Category: Door to Nature

  Just after Christmas every year I get some phone calls or meet someone who says, “I received a bird feeder as a gift and would like to know where I should put it.” I’m sure the answer I’ve given to some of them made them want to hit me over the head with their […]

  Eventually the northern forests of Door County will be decorated in their finest “ermine of the kings.” A deep blanket of snow will bring the evergreens to their loveliest of the year. Pines, firs and spruces reach their peak of perfection when robed in white. In my 50 years of hiking during all seasons […]

  The most embarrassing letter I ever received was written to me by the U.S. bird banding chief, Willet T. Van Velzen, following my 1963 bird banding. It was my first full year of doing bird banding in my spare time, a non-paid licensed hobby, and obviously I had much to learn. During the spring […]

  Typical of the oaks, there is a red oak near our front yard that is tenaciously hanging on to its leaves. I look at one leaf being spun around by the wind and wonder how long it can be subjected to such constant stress before it finally comes loose and falls to the ground. […]

  Wherever there’s a promise of something so simple and generally unwanted as weed seeds, there in November you’ll find the juncos. Like little gray ghosts with white bottoms, they have filtered into the state, staying to the brushy roadsides and the shrubby edges of woods. Were it not for their flashy white “taillights,” most […]

  Can you imagine a tree that has been described as being weird or “way out,” a fossil tree that is not related to any living family or group in the entire vegetable kingdom? These trees are the sole survivors of a family, rich in species and very widely distributed in both the northern and […]

So many friends are telling me of all the mushrooms they see on their walks in our county parks and preserves, and even in their own yards. The autumn rains have not been as heavy as I wish but there has been enough to keep the fungi flourishing. Once we received a cold spell, two […]

Every now and then something quite wonderful happens as I sit staring at a blank page collecting my thoughts for a story. As usual I had scribbled the night before at least two pages of words, ideas and phrases marked with circles or bold underlines to set apart important thoughts frequently connected by arrows or […]

The spotty light showers that sprinkled Northern Door this past summer had not been enough to bring out the wild mushrooms, but now that has changed with the more substantial rains of September. The longer the earth dries out, the greater the need is for large amounts of rain in each storm. That brings the […]

Have you ever mistaken wood for stone? This happened to me one time as I talked with a naturalist with whom I happened to be hiking. He wore a handsome bolo tie, which I remarked about, saying, “That’s an unusual polished stone. What kind is it?” He chuckled and his eyes sparkled as he replied, […]

Years ago one of the world’s most common insects, the plant louse, and a small, inconspicuous butterfly, the harvester, led me to some fascinating lessons in nature. The entire episode could, in a sense, be compared to that famous old essay “Acres of Diamonds” whereby a certain person spent a lifetime unsuccessfully exploring throughout the […]