Jackson Hole, Wyo., Christmas Bird Count set a local record high for the number of species censused in a count by citizen scientists…
2009 01 14 Assessing a neighbor fox’s real intentions Around midday a week ago, I noticed a red fox walking – sauntering, really – toward the house. It went directly to where stands an “X” wooden …
2009 01 07 Courtesy requires me to respond ‘whatever’ Among the kind and thoughtful season’s greetings cards I got from here and there and there was one I thought to share. Not particularly warm, really, but obviously well thought-out, certainly politically correct, and modern. (It is lightly redacted.)…
2008 12 31 Wings of winter that may visit your feeder It may be a finch winter. A finch winter might be defined simply as a season when some species of finches that would stay put in the Far North with an adequate tree seed supply have to move south to survive. Happens roughly every two years…
2008 12 24 Your ‘pixels’ sharpen whole wildlife picture Checklists and field guides to animals, birds, flowers, trees, insects, rocks and more have evolved in the last 100 years or so. They are incr…
2008 12 17 Poorwills’ long naps look like hibernation The common poorwill, a nocturnal, cryptically camouflaged insectivorous bird in the nightjar (goatsucker) family with common nighthawks and wh…
2008 12 10 Big day coming up for citizen scientists The Jackson Hole Christmas Bird Count for 2008 will be this Sunday, Dec. 14.
2008 12 03 Jackson area’s birds back when and how My latest kick quoting myself from earlier books has caught on. With me, in particular.
2008 11 26 Trumpeters remain; watch for residents A trumpeter swan family in flight, following Flat Creek in mid-afternoon. Big white handsome birds, they appear in sunshine against a shadowed…
2008 11 19 Shop early and often; Christmas is coming As it happens, a tradition of pushing my own books around holiday season coincides with a flat inability to write a new column. So here are so…
2008 11 12 Say thanks to losers, for they have tried Individuals vie for political office at all levels of government, from low to high. Untold thousands of contests in towns, counties and states…
2008 11 05 Critters couldn’t give a hoot about elections The deadline for this column was a couple of days before Election Day 2008. The outcomes aren’t known as I write. By today, Nov. 5, publication…
2008 10 29 We ignore history to our regret and peril This week I’m privileged to provide information by Ruth Shea concerning the saga of trumpeter swans in North America. Ruth has worked on, with…
2008 10 22 Crisis, fear and dread – just have a nice day The United States is in economic crisis. The whole world is. New recognitions of this or that shattering aspect of the ramifications of the collapse in this or that linchpins of our economy have been revealed every two days for more than a month. New “solutions” arrive on about that same schedule, leading to concern about the depth of planning made for effectiveness and long-term unexpected consequences…
2008 10 15 Much of what we do reveals imperfection Nothing’s perfect.
2008 10 08 Opportunity to learn in all the right places You know the whole of it: You come upon something neat (to you) by your own observation or reading or from somebody to whom it is well-known, …
2008 10 01 Just in case you may have been too busy Sometimes you just have to quote the original source.
2008 09 24 Down, up, sideways, it’s all about the same Four species of nuthatches breed in North America. Three can be found out West: the white-breasted nuthatch, the red-breasted nuthatch and the pygmy nuthatch. The fourth is the brown-headed nuthatch, which lives in the mysterious East…
2008 09 17 Hummingbird moths and balloon spiders Hummingbird moth time in these parts. These interesting large insects must be around all summer, but it seems that the first weeks of autumn bring them to domestic flower gardens…
2008 09 10 Thanks, Mr. Ikada, for giving us MSG One hundred years ago this year, monosodium glutamate (MSG) was identified as a fifth taste quality. Not sweet, sour, bitter or salty, but one the Japanese discoverer, Kikunae Ikada, called umami, or “deliciousness” and “savoriness.” Turns out we have a specific glutamate receptor for this taste, identified in 1996…
2008 09 03 Ooh, look out! Here comes that nasty guy Last week’s column discussed the discovery that magpies can recognize themselves in mirrors, the first nonmammal to have been found to have this capability. A big deal in mankind’s growing appreciation of intelligence in his fellow creatures…
2008 08 27 Oh for Pete’s sake! Is that me in there? Mirrors are getting a new look. From investigators interested in how neuronally gifted species – humans and a handful of other species – perceive, and how the brain interprets information it receives from the environment. Mirrors are being used, too, in medicine to treat phantom limb syndrome, chronic paint and post-stroke paralysis.
