Lifestyle

The Beauty in Nature: Wintering Shorebirds

Details: Written by Clyde McMillan-Gamber Clyde McMillan-Gamber

Dunlin, sanderlings, ruddy turnstones, and purple sandpipers are small shorebirds that nest on the Arctic tundra. However, many individuals of each kind winter along the Atlantic Ocean coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and farther south.

The Beauty in Nature: Observing Bald Eagles

Details: Written by Clyde McMillan-Gamber Clyde McMillan-Gamber

Happily, bald eagle populations have increased greatly throughout North America, including in southeastern Pennsylvania, because of the ban on the use of DDT since 1972.

The Beauty in Nature: Wildlife Succession in Cornfields

Details: Written by Clyde McMillan-Gamber Clyde McMillan-Gamber

Much farmland in southeastern Pennsylvania is devoted to raising field corn. Cornfields are human-made habitats that have stages of succession, from bare ground to rows of tall corn plants, to short stubble after being harvested. And each stage is inhabited by certain adaptable kinds of wildlife.

Melinda’s Garden: Brighten the Holidays with Colorful Plants

Details: Written by Melinda Myers Melinda Myers

Garden centers, florists, and grocery stores are filling their shelves with a variety of holiday plants, a sure sign the holidays are approaching.

The Beauty in Nature: Wandering Albatrosses

Details: Written by Clyde McMillan-Gamber Clyde McMillan-Gamber

Wandering albatrosses are well named. They often soar hundreds of miles a day, low over the southern oceans that circle Antarctica, all day, every day, for a couple of weeks straight.

The Beauty in Nature: Flying Squirrels

Details: Written by Clyde McMillan-Gamber Clyde McMillan-Gamber

I’ve seen a few southern flying squirrels “in the flesh” in southeastern Pennsylvania in my lifetime and heard about others from people who saw those charming little rodents, mostly at birdfeeders at night.

The Beauty in Nature: Chimney Swifts

Details: Written by Clyde McMillan-Gamber Clyde McMillan-Gamber

I remember walking along a sidewalk when I was 5 years old and hearing chattering overhead. Looking up, I saw a loose group of small birds flying swiftly.