words and photos by Melissa McMasters I often say that next to spring (the undisputed champion), winter is my favorite time to be a birder. The leafless trees make birds much easier to see, and we get to spend leisurely time with our local residents
words and photos by Melissa McMasters A few decades ago, a British travel agency began a marketing campaign around the idea that the third Monday in January was the most depressing day of the year. They called it “Blue Monday,” with the idea that the
words and photos by Melissa McMasters If you’re the sort to make New Year’s resolutions, now is the time to grudgingly start thinking about your plans for self-improvement. A few years ago, I set two goals for myself, thinking that if past was prologue, they were
words and photos by Melissa McMasters As the mornings finally start to turn crisp, I get a familiar feeling. It happens every fall: I’m so grateful to make it to the end of another long summer, to feel everything slow down a bit, to experience the
words and photos by Melissa McMasters Here in Memphis, wood-warblers are birds that we see only in fleeting glimpses. Just a few species breed this far south, so our encounters with them are limited to a few weeks during their spring and fall migrations. After
Sometimes small changes can have a big impact, and that’s been made thrillingly clear with Overton Park Conservancy’s addition of two pollinator-friendly planting beds at Veterans Plaza this summer. After we lost the crape myrtles in these raised beds to frost, we took the opportunity
words and photos by Melissa McMasters I hope you’ve got your light-colored sheets and porch lights ready, because it’s time to celebrate National Moth Week! Mid-summer is the perfect time to appreciate the beauty and diversity of these mostly-nocturnal insects. Or, for those of you
by Dr. Malle Carrasco-Harris, Programs Manager Mrs. Fitzgibbons stands hollering on stacked cinder blocks in front of the blowing fan, creating a ruckus on this warm summer morning. I’m wishing for the umpteenth time in the past four years she would take it down just
Before we get to the City Nature Challenge results, we have a request: Contribute to our Birding Big Day! What better way to care for the Old Forest than by highlighting the creatures who depend on it? Last week, the Conservancy staff did a Birding
words and photos by Melissa McMasters Most of the time in this space, I share photos and stories about the wildlife I’ve encountered. But there’s another element to nature exploration that makes it even richer: experiencing it with other people. Next weekend Memphians will have
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