2008 08 20 Can we teach about wildlife these days? Never before in the history of our nation has such a large percentage of its citizens been so ignorant of the lives of animals, wild or domestic…
2008 08 13 New recognition for an ancient pathway An open letter to T. Boone Pickens:
2008 08 06 Several thoughts on political campaigns With your indulgence, dear reader, here are a couple of entries found in Curmudgeon Chronicles. Written 10 years ago, so substitute a few names here and there to update…
2008 07 30 Summer colors come from varied sources Here with a few words on Summer, from Valley So Sweet:
2008 07 09 Scientists argue origin There’s a big argument going on among some paleoanthropologists and archaeologists; what else is new. Certain fields – geology, politics, tran…
2008 07 02 This familiar shrub deserves admiration Sometimes a dictionary definition just doesn’t satisfy. Particularly so if it’s on the computer screen and likely to be in isolation from all …
2008 06 25 If at first you don’t succeed, just let it go A while ago, I attempted in this space in a number of short essays and questionings to come up with a definition of “science.” A working definition, not the dictionary one. Not a superficial definition and not the movie and TV commercial depictions. Sure as heck not the current administration’s definition as something to manipulate for, at best, short-term political ends…
2008 06 18 Call it what you will, a marmot’s a squirrel A recent curiosity educated that marmots are ground squirrels. Until now, marmots were welcome early signs of spring, in varying pelages and sizes, usually rather quietly sunning on some rock outcrop. Sometimes announced by a high-pitched chirp or bark…
2008 06 11 Keeping the ancient pronghorn trail alive There can’t be many who aren’t delighted with the decision by Bridger-Teton National Forest Supervisor Kniffy Hamilton to protect a migration corridor vital to pronghorn migration into and out of Jackson Hole. Moreover, Hamilton has undertaken to work with other concerned agencies and with landowners in taking a similar conclusion…
2008 06 04 Good day, madam. Have we met before? Introduced birds. No, not Ms. Meadowlark, may I present Mr. Sage grouse. Not at all. Introduced birds are species that man has deliberately released in North America for some purpose or reason (or whim) and that have become established as a successfully reproductive “wild” species…
2008 05 28 What if we still had our prehensile tails? The tail. Modern humans have basically lost ours. Just a tailbone remains on us, although our closest relatives have retained their tails…
2008 05 21 Words, just like votes, have consequences Even U.S. senators sometimes make intemperate remarks. Now, one doesn’t have to go back as far as 1913, but there was a beaut back then, by Sen. Reed of Missouri…
2008 05 14 The times, they are sure a-changing fast Perhaps you keep the geologic eras and periods in your head. Eras beginning 3.8 billion years ago (Archeozoic), up to the present (Cenozoic) and the most recent period, Holocene, in which mankind evolved…
2008 05 07 Excuse me, is this the way to Yellowstone? What to think on that day around May 1 here when the first hummingbird materializes out of whatever weather to hover where the feeder had hung last year? In that exact place, that precise global positioning system location with no give-or-take inches, in all this vast landscape? After having migrated last fall to Mexico, most likely, and made it back to that spot…
2008 04 30 Some spring nights the skies are crowded Most species of small songbirds that do migrate, migrate at night. Most of them, then, move in groups of their kind. On some early spring nights, there may be tens of thousands of birds of one or several species on the move even just locally…
2008 04 23 Big black bird? Not necessarily a raven Over years I’ve written much about big white birds: whooping crane, trumpeter swan, white pelican. Time now to discuss big black birds: eagles, ravens, crows and, at this moment, turkey vultures…
2008 04 16 Wyoming’s state bird … and also 5 others Meadowlarks are blackbirds. Yup, these familiar brown-backed birds with the bright yellow breast and white outer tail feathers are in the blackbird family. The giveaway is the sharp-pointed, conical bill and, today, those pesky DNA tests. Close relatives are the even more colorful orioles…
2008 04 09 Isn’t that a bit early? Actually, not really Come April and some activities in Jackson Hole slow down, if only for a disappointing ever-shortening respite, but not in the bird world…
