Natural History Journal

Summer is upon us, and with any luck, that means vacation.  For those of us who love nature and the great outdoors, that usually means traveling to visit North America's beautiful National and State Parks.  And for the binocular-toting crowd in particular, an experience in the outdoors is not complete without a few memorable encounters with the wonderful wild animals that call these places home.  Visit any National Park in North America and a traffic jam is sure to mean one thing: Wildlife.  (Or, possibly, lack of parking spots.  But hopefully it's wildlife.)  A critter pauses along the roadside anywhere from Acadia to Joshua Tree, and all the break lights flash on. We can't help ourselves.  Wildlife enthralls us. I roll my eyes at tourists who stop their cars in Yosemite Valley to gawk at Mule Deer, a common, ho-hum species here in the West.  Yet when we visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park last year, I did the exact same thing when I sp...

You've heard about our state bird, the California Quail . You know about our state flower, the California Poppy , and perhaps you're aware that we have not one but two state trees, the Coast Redwood and Giant Sequoia.  Maybe you even know that our state rock, Serpentine, is green (not gold - that's the state mineral) and that our state mammal, the Grizzly Bear, has been extinct in California since the 1920's.   But have you heard about California's state amphibian?? Meet the California Red-legged Frog ( Rana draytonii ). California Red-legged Frog, Pinnacles National Park Once common in California, red-legged frogs are now listed as federally threatened. California Red-legged Frogs are the largest frog native to the western U.S., coming in at up to five inches long.  Apparently, many were eaten by miners during the Gold Rush, and this is the species immortalized by Mark Twain in his "Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County" (possibly).   Today, ...

After visiting at least ten different Civil War battlefields in Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia last summer ( which you can read about here ), Eric and I headed even farther east to spend a few days in beautiful Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  I visited this park 15 years ago, and I was eager to see it again - especially one of my favorite places, Cade's Cove.  A hotspot of biodiversity in the Southeastern United States, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a naturalist's delight.  We did some birding during our visit to the park, but most of our time was spent hiking through lush forests and rambling around the many old cabins and homesteads that have been carefully preserved by the National Park Service.  A handsome American Black Bear: easy to see why these guys are everyone's favorite North American mammal! The most noteworthy mammals we encountered on our visit were, without contest, all the bears! American Black Bears are abundant in Great Smoky Moun...

Last summer, Eric and I spent a couple of weeks exploring the Rocky Mountains, from Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park, north into Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.  While we dealt with quite a bit of rain and cold weather during our mid-June visit, the birds were abundant and beautiful!   Be sure to check out these posts about Colorado's Pawnee National Grassland and Montana's prairies as well! Below are a few of my favorite bird photos from the trip. Mountain Bluebird, male, looking his best in the morning sunlight. (West Thumb, Yellowstone NP) The same Mountain Bluebird, fending off a Tree Swallow who was competing with him for a nest cavity! The offending Tree Swallow, looking rather sure of himself, don't you think? Lincoln's Sparrow, singing away.  One of my favorite sparrows!  (Sprague Lake, Rocky Mountain NP)  American Robin, carrying food to its young.  Check out the prettily-patterned undertail coverts on this bird! (Cub Lake...

Picking a favorite spot in breathtaking Rocky Mountain National Park is incredibly difficult.  From alpine lakes surrounded by rugged peaks, to lush green mountain meadows dotted with wildflowers, beauty met us at every turn.  But one of our best birding experiences during our four days in the park last June took place way up on the alpine tundra, nearly 12,000 feet above sea level.   Alpine Tundra in Rocky Mountain National Park From a trailhead along famous Trail Ridge Road, we set out early one frigid morning across the tundra in search of two very special birds: White-tailed Ptarmigan and Brown-capped Rosy-finch.  Happily, we successfully found both species (though photos were only possible of the ptarmigan.) White-tailed Ptarmigan, round, chicken-sized birds of the tundra, are exquisitely designed for life in this harsh habitat.  Pure snowy white in the winter, save two shiny black eyes and small pointed bill, ptarmigan disappear into a desolate landsc...

This summer's birding adventures once again took us east ( though not nearly as far as last year! ), into the wide open spaces of Colorado, Wyoming and the southern fringe of Montana.  After several rather wet days in the Rocky Mountains back in mid-June, we dropped down into the rolling green grasslands of Weld County.  Storm across the Grasslands... During our summer visit, we were delighted to find an abundance of prairie wildflowers in full bloom across Pawnee National Grassland.   While we came for the birds, the real breath-taking experience turned out to be the incredible wildflower show! Signature bird species of Pawnee National Grassland include Lark Bunting, both Chestnut-collared and Thick-billed Longspurs, Burrowing Owl and Mountain Plover.  Some species were abundant... while others eluded us altogether.  Male Lark Bunting Lark Buntings were one of the most abundant species we encountered across the grasslands.  Their jumbled song filled t...