Earth Day was Monday — and no, I didn’t make a post on Monday.

I could tell you I was protesting the use of electricity, which contributes to climate change. But that would  not be true. I was on my computer Monday, just like I am everyday, and I
wanted to make a blog post. I intentionally did not.

No, I am not a Luddite – someone who avoids technology, preferring a simpler way of life as a way of protesting …

All eyes to the skies this weekend, and on into the week. The Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak on April 21 and 22, with up to 20 meteors per
hour visible.

This meteor shower occurs each year when Eart passes through the dust trail of Comet Thatcher.

Spoiler alert: The gibbous moon may obstruct the view of this shower. (The moon is waxing, filling in, and will be full on …

Grasslands cover a large part of the land surface of the world, and I’m particularly fond of them, since I grew up on land which
was tallgrass prairie prior to the settlement of the central United States about a hundred and fifty years ago. After settlement, west central Oklahoma became wheat country, with miles and
miles of rolling prairie converted to plowed cropland. Today the area still grows wheat, as well as other grain crops like sorghum and alfalfa. The land even supports …

Spring. Why is it our bodies are programmed to think about pro-creation in the Sping of the year? Face it, we can’t help it. We are biologically programmed to think about nothing else (well, almost nothing else.)
Odd things happen in the natural world as animals prepare to mate. Their bodies change to attract mates, and their lives become tuned into the need to assure the overall survival of their kind.
Here are some interesting examples of mating behavior and coloration from birds, insects and even a spider! Ahh, Spring.

So far, Spring 2013 has proved to have a mind of its own. One day warm, the next, cold; one day threatening rain, the next day, snow. One day there is glorious sunny stillness; the next the wind whips my hair and pelts me with stinging dust.
What Frost is saying here, I believe, is that there is nothing definitive about spring.

Your home is your habitat!

And the area outside your home, no matter how small, can also be a habitat for many types of animals! All you need to do is provide the habitat components these animals require – food, water,
shelter and space.

You’ve got the space, even if the area is small. It doesn’t take much for small creatures to make a home there.

Water is easy to provide: a shallow dish refilled …

You’ve probably already noticed them – trees  full of flowers, not leaves! These beautiful trees are heralds of spring . Not long after their
blossoms show up on winter’s bare black branches, spring arrives, and green leaves are not far behind.

Today’s post is about flowering trees, found in all shapes and sizes. You’ll see them in neighborhoods, on forest hillsides, around ponds and along streams, not to mention in landscaped areas around
shops and offices.
…

“To trace the history of a river, or a raindrop, as John Muir would have done, is also to trace the history of the soul, the history of the mind
descending and arising in the body. In both, we constantly seek and stumble on divinity, which, like the cornice feeding the lake and the spring becoming a waterfall, feeds, spills, falls and
feeds itself over and over again.”
 — Gretel Erhlich, “River History”
…

 More focus on habitat today. Specifically, some of the habitat needs of birds.

 It’s interesting that every creature out there, plant AND animal, has very specific habitat needs. Unlike humans, animals and plants can’t live everywhere.Different
species have different requirements for the types of food they eat, and the temperatures their bodies can withstand. They can’t buy food, or a coat, or a swimsuit. And most
animals can’t just up and move if they don’t like where they are, or if there is not enough food or water.

One of the many reasons animals …

Don’t you know that the animal kingdom is ever bit as glad to see Spring begin as we are?! And we are sooo glad for the rain we are receiving this
week. Oklahoma is almost on track for regular amounts of moisture received!
 
First, two tips for all you astronomers out there, from Chris Hardman’s Ecological Calendar:
(1) When we look into the sky on spring nights, we are looking away from the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Consequently, …