Six Months in South Africa: Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer and the Coelacanth

Two serendipitous observations led me to explore the story of Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer and the coelacanth, possibly the greatest scientific find of the twentieth century.   Recently, while Vili...

Looking Ahead to Summer Nectar Feeders in Nova Scotia

Last Wednesday, our Northern Hemisphere spring arrived in the midst of a snowstorm followed by a second dump of snow two days later. My flowerbeds and the parkland meadows surrounding my yard are stil...

Yellow Garden Spider

A yellow garden spider possesses a sense of timelessness in its appearance – so still and poised, its web bisected by lightning bolts of silk, the arachnid’s appearance itself shouting warning...

Slugs and Other Spring Slitherers

In early morn I walked in drizzle beneath overcast skies, my ears and eyes seeking birds. Ruby-crowned kinglets let loose with high-spirited, rollicking songs, their voices, like those of winter wrens...