Natural World Archives - Page 19 of 56 - The Source

William L. Finley, Oregon’s First Game Warden

…and the protection of an elegant bird

Jim AndersonOctober 16, 2019July 29, 2024

Federal law states: “The possession of feathers and other parts of native North American birds without a permit is prohibited by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1916.” This protects wild birds by preventing their killing by collectors, and their commercial trade in feathers—extending to all feathers, regardless of how they were obtained. There’s no exemption for molted […]

Outside

Where Have All the Bugs and Birds Gone?

Reports of staggering bird population declines

Jim AndersonOctober 9, 2019December 17, 2024

What has been leading to the drastic decline in insects and birds?

Outside

The Glory Days of Flying

From vomit cleaner to budding pilot in the days before WWII

Jim AndersonSeptember 25, 2019May 11, 2024

One day, back in West Haven, Connecticut, in 1941, living on my grandfather’s farm, an Aeronca “Flying Bathtub” came swooping over me. I was helping my uncles and grandfather bring in the hay on a sweet summer day, and the last thing I thought would happen was a buzz job by that pot-bellied flying machine. […]

Outside

One of a Kind

The wonder of outdoor creatures, inside the Sisters Library

Jim AndersonSeptember 18, 2019July 8, 2024

Dear readers, you’re in for a very special treat. All you have to do is arrive at 10am at the Sisters Library any day from Tuesday through Saturday, during regular business hours. As you walk up to the front entrance you can’t help but notice the huge, circular stained-glass art above the doors. That was […]

Outside

Counting Life’s Flowering Treasures

The ebb and flow of local populations of the mariposa lily

Jim AndersonSeptember 11, 2019August 29, 2024

Bill Kuhn, who lives among the sagebrush, juniper and mariposa lilies, is somewhat like me: a worrywart. Every time he and I sit by the fire we get to chinwaggin’ about what’s going to happen to the juniper, sagebrush and wildflowers—that are the love of our lives—after we go out among the stars. Kuhn’s also […]

Outside

Houston… No, Sacramento: We Have a Problem

If you haven’t seen any monarch butterflies this season, here’s why

Jim AndersonAugust 28, 2019April 5, 2025

The title of this piece was a common statement back in the ’70s and ’80s, when NASA was doing all it could to place men and machinery in space. It also became a common statement for all kinds of problems in our society—and now I use it to bring attention to a problem that people […]

Outside

At Last!

A way to protect birds from cats

Jim AndersonAugust 21, 2019April 24, 2025

Are cats cuddly companions or fine-tuned killing machines? They’re both—and their owners know that. Cats that live in the wild (or are indoor pets allowed to roam outdoors), kill about 2.4 billion birds in the continental U.S. each year, according to the American Bird Conservancy, contributing to the extinction of at least 64 bird, mammal […]

Outside

Helping Wildlife Get By

Think Wild prepares to start taking in creatures at its rehab facility

Jim AndersonAugust 14, 2019May 15, 2024

On a Saturday and Sunday afternoon in July, the brand-new wildlife rehabilitation facility, Think Wild, east of Bend, created a traffic jam with its open house. A lot of people from Bend, Tumalo, LaPine, Sisters and Redmond came out to check out what Think Wild was all about. So, here’s the skinny. The facility once […]

Outside

Of Pandoras and Other Moths

An outbreak of Pandora moths, when they weren’t expected

Jim AndersonJuly 24, 2019July 25, 2025

By golly, this is a strange time for Pandora moths to pop out of the woodwork—er, soil. They were here in grand numbers back in 2017, and it’s usually five to 10 years before they appear again. Must be climate change; something is taking place around us that’s favorable to this species. Meanwhile, another species […]

Outside

An Extraordinary Event of Summer

Tortoiseshells and other butterflies are welcome visitors in Central Oregon

Jim AndersonJuly 17, 2019July 16, 2025

Oh, boy, are we having fun! Right now, during these warm first weeks of July, the California tortoiseshell butterfly, one of the more dashing of the nymphalids, is popping out by the hundreds of thousands—if not millions —in the foothills of the Cascades, known as the Skyline Forest. This beautiful butterfly has been flitting around […]

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