Get your green on with nettles!

All around us myriad shades of green are nudging out the gray-brown wash of winter. Buds, blossoms, needles and leaves are unfurling with time-lapse-camera speed, responding to nature’s unseen alarm. For those in the know, one of the most exciting of the re-emerging...

Stars in my eyes

When Orion strides into the skyscape each year I feel like I’m greeting an old friend, and I’m reminded of the first time I ever saw him. Standing on the sidewalk in front of my childhood home in Oregon, my mom showed me how to chain together the stars that outlined...

Big storm offers big chance to follow new tracks

My 12-year-old has been teasing me about how I’m more wound up about the prospect of new snow than she is…and she might be right (I’m wide awake at 3 am writing this because I’m so excited for the onslaught that I can’t sleep). There’s something about how snow...

Island birding program receives national kudos

The Vashon-Maury Island Audubon Society’s fourth grade birding program has taught birding basics to thousands of children over the past 20 years. Through Vashon Artists in the Schools, Chautauqua teacher Jan Smith started integrating art into her bird lesson plans...

Snowy Owl Invasion

Long before Harry Potter’s Hedwig, Snowy Owls held a magical allure. Perhaps it’s their startling size (nearly two feet tall), unblinking yellow stare, or Arctic providence, but these circumpolar owls stir excitement among even the most distracted citizenry. Whether...