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Welcome to another edition of Naturally Scott Adventures, where Scott Harris takes you into the field to experience some of North America's most remarkable wildlife and wild places.

In this episode, Scott visits Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge on Florida's Gulf Coast to meet one of the state's most beloved residents—the Florida manatee. These gentle marine mammals, often called "sea cows," can weigh well over 1,000 pounds, yet they're among the most peaceful animals you'll ever encounter. 

Scott explores the biology, behavior, and conservation of Florida manatees, explaining why they gather each winter in Florida's warm springs, how boat strikes became their greatest threat, and why Crystal River has become one of the best places in the world to observe them responsibly. 

The episode also celebrates one of America's great wildlife success stories, as Florida's manatee population has rebounded dramatically thanks to conservation efforts, public awareness, and protected habitat. 

In this episode:

🐋 Why manatees are called "sea cows"

🌿 Exploring Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge

💙 Swimming and kayaking with manatees (responsibly)

👶 Mothers, calves, and manatee family life

🚤 The dangers of boat strikes

🌡️ Why warm springs are critical for survival

📈 The remarkable recovery of Florida's manatee population

Whether you're planning a Florida adventure or simply love wildlife, this episode offers an unforgettable look at one of North America's gentlest giants.

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Award-winning author, ornithologist, and conservationist Scott Weidensaul returns to Naturally Scott to discuss his inspiring new book, The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save Ourselves. Rather than focusing solely on declining bird populations and environmental challenges, Scott shares something equally important: hope. 
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From the remarkable comeback of Bald Eagles and Canada Geese to the recovery of American Oystercatchers, Scott highlights conservation victories that prove people can make an extraordinary difference when science, persistence, and collaboration come together. 
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The conversation also explores Indigenous-led conservation efforts protecting millions of acres of Canada's boreal forest, one of the world's most important breeding grounds for migratory birds. These stories demonstrate that successful conservation isn't just possible—it's happening today. 
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In this episode:

🦅 The incredible recovery of Bald Eagles
 🪿 Why Canada Geese are one of conservation's greatest success stories
 🐦 How American Oystercatchers reversed decades of decline
 🌲 Indigenous communities protecting Canada's boreal forest
 🌎 Why optimism matters in conservation
 📖 The stories behind The Return of the Oystercatcher

If you've ever wondered whether conservation success stories still exist, this episode is full of reasons to believe they do.

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Welcome to another edition of Naturally Scott Adventures, where Scott Harris takes you into the field to experience some of North America's greatest wildlife spectacles, iconic species, and wild places.

In this episode, Scott heads deep into Florida's Big Cypress National Preserve in search of one of America's most ancient and awe-inspiring predators: the American alligator. What follows is a journey into a landscape that feels frozen in time, where cypress swamps, sawgrass wetlands, and sun-soaked canals are home to hundreds of alligators and countless other wild creatures. 

Scott shares stories from years of encounters with alligators, including a heart-stopping close encounter with a massive 13-foot gator in South Carolina and why these reptiles inspire a uniquely primal reaction unlike almost any other animal in North America. 

Along the way, he explores why Big Cypress may be the best place in America to see alligators in the wild and what makes these prehistoric predators so successful after more than 100 million years. 

In this episode:

🐊 Why alligators are nature's perfected predators
 🌿 Exploring Big Cypress National Preserve
 🚗 Driving the famous Loop Road
 🦅 Red-shouldered hawks, wood storks, deer, and other wildlife
 🐻 The surprising connection between gators, bears, and Florida panthers
 📸 Tips for finding and photographing alligators
 🦖 Why seeing a giant alligator feels like stepping back in time

From ancient reptiles to unforgettable wildlife encounters, this episode celebrates one of the most fascinating animals in North America.

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Few people have done more to save cranes than George Archibald.

In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with the co-founder of the International Crane Foundation for a remarkable conversation spanning decades of conservation, adventure, and hope. George shares the incredible story of helping rescue the Whooping Crane from the brink of extinction, including his famous partnership with a crane named Tex and the unexpected journey that led from a Wisconsin field to Johnny Carson's stage. 

