Nuthatches: The upside-down bird
While woodpeckers search for insects by spiraling up a tree, the nuthatch zig-zags down the trunk head-first. Foraging upside-down may seem unnatural to us but nuthatches have a knack for it.
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 10 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO
Dragonflies most successful predator in animal kingdom
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 4 MONTHS AGO
Waxwings flock to fruit year-round
—Photo by ROADY OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 4 MONTHS AGO
The fruit of grass is called a grain or caryopsis
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 4 MONTHS AGO
How do animals beat the heat?
On sweltering 90-plus degree days we can retreat to basements or air conditioned buildings but how do animals beat the heat?
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 4 MONTHS AGO
Don't be fooled by a coot
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 5 MONTHS AGO
Magnitude of beargrass blooms unpredictable
While on the Parker Ridge trail below Parker Peak last summer, I rounded a corner and was surprised by the hundreds of beargrass blooms filling the avalanche chute in front of me. The magnitude of blooms was the largest I had ever seen and one I won’t forget. Will the …
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 5 MONTHS AGO
Summer serenaded by insect chorus
Have you taken the time to listen on a warm, summer evening? Trains, trucks and lawn mowers are the first sounds you may hear but if you tune them out you may hear a chorus of clicking, buzzing, chirping and creaking. You probably won’t see who is playing the sounds …
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 5 MONTHS AGO
First day of summer longest but not hottest
The warm, sunny days in early June made the last part of spring feel like summer. Summer technically doesn’t begin until the summer solstice on June 21 but we’ve enjoyed summer-like weather for a few weeks.
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 5 MONTHS AGO
Hummingbirds feed on more than nectar
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Bird nests range from simple to elaborate
Just when I think the robin can’t hold any more grass in its beak, it leans over and picks up one more piece before flying to a nearby tree. Without any guidance, the robin knows exactly what materials to collect to build its nest and how to construct its nest.
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Caterpillars utilize a variety of tactics to stay alive
As a slow-moving, plump morsel, caterpillars are an ideal target for a predator’s meal. However, caterpillars still exist because they have developed means to escape detection from predators or ward off predators.
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Shrews may resemble mice but they are different
cutline:
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Small, furry critters include more than mice
Editor's note: This is the first of a three-part series.
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Being green in winter isn't easy
Compared to the Midwest, the forests of North Idaho are filled with more conifers than deciduous trees. Conifers keep our forests green through winter as do their evergreen counterparts hugging the ground.
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Why is the sky blue?
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Stromatolites a window into Earth's history
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 11 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Animals prepare for winter by caching nature's bounty
As gardeners were harvesting the bounty of their summer’s garden before the first frost, animals were harvesting nature’s bounty.
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 12 YEARS AGO
Canada geese can be migratory or residents
As the temperatures cool and the leaves fall, the familiar “a honk, a honk, a honk” can be heard overhead as Canada geese fly in their signature “V” formations. Many birds migrate in the fall but the loud call of Canada geese makes them highly noticeable.
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 12 YEARS, 1 MONTH AGO
Bats only mammal capable of true flight
As twilight faded, all eyes watched the bat houses mounted on the side of the building. Slowly, the bats flew one by one from the bottom of the bat houses into the woods or swooped overhead searching for insects.
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 12 YEARS, 4 MONTHS AGO
More exceptions than rules
Black and yellow patterned wings with a small ‘tail’ flutter between flowers, an identifiable characteristic of the tiger swallowtail.
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 12 YEARS, 5 MONTHS AGO
Baby animals can be born helpless or ready to follow mom
From downy ducklings to wobbly moose calves, the animal kingdom is diverse in the ways baby animals come into this world.
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 13 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Dogs' amazing sniffers: They can thank membranes in nose
Nose to the ground, tail whirling like a helicopter and a fast-paced trot on the verge of a run indicates that my canine companion is on the trail of a coyote while a more stiff-legged trot indicates snowshoe hares are nearby.
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 13 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Walking in the tracks of dinosaurs
Walking on a trail near Moab, Utah, I stepped over some large depressions in the bedrock but quickly stopped and realized that these were more than depressions, these were dinosaur tracks. Not the well-defined tracks I had envisioned but what 18 ton creature leaves detailed footprints in the mud. I …
BONNERS FERRY HERALD | UPDATED 13 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO
