All members of the weasel family demonstrate that species in any family of wildlife diverge into a variety of habitats to take advantage of foods and shelter in each one. That diversion created the many kinds of weasels found throughout much of the world.

Late in the afternoon one day this past November, noisy multitudes of American crows and Canada geese were on a short-grass lawn behind a local shopping mall.

We’ve had blue jays in our yard for the more than 30 years I’ve lived at my home. Having blue feathering with black and white markings, blue jays are attractive and welcome on our lawn.

Earth’s oceans twice daily rise around the world like a “wave” of people at a sporting event because of the pull of our moon’s gravity.

Autumn reminds us that winter is coming, with its short daylight each day and cooling temperatures.

Autumn reminds us that winter is coming, with its short daylight each day and cooling temperatures.

Several kinds of mammals adapted to Pennsylvania farmland, giving each species more area to live and reproduce in, which increases their numbers.

Several kinds of creatures catch flying insects in midair during summer and autumn in southeastern Pennsylvania. Those species of winged wildlife are a variety of small birds, bats, and dragonflies.

Saltmarshes are watery, grassy habitats between barrier island beaches and dunes along seacoasts and the mainland. Saltmarshes along the Atlantic Ocean from New England to Virginia are alive with a variety of creatures in summer, most of which are there to raise young.

For an hour one afternoon toward the end of April of this year, I stopped at one of my favorite wildlife places close to home in New Holland. This spot is dominated by treated wastewater from New Holland businesses that flows constantly into a brook in a cow pasture.

Several kinds of warblers, which are small, colorful birds that winter in Central and South America, nest in forests and woody thickets in North America, including in southeastern Pennsylvania.

I remember the first time I saw a courting male American woodcock silhouetted against a striking sunset one evening early in April several years ago.

American hazelnuts and speckled alders are wild shrubs native to northeastern North America. Both species have beautiful, intriguing parts early in spring that make them interesting.

American hazelnuts and speckled alders are wild shrubs native to northeastern North America. Both species have beautiful, intriguing parts early in spring that make them interesting.

Every late autumn, winter, and early spring, I look forward to seeing a variety of migrating and/or wintering ducks, geese, and swans in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Beavers and porcupines have much in common. These interesting species are large rodents that live in Pennsylvania’s forests, as well as in woods across much of North America.

Every November, over the years, I have enjoyed the courting of white-tailed deer and great horned owls among the woods, fields, and thickets of southeastern Pennsylvania.

Chestnut oak and black birch trees together dominate dry, rocky slopes and ridge tops in southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as from southern Maine and Ontario to Ohio and Delaware, and along the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia and Alabama.

Sitting on our lawn one evening this summer, I thought about the adaptable wildlife that recently raised young or lived in sheltered places on the outside of our house in a suburban area. These common creatures provided much entertainment and intrigue to us, right at home.

A few kinds of summering birds that I have watched getting food in southeastern Pennsylvania benefit from lawn mowing in suburban areas and hay cutting in croplands.