The conversation also explores the migration of more than a million Sandhill Cranes through Nebraska's Platte River Valley, conservation work across Africa and Asia, and the challenge of protecting cranes while improving the lives of the people who share their landscapes. 

In this episode:

🏗️ The story of Tex, the world's most famous Whooping Crane
 🦩 How dancing helped save a species from extinction
 🌎 The International Crane Foundation's work across the globe
 🕊️ One million Sandhill Cranes on Nebraska's Platte River
 🌍 Conservation projects in Africa, Korea, and beyond
 👨‍🌾 Why successful conservation must benefit local communities
 ✨ Hope for some of the world's rarest birds

George's life story is a reminder that one person truly can make a difference—and that saving wildlife often begins with relationships, persistence, and a willingness to think differently.

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Welcome to another edition of Naturally Scott Adventures, where Scott Harris takes you into the field to experience some of North America's greatest wildlife spectacles, iconic species, and wild places.

In this episode, Scott heads to the remote beaches of Corolla in North Carolina's Outer Banks to spend time with one of the most fascinating populations of wild horses in America: the Colonial Spanish Mustangs. 

For more than 500 years, legend holds that these remarkable horses have survived along this isolated stretch of coastline after Spanish ships wrecked offshore. Whether every detail of the story is true or not, the horses themselves are very real—and absolutely unforgettable. 

Scott shares stories from multiple visits to the Outer Banks, including close encounters with stallions, mares, and foals, sunrise moments on empty beaches, and why these horses have become one of his favorite wildlife experiences anywhere in North America. 

In this episode:

🐎 The legend of the Colonial Spanish Mustangs
 🌊 Wild horses living along the beaches of the Outer Banks
 ☀️ Sunrise encounters in Corolla and Carova
 📸 The best ways to experience the horses responsibly
 🐻 Nearby wildlife opportunities at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge
 🦅 Osprey, bald eagles, dolphins, and other coastal wildlife
 ✨ Why some wildlife experiences stay with us for a lifetime

Part history, part adventure, and part wildlife story, this episode explores one of the most unique natural experiences on the East Coast.

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Dragonflies are older than dinosaurs, can migrate across oceans, and spend most of their lives underwater.

In this fascinating and surprisingly fun episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with entomologist and evolutionary biologist Jessica Ware of the American Museum of Natural History to explore the incredible world of dragonflies, damselflies, insect evolution, and why insects deserve far more attention than they get.

Jessica explains how dragonflies were among the first animals ever to fly, how some species migrate over 11,000 kilometers across oceans, and why these ancient aerial predators are among the greatest hunters on Earth.

Along the way, the conversation dives into:

🪰 The difference between dragonflies and damselflies
 🌎 Dragonfly migrations across oceans
 ❄️ Dragonfly nymphs freezing solid in Arctic winters
 👀 Why dragonflies have some of the best vision in the insect world
 🦟 How dragonflies help control mosquitoes and other pests
 🦖 Giant prehistoric “dragonflies” from hundreds of millions of years ago
 🐛 Why insects may be the most overlooked animals on Earth

Jessica also shares how childhood curiosity led her into science and why she believes insects deserve the same wonder and attention we often reserve for birds and mammals.

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Welcome to the very first edition of Naturally Scott Adventures — a new series where Scott Harris takes you directly into the field to experience some of nature’s greatest spectacles, species, and wild places.

And for Episode 61, we begin with one of the most breathtaking wildlife gatherings on Earth: one million snow geese at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge.

Each March, hundreds of thousands — and sometimes more than a million — snow geese converge on this Missouri refuge during migration. The sound is overwhelming. The sky turns white with birds. Bald eagles patrol the edges. Coyotes wait in the darkness. And for a few weeks, one corner of the Midwest becomes one of the greatest wildlife spectacles in North America.