2008 04 02 There was some good in the good old days Think Jackson Hole in April 1908. A few pioneers, a few homesteaders, fewer amenities. Heat came from wood they cut themselves. No electricity. No automobiles. What snow was moved was shoveled…
2008 03 26 Bluebirds a welcome harbinger of spring A case can be made that few bird families, if any, provide more satisfaction to humans in North American than does the thrush family. Here, in the still snow-covered Mountain West, the sight of a returning mountain bluebird or robin lifts the spirit. An eagerly sought sign of spring…
2008 03 19 Like Lincoln-Douglas debates all over again It was good for our country that candidates of the dominant political parties for president conducted a serious discussion/debate on science and technology issues…
2008 03 12 Singing a different seductive love song Birds sing. Actually, most birds sing. Some don’t. Some birds hiss or cackle or make some noise with body parts, say with beaks or feathers or, as in sage grouse, special air sacs…
2008 03 05 How to tell spring is around some corners Made it to March, and so it’s time to welcome – or at least acknowledge – some familiars to the scene. Oh, you know: bikes on highways and roof racks; underwear with legends imprinted on ’em (T-shirts or equivalents); really ugly heaps of plowed-up snow; and traditional potholes. Potholes with a history of decades…
2008 02 27 Not a column about politics or politicians Sometimes, as when I’m having difficult in coming up with a topic for a column, I kind of wish I write on politics. Always something going on, never a respite, colorful subjects, nothing scientific, lots of innuendos permitted, lots of sex (implied), reprising dormant…
2008 02 20 Chronicle a season in the life of a plant Now comes another opportunity for you to be a citizen-scientist, and as we all have been reminded again and again of late, sound science is very important…
2008 02 13 Let’s see; just where did I put those seeds It seems to me that mention is made in my scribbles at this season that “winter is tough” on wild animals. It’d be more precise to say that winter is deadly when it prevents them from obtaining or finding food…
2008 02 06 Bringing color to the landscapes of winter Very many, surely a majority, of our winter birds are largely black and white or grayish. Oh sure, close up there are other colors, but they are generally muted in this season…
2008 01 30 Watch the skies for unusual winter wings For the nature watcher, opportunities to find a four-footed animal far from its normal range are limited. It’s just so difficult and dangerous for one to travel and to survive in unfamiliar habitat facing hazards…
2008 01 23 Don’t overlook these reasons to celebrate There’s a National Squirrel Awareness Weekly observance. A surprise to me; how does one ignore the little beings? If there are squirrels around your residence you should be quite aware of it…
2008 01 16 Lookin’ for the Grand in unexpected places Remember back a couple of Januaries when energy and global heating concerns were going to go away as problems because we’re all going to convert to using hydrogen? Just before it morphed into ethanol…
2008 01 09 Easily outsmarted by a persistent squirrel A red squirrel has commandeered my bird feeder. He sleeps in a bluebird nest box, having enlarged the hole to fit his person. (I say “his,” but I don’t really know whether he is indeed a he…
2008 01 02 Hey, buddy, let’s get the lead out of birds Lead is toxic. Lead is toxic to people, to other animals and birds. Lead should not be distributed haphazardly into the environment. Fact. Indisputable…
2007 12 26 There will be light but with a difference A new energy bill, just passed and signed into law, will no doubt hasten the rapid decline, if not the demise, of incandescent light bulbs…
2007 12 19 Birds do it, bees do it and the Earth moves Last week’s column on chickadee inter- and intra-species communication evoked rather more comment than usually pours in. Truthfully, “trickles in” would be a generous description of usual reaction, but people are so busy multitasking these days…
2007 12 12 Listen: A little bird really is telling you In Valley So Sweet, the author tells of being out for a snowy, cold afternoon walk here a few days past winter solstice. He was berating himself (mildly) for not being able to detect or sense that subtle turning of seasons…
2007 12 05 Another ‘must-do’ in an already busy time Close to 60,000 people of many, interchangeable, sometimes confusing field marks, will volunteer to identify and count birds for their particular Audubon Christmas Bird Count…
2007 11 28 Here I go again with a holiday tradition It’s a kind of holiday/shopping/buying season custom for this column to suggest books by local authors for readers’ consideration. I honor that custom again this year…
