Navigation

Category: Door to Nature

  • Door to Nature: Thanksgiving is Cranberry Time

    By ,

    There are a number of traditional foods associated with the Thanksgiving holiday. Roast turkey with stuffing, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce are the most common. Cranberries have a long history in this country. Native Americans introduced them to the early settlers of New England. In fact a Pilgrim cookbook dating back to 1663 had, perhaps, […]

  • Door to Nature: Eastern Cottonwood Tree

    By ,

    This autumn gave us many colorful vistas of sugar maples, white ash, American beech, paper birch and red oak trees as their leaves changed from summer green to brilliant crimson, orange and yellow. Most of the deciduous trees have lost their leaves with the strong winds and rain during the past month. Now many stand […]

  • Door to Nature: Feeder Birds Change with the Seasons

    By ,

    Now that we’ve had a few light frosty mornings the bird and plant ecosystem is changing. The American goldfinches are late nesters and were absent from my yard during much of September to mid-October. That’s when the adults were going through their postnuptial molt. Now the feeders and yard are teeming with lots of them. […]

  • Door to Nature: A Trip to See ‘Birds in Art’

    By ,

    I remember good friends who lived in Wausau, Wis., and enjoyed visiting Door County and The Ridges Sanctuary back in the mid-1970s. They invited us to stay with them in September 1976 so that we could go to the opening of the new Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, up the hill in the eastern part […]

  • Door to Nature: Insects Get Ready for Winter

    By ,

    October is the month of many changes. It begins with hopes of enjoying colorful autumn leaves, and before the month is over many have been blown off the trees. During a recent nature class that Don Quintenz and I were teaching at Björklunden, Lawrence University’s northern campus, we examined some goldenrod galls. These are commonly […]

  • Door to Nature: Frogs and Toads in Autumn

    By ,

    I taught a class with Don Quintenz at Lawrence University’s northern campus, Björklunden, the week of Oct. 1 – 5. Our students spent much time hiking and exploring many natural areas, parks and preserves to examine the plants, trees and mushrooms growing there. On several occasions we heard the far-reaching “peEEP peEEP” song of the […]

  • Door to Nature: A Season for Mushrooms

    By ,

    This year wild mushroom hunting in central northern Door County has not been very good. I keep records of rainfall and the last time my land had an inch or more of rain in one day was May 25. (Now, after writing this story, we received 1.15 inches the night of Oct. 1.) Many areas […]

  • Door to Nature: Seeds Blow in the Autumn Wind

    By ,

    This is the time of year that the common milkweed seeds break out of their pods and sail through the cool air on silky parachutes. The swamp milkweeds in my front yard butterfly garden have been doing the same thing. Perhaps few people have heard of the silk tree and silkweed. Silk tree is another […]

  • Door to Nature: Bees in Trouble

    By ,

    Jim Lundstrom’s story in the Sept. 14 issue of the Peninsula Pulse discussed the decline of aerial insectivores, particularly the chimney swifts. Some of our modern agricultural techniques are doing a lot to decrease the insects that most birds need to survive. One major problem affecting bees is the neonicotinoids used in making farming easier […]

  • Door to Nature: The Stars of Nature

    By ,

    Autumn is my favorite time of year; not only for the mushrooms but for the fields of colorful fall flowers. Soon the roadsides will be decorated with a favorite of many, the New England aster. I had, at one time, planned on writing a mushroom book for Door County. Now the entire world of mushrooms […]

  • Door to Nature: Daddy Longlegs Are Not Spiders

    By ,

    Most people don’t like flies, mosquitoes, moths and especially spiders. The fact that spiders destroy millions of the despised insects every year is apparently unknown to those who dislike them. One scientist spent considerable time in calculating that the spiders in England and Wales kill about 22 trillion insects in a year. Perhaps that is […]

  • Door to Nature: Lakeshore Fall Wildflowers

    By ,

    Ladies’ tresses orchids, one of the few wild orchid groups with around-the-world distribution, are slowly reaching their peak of blooming. Wisconsin is fortunate to have three native species:  the slender, the nodding and the hooded. Their genus name, Spiranthes (spy-RAN-thees), is Greek for coil and flower. Indeed, the numerous individual flowers on some spikes appear […]

  • Door to Nature: Hot Dog on a Stick

    By ,

    We had a very wet spring with the heavy snows of April and lots of rain in May (5.25 inches) so marshes, streams and roadside ditches had plenty of moisture. That promoted good conditions for the cattails to grow. I remember when Roy and I lived in the upper range light at The Ridges, more […]

  • Door to Nature: Goatsuckers and Nightjars

    By ,

    An email came in recently from a good friend telling of seeing the first migrating nighthawks over northern Door County on Aug. 12. This is the beginning of the long drawn-out fall migration of many birds that must spend the winter in warmer climates. Nighthawks are in the family Caprimulgidae (cap-ree-MUL-jee-day), which includes the whip-poor-will, […]

  • Door to Nature: Butterflies and Skippers

    By ,

    I am enjoying the many great spangled fritillary and monarch butterflies nectaring on the tall swamp milkweed that Roy and I planted many years ago in our butterfly garden. I’ve also noticed small rather plain, dark butterflies that are called skippers. This group of insects is not as well-known as many of the butterflies. They […]

  • Door to Nature: Virtues Discovered for August’s Roadside Weeds

    By ,

    I’ve been seeing several 15-inch-tall dark brown plants at the edge of cultivated fields in the waste places between the side of the road and the planted crops. I remember Roy calling the plant curled dock, Rumex crispus. When looking up the plant in regional wildflower guides those I found did not look much like […]

  • Door to Nature: Do Insects Bug you?

    By ,

    I was eager to learn about the birds and wildflowers of The Ridges Sanctuary when I married Roy Lukes 46 years ago and moved into the Range Light residence. As summer progressed it was fun being able to identify trees, shrubs and the animals in the area, but insects were just a bother and were […]

  • Door to Nature: The Sleek Brown Thrasher, Country Singer

    By ,

    The narrow country lane leading to my driveway has frequently had a brown thrasher flying across it as I drive by. This is an open area with scattered shrubs and small trees and the bird is soon out of sight, perhaps at its nest. It is perfect habitat for the long-tailed, cinnamon-colored songster. I remember […]

  • Door to Nature: Northern Black Widow Spider

    By ,

    Many people will be quick to agree that spiders are the most maligned of all small things that creep, crawl or fly. Yet a great majority of spiders will nearly always make every effort, when disturbed, to hide away from danger. Most are shy recluses and few have strong enough mouthparts to bite through human […]

  • Door to Nature: Cedar Waxwings – The Cherry Birds

    By ,

    It is the end of June as I begin writing this and for the past three days I have been seeing cedar waxwings eating the fruits on the serviceberry trees in my front yard. The tart cherry orchard trees are beginning to show red color. Roy often referred to these sleek creatures as “cherry birds.” […]