As I’m sitting at my desk writing this week’s column, a very loud cricket is right outside my window. I’ve always associated crickets with the coming of Fall, but decided to do some research and see if that’s true or not.
After featuring a photo of a black-necked stilt in the column concerning Hackberry Flat Wildlife Management Area, I thought, "Why not feature the bird itself?"
So here it is.
Well, I promised a column about monarch butterflies, and here it is.
It's not easy, as the subject of monarchs is quite complex. Entomologists know much more about the species now than they did 30 years ago.
An oasis in Southwest Oklahoma
While Southwest Oklahoma isn't exactly a desert, it is far from the wettest part of the state.
The "armyworms" which are currently infesting certain areas of Southwest Oklahoma aren't really worms, they're caterpillars — caterpillars of the fall armyworm moth (Spodoptera frugiperda).
Killdeer are somewhat peculiar.
Although they are classified as shorebirds, you can see them just about everywhere, from parking lots to golf courses, large lawns and just about everywhere grass is kept low, or is nonexistent.
By the time you read this, the beautiful full moon will be waning. It caught my eye Sunday evening just after dusk and looked large and orangey hanging above the horizon as it was rising. Unfortunately, I was driving on a major highway and couldn’t stare at it as much as I wanted.
When a train carload of bison arrived at the Cache depot in October 1907, it was more than the beginning of a wildlife conservation success. It was also an important cultural marker for Native American tribes.
With August winding down and temp and humidity a tad cooler, a lot of random thoughts are on my mind. Technically, by the calendar, summer ends and fall begins on Sept.