2007 11 21 A visitor from the North is hanging out in Idaho Almost all bird watchers enjoy seeing a bird they hadn’t ever seen, or identified, before. A small percentage of all bird watchers get quite f…
2007 11 14 Mention is made but that’s pretty much it A well-accepted common remark, a truism I guess, in my day and very likely in yours, goes something along these lines: You can’t do anything about the weather…
2007 11 07 Confession is said to be good for a pol It should be no surprise to any regular reader of this column that I watch birds, since at times in this space mention of some bird activity is made…
2007 10 31 Come participate in plans for sage grouse Today is Halloween. Well, it is if you’re one of the readers of the Jackson Hole News & Guide who actually get to read this paper early on its publication date…
2007 10 24 Of the telltale stance and foolish prance Back in the day, folks who had piled out of their haphazardly abandoned vehicles in a national park or such scenic area, causing a traffic jam to look at some unfamiliar animal – moose, bear, or alligator – adopted a signature posture…
2007 10 17 The fateful flights of ballooning spiders Not exactly the lyrics to a ’70s ditty, but it’s what spiderlings might have been singing Oct. 9 and 10 in Jackson Hole if spiders can sing. If spiders can sing, would we really know…
2007 10 10 Some guide book will tell you what bird it is The first bird guide to be titled a “field guide” is believed to have been Roger Tory Peterson’s A Field Guide to the Birds (Eastern North America) 1934. It was so (unexpectedly) successful and useful…
2007 10 03 Let us now consider the sagebrush saga Sage grouse are in the news of late in half a dozen Western states and a couple of Canadian provinces. Biologists, scientists, wildlife managers, bird watchers, politicians, developers, hunters, energy companies…
2007 09 26 All the leaves, all the numberless leaves Autumn has arrived. On the calendar, sure, but in more tangible ways. You have your own personal signs. I have some of my own
2007 09 19 Reminiscences “It’s a nice little book.” That’s what my Muse, Meg Raynes, slyly quipped after reading Valley so Sweet (her title), my first attempt at describing some of our feelings about and toward our home…
2007 09 12 Looking for love in all the wrong places A couple of years ago, many regional observers were remarking on, even bemoaning, the seeming drastic decline of the porcupines. A familiar, most interesting animal seemed largely absent from the local scene…
2007 09 05 Restlessness, hunger, an urge to move on Labor Day and mobs of tourist robins have come to preferred locations in Jackson Hole to shop for fruits and berries on their travels. Opportunistic shoppers, so if some unwary worm or insect should happen to present itself, well – yummy. Fast food…
2007 08 29 When you have your head in the clouds Among the many statistics not readily to my hand is the average number of days each year that are cloud-free over Jackson Hole. They’re nice. Although: The Tetons appear smaller, your photos suggest a lack of something you-just-can’t-put-your-finger-on, and addicted cloud-watchers are out of luck…
2007 08 22 One more behavior birds do differently One of the earliest essays I ever attempted about bird behavior resulted from some concentrated observation of birds bathing in our bird bath/dripper. No surprise: Species regularly do things differently…
2007 08 15 Why Canada geese may fly in V pattern Growing flocks of Canada geese are being remarked upon now, especially on newly mowed ranchlands, birds busily gleaning, gathering, practicing flying together…
2007 08 08 A bit of this and that; it’s August, after all A very immature fledgling Brewer’s blackbird fluttered up to sit on my vehicle’s hood one morning last week. Oh – I was parked, of course, but still it wasn’t all that simple a maneuver for this youngster; the hood slopes rather precipitously…
2007 08 01 When the moon soars over the mountains Whenever there’s a crescent moon on the horizon at sunset, a kind of ghostly image of the full moon can be seen. That phenomenon is called Earthshine now. In our modern supercilious manner, we assume early peoples didn’t know what it was, what caused it…
2007 07 25 Chasing butterfly puzzles over tundra The insect group is the largest group of animals in the world, by far. One estimate is that there are some 900,000 kinds of insects in the world and between 2 million and 30 million species. (Now, there’s a range.) Smithsonian Institution suggests there are some 91,000 known insect species in the United States…
