Discover Nature Notes

No one knows if birds really sing for joy, but we do know birds have other good reasons for singing.

Journeying to exotic places and riding the wind are part of life for some animals. But a first birthday is not!

In nature no insect is quite like the swallowtail.

Our forests come alive this time of year, replacing winter’s dormancy with swelling buds, new leaves and a carpet of wildflowers. Forests are energy factories.

Freshwater mussels are cold, wet and clammy, and their shells may seem more glamorous than the animals inside.

Black bears are making a comeback in Missouri’s forests. To know and understand them helps to appreciate and protect them.

With the first warm weather of March, robins return to our lawns and gardens, and are one of our best indicators that spring has arrived!

You may look for your first robin as a sign of spring, but the voices of frogs rise through the air and speak clearly of warmer days.

Herons nest in colonies called “rookeries” that are usually located in places isolated from disturbance. Herons often select mature sycamore trees along streams as rookery sites.

Usually, the one way to find a woodcock is to follow close behind a dog with a good nose. But in March, woodcocks emerge from hiding and do a dramatic sky dance that announces the end of winter.