Natural History Journal

Last year, Eric and I spent the month of June traveling through England and Scotland, visiting amazing historic sites, touring places connected with our favorite classic literature, rambling across the stunningly beautiful British countryside, and of course, birding.  The last week of our trip was spent in Scotland, and I had the opportunity to see quite a few birds right in the heart of Edinburgh, in and around Holyrood Park. Eurasian Bullfinch I was incredibly excited to see this male Eurasian Bullfinch, sitting atop a fence one fine, mizzly morning on our way into Edinburgh.  Though he looked a bit damp and bedraggled, he was singing nonetheless and didn't seem to mind the quintessentially Scottish weather.  Eurasian Bullfinch Eurasian Bullfinches range across much of Europe and parts of Asia, preferring deciduous woodland edges, farmland, hedgerows, parks and gardens.  Though not terribly uncommon, these striking little birds can be difficult to see, as they tend...

While it's always fun to come across any indication of a beaver's presence in the landscape , without a doubt seeing one of these amazing creatures in the wild is much more exciting!  Here in California's Central Valley, I've found those sightings to be rather rare - and therefore all the more special when they do occur.  While I regularly come across signs of beaver activity , such as felled trees, gnawed branches, dams, lodges and tracks, it's less frequent that I get to spend time watching these critters go about their daily business.  So, when I came across this beaver on a small reservoir in the foothills, I savored the experience.  Any moment with a beaver is an excellent opportunity to sit quietly beside the pond, watch and learn! American Beaver in a small reservoir in the foothills of the Sierra Beavers are best known for their sturdy dams, which they construct of logs, sticks and mud.  These dams are placed across streams and other areas of flowing wa...

Instantly recognizable by its prickly appearance and known for its [mistaken] reputation of throwing dangerous barbed quills toward would-be attackers, porcupines are perhaps simultaneously one of North America's most and least well-known mammals.   How well do you actually know this large rodent of the forest?  Read on to find out, and to learn the official term for baby porcupines (which is probably my favorite fun fact about this amazing creature)!  Members of the order Rodentia, North American Porcupines ( Erethizon dorsatum ) are North America's second-largest rodent, after the American Beaver.  Measuring between 2 and 3 feet in length and weighing 20 pounds or more, they are fairly sizable mammals!  As rodents, they are characterized by a set of strong, continually-growing incisors that must be worn down by daily gnawing on the plant material that makes up the entirety of their diet.  Like beavers, these front teeth are orange in color, thanks t...