2007 07 18 Bird world’s lil’ gems never fail to amaze A factoid I came across recently declared that with their binocular vision hummingbirds can spot a feeder from about three-quarters of a mile away. Wow; that’s quite a distance…
2007 07 11 At long last, while any wetlands remain What is a wetland? If you raised your hand, you may want to skim this paragraph. Or note: A definition isn’t easy. At least five major habitats and more than 20 wetland types are recognized by United States agencies with regulatory
2007 07 04 Happy 4th! A toast to our national bird Once upon a time – well, actually, back when the bald eagle was designated as our national symbol – an estimated 100,000 nesting pairs of them existed in what became our lower 48 states…
2007 06 27 2 tales: 1 cheering, the other regrettable You may remember when, in February, 18 juvenile whooping cranes died together in Florida during a severe storm…
2007 06 20 Because it’s old, does it have to be good? Recently I had occasion to look for something or other in the house. Happens a whole lot these days, for “occasion” read pretty much every day or two. Seldom actually find it, whatever it is, even when I positively know where it simply has to be. Most aggravating. Magnificent waste of time and effort…
2007 06 13 The way birds sleep is being revealed Fish indeed got to swim. They certainly rest for a part of each day, depending upon their species, and I suspect do “sleep” at times, even though they (all but sharks) lack eyelids. Of course, I believe fish “feel” pain, too…
2007 06 06 Yet another charming small, brownish bird Much as I like, admire and enjoy being in the company of birders, ornithologists and biologists, some of their offhand remarks do jar me. For instance, when one of them points to an indistinct, half-hidden smidgen of a bird announces…
2007 05 30 Pronghorn know the way and we do also Locals in particular will relate to the clear introduction to this week’s column. Apologies to the many thousands of out-of-town subscribers. Now then, when you turn off South Broadway (Routes 89, 26, 189 and 191) onto Wyoming 22 in your modern vehicle…
2007 05 23 When the situation says ‘go,’ then go American white pelicans have returned to Jackson Hole and the Yellowstone. They breed on a couple of islands in Yellowstone Lake in its restricted south arm. The pelicans don’t have an isolated enough situation on Jackson Lake…
2007 05 16 Watch out for lion’s teeth in your lawn n the May-June 2007 Audubon magazine is an item about the Colorado blue columbine, a pretty wildflower that will bloom here in about a month. In fact, white or cream or even a kind of purple as well…
2007 05 09 When politics trumps what the science says It astonishes and amazes how the Bush administration can carry on a war, deal with foreign affairs (some ominous), keep the nation safe and run the numberless affairs of state ranging from the routine to super-urgent yet still have plenty of time…
2007 05 02 Birds do it, bees do it; not much else do it When you’re out bird watching … I assume you do watch birds, don’t you? … also take note of any bees you see. Why? Because bees, honeybees in particular, are in trouble and because we humans depend upon these bees as principal pollinators…
2007 04 25 Spring in the Rockies brings back promise Springtime in the Rockies. A half-inch of spring was on the deck and driveway this morning, and there are a few flakes of spring in the air now…
2007 04 18 Be seen, scientists, seen but not heard Natural History magazine is published in association with the American Museum of Natural History. Its promo says it “spans the spectrum of science, nature and history.” And it does, for the interested lay person in particular…
2007 04 11 Sage grouse know it’s time, but do we? It’s that time. Time for sage grouse in these parts to do their part in sustaining their kind, avoiding extinction, even perhaps to prosper and grow…
2007 04 04 Howdy, stranger! You new in town? A couple of bird notations of interest, or perhaps of significance: Back on Jan. 10, I speculated in this space that Eurasian collared doves were likely to appear in Jackson Hole in the near future…
2007 03 28 Anything, I guess, except conservation H.L. Mencken stated it: For every problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat … and wrong. A generality, sure, but perhaps particularly apt to describe a solution proposed by an officeholder who’s just kicking the can down the road…
2007 03 21 Let’s all quit arguing about global warming Evidence piles up concerning the increasing tempo of Earth’s warming and the role of man’s contribution to it. Arguments pooh-poohing global warming grow more feeble. The back-and-forth is unenlightening, and the level of discourse needs to be elevated….
