With the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) looming over us, now is an especially good time to step outside and enjoy the natural world and the health benefits it offers.

Pam Owen goes hunting for salamander and frog eggs, in this week's Wild Ideas.

For the second year, volunteers participating in Rappahannock’s Christmas Bird Count to document the health of winter bird populations in the county, in this week’s Wild Ideas column.

Rappahannock couple John Beardsley and Steph Ridder help conserve grassland birds on their farm and through serving on the steering committee of Virginia Working Landscapes, in this week’s Wild Ideas column.

Find out how to help stop the alarming decline in wild birds in this week’s Wild Ideas column.

Many insect populations boomed this summer, some going out with a flourish as the autumnal equinox approached.

Pam Owen ponders the question of why some pupae of spicebush swallowtail butterflies are green and others are brown, in this week’s Wild Ideas column.

An empty bird nest found when a tree was cut down leads Pam Owen on the hunt for which species built it, in this week’s Wild Ideas column.

Plants have evolved strategies for lure in the best pollinators while discouraging destructive ones, while some animals develop workarounds to get to the nectar, in this week’s Wild Ideas column.

The ninth annual county butterfly count, held last Saturday (July 20) during the recent brutal heat wave.

In talking with me a while back about how Rappahannock Nature Camp evolved, Lyt Wood, its founder and director, suggested some books for broadening our understanding about nature. Most of these have just been added to the Conservation Collection at the Rappahannock County Library.

I’m lucky to have landlords who alert me to the presence of interesting wildlife where I live, such as a large, mostly brown caterpillar my landlady found down by one of the lower ponds early in June. I thought it was probably the larva of a eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly, judging by th…

This spring, a tiny, vibrantly colored spider that spins a round web seems to be everywhere in my yard and on the exterior of my house.

While I’m still trying to keep up with spring as it unfolds, notices of several events featuring pollinators and other “bugs” have been landing in my email inbox:

Last week, as I was getting increasingly frustrated in trying to take bird photos, a jaunty little bird gave me encouragement.

The past week has been one of wonderful surprises and great frustrations, the latter mostly because of dark, rainy weather.

This time of year, sorting out the many bird species that are vocalizing can be overwhelming. Not having ambitions of ever being a dedicated birder, I’ve worked my way all the way up to, at best, average at identifying local birds by sight. This year, I’m trying to get a better handle on bir…

Last year, along a trail I hike frequently in Rappahannock County, I found a trillium that is rare in Virginia and a bit hard to spot. This year, I went looking for more.

April come she will

Up around my house on Oventop Mountain, the spring wildflower show started last week (Mar. 24), when five bloodroot buds popped up along a trail dubbed the Spring Road, a few starting to bloom.

Lyt Wood and I have been sending messages about nature sightings back and forth for years. Recently, we got into discussing the evolution of Rappahannock Nature Camp, a summer day camp Lyt founded in 1986 and continues to serve as the director.

Although spring just officially starts March 20, here in Virginia the season usually arrives earlier — but not this year.

Along with skunk cabbage, a lot of nearby nature events, indoor and outdoor, are coming up over the next couple of weeks:

What native plant now blooming produces heat well above the ambient temperature, has a bizarre bloom, can live for a century and stinks? The answer is skunk cabbage, whose amazing biology makes it an early bloomer and resilient survivor.