Natural North Dakota

The North Dakota landscape is occasionally described as a stairway rising westward. It is not a long stairway, and each step certainly differs in height. Nevertheless, the stairway metaphor is a good descriptor.

Bird watchers of all ages and knowledge levels are helping ornithologists better understand the populations dynamics and movements of birds around the world, and you can be a part of the effort.

The Missouri River. The Wild Missouri. The big muddy! It is the longest river in North America and was the main artery in the Great Plains for Native Americans, and early traders and trappers.

Hope for a clear sky this next Wednesday the thirty-first. That is because there will be a full moon. But this is not your typical full moon.

Some of you may have heard that the first river otter trapping season of modern times in North Dakota closed in early December. The season opened back on November 27 and closed on December 4 when the statewide limit of 15 animals had been taken.

It is often this time of year, when the days are short, and temperatures are often below zero that the outdoors is not as inviting as we would prefer. That is when we often look to the bookshelf to help us out.

A few years ago, I was involved with an ecology exercise for elementary students. We waded out into a lake, scooped up some of the substrate with pie plates, and observed all the little critters that were hidden among the substrate and overlying detritus.

We have a fox living in our neighborhood. I haven’t seen it now for several weeks. But I assume it is still in the area, because I have occasionally seen its tracks in the snow.

The landscapes in most areas look quite bare this time of year with all the leaves off the trees.