Mark Nale

Each fall when the acorns matured, one bird species would flock to the row of pin oaks in front of the high school where I taught. Their noisy calls, large size and bold colors made them easy to identify. Blue jays – sometimes a dozen or more — would come in at one time to…

Although birch trees have shed their leaves long ago, yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) still stands out as a unique tree in the winter forest.

If there is a Pennsylvania critter that represents Christmas, it must surely be the cardinal. Photographs or paintings of this colorful bird, often proudly perched on a snow-covered evergreen bough, grace many holiday greeting cards. The bright red plumage of the male against a white and green backg

Cooler autumn temperatures bring on colored leaves, archery hunting, spawning trout and scaly, cream-colored shaggy manes.

Several rather nondescript white butterflies flutter around in circles as if playing with one another. Every few minutes one or more of them stop to sip nectar from a purple New York ironweed flower. Soon they fly over my garden, one butterfly landing briefly on a broccoli plant — then on to anoth