2007 03 14 Solitary musicians of coniferous forests Six decades ago, Roger Tory Peterson, an unknown in the middle of the Great Depression, revolutionized the then-existing bird field guides (and went on to do a similar number on about all our natural history subjects and disciplines). Reviewers of the genre nowadays…
2007 03 07 Well, y’know, just a couple of suggestions The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, National Elk Refuge and Grand Teton National Park have issued their “Summary of the Final Bison and Elk Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement.” It outlines the desired future conditions…
2007 02 28 Maintain the lower Gros Ventre River Where is the water? One of the first sights that locals and visitors alike marvel at upon entering Grand Teton National Park headed north on Highway 191 are the grand Tetons…
2007 02 21 They do just about everything but dance Here’s another bird inquiry that calls for some answer: How can birds hang on, even when asleep, to a perch that may be moving about erratically and violently…
2007 02 14 Loss of 17 whoopers disastrous for species The 17 juvenile whooping cranes lost to the tornados and associated storms in Florida on the evening of Feb. 1 and the early morning of Feb. 2 constituted the entire “Class of 2006” of ultralight-aircrafted…
2007 02 07 Guy walks into a bar . … and makes sense Shortly after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, this guy walks into a bar. Two patrons are having a big, noisy, wide-ranging argument. Soon the guy comprehends the nature of the near-brawl…
2007 01 31 Heel bone connected to the thigh bones … Last week we together considered the question: Why don’t birds’ feet freeze? (Answer: In certain bird species, waterfowl especially, arterial blood flow coming from the bird’s core transfers…
2007 01 24 Some also do come in attractive colors Well … Why don’t birds’ feet freeze? How can birds’ feet keep from freezing in weather such as birds have been experiencing for so many hours and days in Jackson Hole…
2007 01 17 A few things surely worth at least a try Well, here you go! Here’s a hot new item that I’m surprised my co-conspirator in keeping you up the minute about all matters pertinent to the outdoors, Paul Bruun, didn’t actually invent…
2007 01 10 Maybe we should just call them peace doves They are coming. Probably. Well, they should come. After all, they’ve reached Idaho and beyond on their way from Florida. “They” are Eurasian collared doves…
2007 01 04 A new year arrives and stuff will happen Years back at the turning of a year I used to suggest, if not predict, what natural history events might occur locally in succeeding seasons. Oh, y’know, recurrent happenings. Bald eagles and owls nesting while winter had months yet to go…
2006 12 28 Bit of color in the sky can delight the eye On a chilly morning last week I ran late for my regular routine consisting of a sprint up Snow King Mountain quick dip in Flat Creek and a couple of hours of intensive aerobic physical therapy…
2006 12 20 Winter solstice will arrive Friday, right? As a result of a really substantial rationalization egged on by significant lethargy, here’s what I’m going to do: observe the winter solstice. Quietly. Simply just rather not get involved in a dispute over what is or what is not a proper salutation at this season…
2006 12 13 Time to learn where our elusive birds are Well, folks, it’s time to check those little ol’ bird feeders, disinfect them, if needed, replace the too-old seed, fill them with black oil sunflower seeds or thistle seed, and get them out there in a situation where deer or moose or bears or raccoons can’t get at ’em…
2006 11 29 Controlled fires help build healthier forests An important article by Jim Robbins in a recent New York Times summarizes recent studies and conclusions made by the U.S. Forest Service and lay academic fire researchers thusly: Thinning forests without also burning accumulated brush and deadwood may increase…
2006 11 22 It’s up to us to know where the birds are Depending upon location, snow cover, access to water and even prior success, you may have lots of familiar birds at your bird feeders…
2006 11 15 One man’s thistle bird another’s golden finch As have all other animals and plants, birds have been given scientific names in a system of bionical nomenclature named for its founder, Linnaeus. (Actually his name was Karl von Linne, but it was Latinized). His elegant system, first published in 1735, has been modified added to and revised but remains the standard, world over…
2006 11 08 Politics isn’t the only thing happening now These words are being scribbled as the Sturm und Drang of the 2006 midterm electioneering, if that’s what it is, is still in heat. Seemingly endless, because it actually is, but this particular election will have been completed, most likely, by the time these words appear in print…
2006 11 06 Sweet mystery of ice at last we found thee As ubiquitous as “Have a good day” is the farewell caution heard this time of year: “Be careful; it’s slippery out there.” Indeed it can be, if there’s ice about. Ice is slippery, as is commonplace in vast areas of the planet…
2006 11 01 Politics today needs less art, more science The sound bite “sound science” has always been jarring to my ear. Just as “true facts” is distressing. Although I never have came up with a personally satisfying short definition of science when I attempted to in the space…
2006 10 25 Research says global temps continue to rise A few weeks ago, just before Congress recessed to go off politicking, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, took to the floor to deliver another speech about his view of global warming. After 45 minutes or so, there was a sort of reprise on Sen. Inhofe’s off-quoted statement that “global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetuated…
