Backyard and Beyond

Farmers were out harvesting in late October – and so were wild creatures. Scott Thiede sent a photo of a flock of crows feasting on sunflowers seed heads, just ahead of the combine. “Sunflower harvesting

This handsome osprey “caught breakfast on his third try,” said photographer Marguerite Eichelberger. Not bad, considering that osprey have been found to be successful in snatching a fish in about 25% of their tries.

A great horned owl landed in a tree near Deb Ranney, allowing her to take this excellent photo of a raptor and its prey, in this case an unlucky muskrat. It “seemed strange to see

Anyone lucky enough to encounter a cecropia moth will doubtless never forget it. These huge moths, the largest in North America, stretch as wide as your stretched-out hand. And they’re spectacularly gorgeous: Just look at

Sometimes a photo is just as captivating for what it doesn’t show as for what it does. Case in point: Scott Thiede is a very patient photographer, sitting in a blind out in a field

Nature goes into overdrive as summer begins to draw to a close: spiders hunt relentlessly for prey, young animals practice vital life skills, the avian world prepares for migration.
Consider the scene in David Bendorf’s

Reading about these unusual creatures, I was struck by how beneficial they are, consuming insects, worms, snakes, frogs, mice, fruit, berries, carrion, and just about anything else they can find.