In this episode:

🕊️ What it feels like to stand beside a million snow geese
 🦅 Bald eagles hunting over massive flocks
 🌨️ Watching snow geese land during a snowstorm
 📸 Why sunrise and sunset matter most for wildlife viewing
 🦢 Trumpeter swans, muskrats, coyotes & red-winged blackbirds
 🚗 How to visit Loess Bluffs yourself

Scott also reflects on why this experience became one of his personal “perfect moments” in nature — alongside music, memory, and the feeling of being completely immersed in the wild.

Upcoming Naturally Scott Adventures episodes include:

🐊 Alligators
 🦉 Burrowing Owls
 🦅 California Condors
 🐎 Wild Horses of Nevada

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What does it feel like to sit beneath a sky filled with a million birds?

In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris is joined by naturalist, filmmaker, and Carolina Safari Co. founder Zach Steinhauser for a conversation about one of America’s most overlooked wildlife spectacles—the gathering of over a million Purple Martins at Bomb Island on South Carolina’s Lake Murray.

Zach shares the remarkable story behind his documentary Purple Haze and explains how these tiny swallows became almost entirely dependent on humans for nesting sites. The conversation moves from South Carolina to the deserts of Arizona and even the Amazon rainforest, following Zach’s journey to uncover the hidden story of Purple Martins across the Americas.

Along the way, they discuss:

The surreal experience of watching a million birds spiral overhead
 Why Purple Martins rely on human-made housing
 The search for naturally nesting martins in giant saguaro cacti
 Filming in the Amazon rainforest
 South Carolina wildlife spectacles most people never experience

This episode is a celebration of wonder, migration, storytelling, and the wild places still hiding in plain sight.

This episode, like all Naturally Scott episodes, is dedicated to Scott’s mother — an incredible mind, an incredible woman, and a shatterer of many glass ceilings. She was a force, but never quiet.

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Butterflies are beautiful. They are also disappearing.

In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with University of Nevada, Reno biology professor Matt Forister for a fascinating and surprisingly urgent conversation about butterflies, insect declines, climate change, pesticides, and why these tiny creatures may tell us more about the health of our planet than almost anything else.

Matt explains how a decades-long butterfly monitoring project in California revealed dramatic declines in both butterfly abundance and species diversity, and why modern pesticide use may be playing a major role. But this conversation is not all doom and gloom. It is also about wonder.

From tiny butterflies no larger than a fingernail to massive monarch migrations stretching across North America, Matt shares why butterflies captivate so many people and how anyone can begin exploring the incredible diversity of the insect world.

Topics include:

🦋 Why butterflies are declining across North America
 🌎 Climate change and shifting migration patterns
 ☠️ The hidden dangers of modern pesticides
 🐛 Why caterpillars and moths matter more than most people realize
 📚 The surprising book that led Matt into science
 🔬 How 53 years of butterfly data became one of the longest-running insect studies in America

This episode is dedicated to Scott’s mother — an incredible mind, an incredible woman, and a shatterer of many glass ceilings. She was a force, but never quiet.

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In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with Wade Crowfoot, Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, for a wide-ranging conversation about conservation, climate challenges, and the future of one of the most biodiverse places on Earth.

Wade shares how a childhood spent outdoors in the Midwest shaped his path into public service, and how his work now spans everything from wildfire prevention and water management to protecting California’s vast natural landscapes. Together, Scott and Wade explore the realities of managing natural resources in a state of 40 million people—where conservation, development, and climate pressures all collide.

The conversation dives into:

How California is tackling wildfire through forest management and prescribed burns
 The future of water in the West, including drought, desalination, and the Colorado River
 The surprising resilience of nature—from salmon returning to restored rivers to rewilding efforts
 The role of technology and innovation in conservation
 Why protecting nature ultimately means protecting ourselves

From redwood forests to Monterey Bay, this episode offers a fascinating look at the challenges—and hope—facing conservation in the modern world.

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