Recently, sitting on the back deck, my wife and I watched a pair of Eastern Bluebirds checking out the nest boxes we have in our field. Several American Robins probed the grass close to the house in search of worms. And, as the sun started to set, the forest around us came alive with the […]

Recently, Mac Davis took me around Songo Pond looking for signs of nesting birds. He showed me an agitated pair of Merlins, a small falcon, that had been visiting the same pines for a week. He pushed our canoe up into a brushy area where we watched a pair of cat birds. One kept bringing […]

In Abiquiu, NM late one March morning one glorious yellow swallowtail visited my narcissus, grape hyacinths and my glowing cactus garden. I watched this one butterfly with deep pleasure mixed with concern remembering years of Tiger Swallowtail abundance in Maine. These beautiful insects used to arrive in such numbers … . Swallowtails have always been […]

Many of us own dogs. Some dogs represent the class of “junk-yardian” while on the other end of the canine continuum we find dogs of presumed royalty, pampered and protected, fearing even the smallest of viruses and parasites might spoil their bloodlines and genetic purity. Regardless of whether you have the dog you’d rather kiss […]

More disease threats from wild and domestic canines