Outdoors column: ‘Tis the season to give back to the Earth
For the past several years, my family and I have cut way back on holiday gift-giving for various reasons, including saving money and reducing waste. We think of that decision...
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Outdoors column: Watching red-tailed hawks
I've been seeing more red-tailed hawks out and about these last days of autumn. While driving along a busy road, I've seen one soaring in the air spreading out its...
Outdoors column: November offers a different way to enjoy plants and insects
In spring, summer and fall, outdoor colors surround us — from the butterflies, to the birds, to the flower blossoms and changing hues of leaves. But, when November comes around,...
Outdoors column: Sparrows add color to mid-autumn
To birders, October means most of the colorful, migratory warblers have settled in, or are still heading someplace farther south for winter. Their primary food source, insects, is nearly gone...
Outdoors column: Nature apps can be helpful, but don’t expect your smartphone to always get it right
To identify plants in the wild, I've been using Seek by iNaturalist for several years. And, because I know plants fairly well, I can tell when this app doesn't get...
‘Invasion’ of tropical birds known as limpkins reported in Illinois; invasive snails may be attractive food source, experts say
While on a recent visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden, Ann Harness spotted a creature she'd never seen before. The tall brown bird with a long bill looked like a...
Outdoors column: Asters and meadowhawks abound in autumn
As October approaches, I can always count on observing asters and meadowhawks. Asters are lovely, omnipresent bouquets of multiple flowers with yellow, pink and brown centers surrounded by long white,...
Outdoors column: Poisonous snakeroot serves as a reminder to avoid picking plants in the wild
Beneath my redbud, awash in spring with pink flowers, arises a new set of blooms. White ones, in late summer. These are the flowers of white snakeroot, a plant that...
One locally released endangered piping plover seen on Florida beach; another the apparent victim of area storm
Pepper, an endangered piping plover chick that spent its first 24 days in the wild on a Lake County beach, is now exploring the remote, sandy shores of Bunche Beach...
Outdoors column: Growing my own food makes me feel closer to the natural order of things
When it comes to making dinner, there is nothing more satisfying than using fresh produce from your yard and your neighbor's yard. It brings inside the taste of the outdoors,...