It’s 11 p.m. – do you know where your wood thrush is?

“Hello, Ms. Stutchbury, this is OnStar. Your wood thrush that is supposed to be on its way to Mexico is actually in New Orleans.” It’s really not as simple as that, but technology is beginning to fill in more blanks regarding avian migration. York University professor...

The Rush to be Green is Making Me Blue

Let’s see, automakers can get CAFÉ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) credits for making gas guzzlers like Chevy’s suburban that can run on ethanol. That way they can rate one of those gas-guzzlers that gets 13 mpg at 23 mpg. Oh, and say goodbye to roasting ears. If...

Slogging Through the Watershed

It was dark, 39 degrees and a steady light drizzle when I walked from the house to my truck last Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. By the time I got to town, the rain had stopped, and when I arrived at the treatment plant at Waynesville’s watershed, there were five brave...

The leaves, they are a’ changing

It seems like colors popped on the mountains almost overnight last Thursday or Friday. It went from a spot of color here and there to a mix of yellows, reds and oranges splashing down the mountainsides. I think those few nights with temperatures in the low 40s helped....

Just Leisure Time in Good Company

So much of our time in this soured economy is spent paying homage to the almighty dollar that leisure time – real leisure time, not ferrying the kids to soccer or mowing the yard – is a nostalgic memory. Well, last Sunday I laced my boots, gathered my field guides and...

Dancin’ on the Dunes

“Look at the butterflies!” I said. “I know, I’ve been counting them – 27, 28, 29, 30, 32,” said my wife Denise. “They’re still coming, “ I said. “41, 43, 44,” she said. I could see orange butterflies bouncing in the wind. “They must be migrating monarchs,” I said and...