Outside our second-floor bedroom window stands a Water Oak tree, its thick trunk and long branches quietly telling me that it is older than my 64 years. In line with the window is a large hole in the tree's trunk, made when one of its strong branches came down decades ago. The scar in the bark is now well-healed. To my human and wishful thinking, the hole would make the perfect nesting place for a pair of owls. I look every day to see signs of activity when Barred Owl nest-building begins in...

Ollie and Jerry looked out from the cozy owl box. Their Barred Owlet sister, Tinkie, was already out on a limb. "How did she get out there?" they asked each other. Jerry decided he would find out later. He hunkered down and took a nap. Ollie, however, was just so curious. He had to find out. "Tinkie, how on earth did you get out there?" Ollie finally asked. "Well..." replied Tinkie, thinking back with a bit of trepidation. "It was like this:" "I put my left foot in..." "I pulled my left...

Finding the Nature that is Right There The cheeping couldn’t be ignored. What kind of juvenile songbird was it? Precisely from where was it coming? The questions jumped from my awareness and into my curiosity. I had to go look. A few years before, I never would have heard the cheeping. I certainly wouldn’t have been walking around this abandoned parking lot looking for it. Finding Nature Right Where You Are There are times in our lives when we don’t notice nature unless we happen to be...