Backyard and Beyond

The morning email recently contained a jaw-dropping photo from reader Phyllis Terchanik – a tundra swan with a very odd neck. One of the birds in her photo has a longer-than-normal neck and it’s torqued

Heading recently for open water on a tributary to the Mississippi River, Scott Thiede carried his blind, chair, camera, and some raw poultry to an ice shelf.
This is an area that hosts bald

Ron Nicol is used to seeing red squirrels in his backyard, but a recent visit by a blond version made him grab his camera.

Then something serendipitous happened: A female pileated landed on a nearby tree, and suddenly a second female was in the frame. To add to the drama, the two began sparring until one drove the other

It was time to deadhead the dahlias in Wayne Cosner’s garden, but luckily he looked inside before making the cut on a big yellow bloom. A tiny tree frog had taken up residence.

This is the time of year when many flying insects are desperate for sweets, as anyone who has tried to drink a can of soda on their deck can attest, often waving off wasp after

Whether you call it a tobacco hornworm or the larval form of a Carolina sphinx moth, this large, green caterpillar makes for an arresting sight.

Opossums are unique and wonderful creatures, our country’s only marsupial mammal, meaning that after they’re born they develop inside their mother’s pouch, similar to kangaroos and koalas. Although many people dislike opossums, they’re actually beneficial,