"… to be used for nature study and as a preserve for birds and other wildlife."- Carmen Hambleton Warner
December 2, 2025 – Snow weighs heavy on hemlock branches, some close enough to touch the ground, while laughing nuthatches crawl along their trunks. Below them, rabbit, squirrel, and deer tracks intermingle in the pillowy white blanket quieting the landscape. Over the frozen pond… Continue Reading “Winter at Wahkeena”
When considering the age-old question of what time period would you go back to if you had a time machine, here at the preserve, we’ve had our answer locked and loaded for a very long time. We would visit 1931, when Carmen and Frank… Continue Reading “Invasive Species Profile: Winged Euonymus”
It’s that time of year again. It’s been so hot and so dry for so long, and we’re tired of it – especially when the dryness hasn’t seemed to keep the gnats and flies and mosquitos away. Soon, cool temps and a lack of… Continue Reading “We Need to Talk About Bugs”
August, September and October – fall, to us. We enjoy pumpkin flavored beverages and sweets, pick apples at orchards, bundle up boots and in warm-tone knit sweaters. But what do the animals – who are not Starbucks rewards members – do? They’re prepping for… Continue Reading “Is Fall Really Here? The Slug Moths Say So”
If you’re a beech blight aphid (take our quiz here here to find out), you’d best run while you can! North America’s only carnivorous butterfly caterpillar is on the loose, and on the menu? You. The harvester is an energetic flyer as an adult,… Continue Reading “Carnivorous caterpillars? In my aphid colony? It’s more likely than you think.”
You wouldn’t necessarily think of a caterpillar as a particularly gluttonous creature – although, Eric Carle’s very hungry caterpillar certainly could be described as such. Typically, when we think of the hungry heavy hitters of the animal kingdom, we think of bears, elephants, lions,… Continue Reading “Creature Feature – Appalachian Azure”
After a very poor bloom year in 2024, the native rhododendron, Rhododendron maximum are bounding back this year. the first flowers are now in bloom, but the majority of buds are still closed. Over the next couple of weeks more and more flower buds… Continue Reading “Native Rhododendron Forecast 2025”
Your first impression of the dutchman’s pipevine flower might be that it looks somewhat… carnivorous. Perhaps like a pitcher plant? Well, that association isn’t all that off base! Pollination for this species does involve trapping an insect inside the body of its flower, but… Continue Reading “Dutchman’s Pipevine – An Insect Favorite?”
Spring really is here, and all over the forest floor, one of my favorite unconventional spring wildflowers is popping up. It’s easy to miss if you’re only looking for a flashy purple bloom backed by brilliant green foliage, but bearcorn, whose name we’ll investigate… Continue Reading “(Bear)corn on the Cob?”
Can you believe it? May is nearly here! The birds certainly know it – black-and-whites, hooded, worm-eating, and common yellow-throat warblers have joined the foray in the last week, as well as wood thrush, veeries (below), indigo buntings, red and white-eyed vireos, ovenbirds, and,… Continue Reading “Spring Happenings Volume 3”