When it comes to the stuff of which nightmares are commonly made, it’s difficult to find a more commonly employed foundation material than the creatures contained in the Phylum Arthropoda, particularly those included in the Classes Insecta and Arachnida; in common parlance – insects and spiders. Different from us in so many ways – number of appendages and location of the skeleton respective to the vital organs being only two of the most obvious – arthropods present the average person with a near-perfect conundrum: living, autonomously mobile creatures whose perceptions, habits, and motivations are all but a complete mystery. From this lack of understanding has sprung fear and a willingness to accept even outlandish explanations to fill the void. For this reason, the popular understanding of the natural histories of those species living in closest proximity to us has long been heavily burdened by incorrect information. Fortunately, May R. Berenbaum’s The Earwig’s Tail: A Modern Bestiary of Multi-Legged Legends greatly lightens the load of entomological ignorance under which so many of us unknowingly labor. Read the rest of this entry »

Renowned photographer and author of the critically acclaimed book Macro Photography for Gardeners and Nature Lovers Alan L. Detrick is the subject of an on-going six part podcast interview by Timber Press. Two (part 1, part 2) of the six sections of the interview have thus far been released and true to form, Mr. Detrick has been both engaging as well as insightful in his discussions of macro and close-up nature photography. As Mr. Detrick’s book was the first title reviewed here on The Well-read Naturalist, it is a particular pleasure to hear him discourse on the subjects that he explained so exceptionally well in print. Both experienced macro and close-up nature photographers, as well as those new to or even unfamiliar with the practice, will find the time spent listening to Mr. Detrick sharing his vast knowledge of the subject enjoyable indeed.

Natural history podcast enthusiasts will be very pleased to learn that Timber Press, the acclaimed Portland, Oregon based publisher of books on gardening, ornamental and edible horticulture, garden design, sustainability, natural history, and the Pacific Northwest in general, has begun a regularly updated podcast. Inaugurated with a four part interview of Tracy DiSabato-Aust, author of The Well-designed Mixed Garden, the discussion topic has now shifted to a fascinating interview with Douglas Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, about the importance of cultivating  truly healthy landscapes at all levels of the biome through the use of native plants and developing a more holistic understanding of the role insects play in the ecological health of an area. Read the rest of this entry »

As I stood on the deck of our motel room in Lincoln City, Oregon this past week-end looking out at the waves of the vast Pacific Ocean and watching the sun set, I couldn’t help but notice the beginnings of the southward movement of many different bird species. Most noticeable of these, owing to their size, were the flights of Brown Pelicans, Pelecanus occidentalis, winging their way south in single file lines of from just a few to a few dozen birds. As I heard the voice of our eight-year-old daughter playing inside the room, I began to wonder if she would be able to stand in the same place when she reaches my age and witness a repetition of this age-old cycle of migration for herself. Would she be able to show it to her own children or would it be simply a story she would tell them that their grandfather told her? Read the rest of this entry »

Of all the different styles of modern photography, the one that seems to elicit the most reticence from both amateurs and professionals alike is that of macro photography. This is indeed quite unfortunate, for it is through the practice of macro photography that so much of the ordinarily unseen details in our world become discoverable. Add to this the increasingly common availability to the average amateur photographer of at least “close-up” if not actually true macro photographic capability in even the most affordable of digital cameras and there is no reason whatsoever that everyone, particularly naturalists, possessing a recent model digital camera, a healthy sense of curiosity, and a copy of Alan L. Detrick’s Macro Photography for Gardeners and Nature Lovers should not feel themselves entirely capable of exploring the minute yet endlessly fascinating corners of the natural world. Read the rest of this entry »