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
words and photos by Melissa McMasters I love everything about spring. The pastel color palette, birds hoarsely coming back into song, pollen-dusted bees emerging from wildflower blooms…spring contains enough treasures for an entire year. Because the season unfolds slowly at first, I often find myself
words and photos by Melissa McMasters A silly joke I used to make in my pre-birding life was that on particularly wind-blown days, my hair looked like it had been constructed by the Avian Homebuilders’ Association. (I know, I know…I won’t quit my day job.)
words and photos by Melissa McMasters Even before this week’s snowfall, I’d been thinking about how despite not being a big fan of the cold or the gray skies, winter is my second-favorite season to go birding. While the near-daily arrivals of new species and