2006 10 18 How can wings do it without maps, GPS? If you have the opportunity to maintain a sugar-water hummingbird feeder – in season – you have probably had an experience something like this: It’s very early spring. Wintry even, still. Abruptly, outside the window…
2006 10 11 The always intriguing wonders of migration The term “migration” is often used in natural history discussion and often, also, used pretty casually. Come to think of it, “migration” is tossed around with respect to human behavior and sometimes in error…
2006 10 04 Fierce even without the flame breathing It may just be that biting insects concentrate the mind in the early summer months, but it has always seemed to me that I don’t notice dragonflies much until late in the season. Until into August and September…
2006 09 27 They’re cute, gangly and fond of burrows Owls intrigue people. Most people, anyhow. And mostly the smaller owls. Owls sit upright with their large round eyes facing forward. Their beaks poke out from soft facial feathers…
2006 09 20 Just in case you need a reason to celebrate This is Constitution Month. This column is to be published during Constitution Week, our Constitution having been ratified on Sept. 17, 1787. I bet this is National Constitution Week, therefore…
2006 09 13 Compelling evidence but selective reaction If you’ve followed any of the evidence of global warming, you’ll have heard of the “hockey stick graph.” That phrase refers to the plot of carbon dioxide and temperature versus time: relatively constant for hundreds and thousands of years…
2006 09 06 Look carefully at all subtle characteristics Some birds you just know, bird watcher or not. Familiar birds, easily recognizable sizes, shapes, plumages, or song. Think robins, magpies, great blue herons, bald eagles, mountain bluebirds…
2006 08 30 Black birds you don’t want to bake into pies One of those smoky mornings in Jackson Hole. Forest fire smoke, obscuring any view of the Tetons. Early explorers of this region often remarked about such days, times when forest fires simply burned until rain or snow extinguished them. This morning was last Thursday…
2006 08 23 Must we be obligated to repeat history? We moderns shudder at prehistoric Aztec and Mayan practices of human sacrifice. Imagine cutting open the chest of some victim, ripping his beating heart out of his body with your bare hands. Drinking his blood. Then another and another helpless victim…
2006 08 16 The yin and yang of each hurricane In last week’s column, I mentioned last fall’s Hurricane Rita having both done damage to land areas of western Louisiana but also regenerating a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. That former area of barren water is again supporting fish, crabs, shrimp and so forth…
2006 08 09 Mud-bath ritual helps hide sandhill cranes from sight Dr. Aelita Pinter studies voles. For a few weeks each summer she comes up from New Orleans to study voles in Grand Teton National Park (she teaches at New Orleans University). When I state that she studies voles, I mean she is a field biologist…
2006 08 02 Why don’t we blame it all on the drought I dunno. Maybe it’s the heat and drought. Let’s say it is. Otherwise, well otherwise it’s something that I would want to think about, assuming I’d remember to…
2006 07 26 New park guidebooks make series complete Now they’ve done it. They’ve gone and completed the Grand Teton Natural History Association’s Official Guidebooks of Grand Teton National Park. The final four are out as promised last year and are available now…
2006 07 19 Whatever is going on in Christian Pond? Flash! A developing story! “Developing” as used by cable news networks to introduce some event or topic that just may, may become a real story but so far there’s only perhaps one little piece of information or a video clip…
2006 07 12 Must-see events in near and outer space After reaching orbit on July 4, astronauts on Space Shuttle Discovery made an exhaustive visual examination of its most vulnerable heat shield tiles for any damage or flaws. Fortunately none were found. But, they did find some oddly shaped white blotches on the black surface on the leading edge of the right wing…
2006 07 05 Don’t drive like my brother. … or sister Inspired, as I often am, by our Congress’ shenanigans and topics de jour, I offered, a while ago, Guest Worker Shots (subject to my acceptance, naturally). Here’s the second in that, um, series. Larry Rieser, among his very many vigorous and intellectual pursuit…
2006 06 28 OK, everybody go sit down on an anthill Once upon a time, in a place far away in distance and time, I had a first opportunity to watch carefully how a variety of birds take water baths. As you would expect, different bird species bathe differently…
2006 06 21 Stormy weather keeps happening all the time With luck you weren’t without some protection during last week’s vigorous hailstorm. Not somewhere out in the open with no shelter or a chance to cover your head or other vital parts….
2006 06 14 Ignoring good advice on sustainability Switchgrass is mentioned with some frequency in current discourses about prospects for sustainable energy sources. Switchgrass, corn or agricultural waste can be fermented to produce ethanol…
2006 05 11 New product a mini water treatment plant More than 1.1 billion people in poor nations drink water that has undergone no treatment whatsoever.
2006 04 21 Why it’s time to stop just fiddling around Since the Big Paper (the Jackson Hole News & Guide) runs a feature it calls ‘Guest Shot,’ I figure a baby column ought to be up to an occasional ‘Guest Worker’ piece.