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If Nature Was Predictable, It Wouldn't Be So Fascinating
My tiny, semi-urban, rewilded yard surprises me. Every. Single. Day. This past Sunday it was deathly quiet in both the front and...
ljmarkson
Jan 11, 20222 min read


Red-Winged Blackbirds are Special
Years ago, when I had a lawn with a sad, lonely bird feeder in the middle of it, I would senselessly chase away flocks of Red-winged...
ljmarkson
Jan 9, 20225 min read


Cedar Waxwings Reveal How Pervasively Disruptively Invasive Nandina and Honeysuckle are to Wildlife
Soon after I started working on a post focused on invasive nandina (Nandina domestica), I went down a rabbit hole and ended up in a...
ljmarkson
Dec 31, 20215 min read


A December Butterfly Brings Hope
In the middle of the brown landscape of winter a flash or orange and silver movement caught my eye. It startled me and when I looked a...
ljmarkson
Dec 26, 20214 min read


What a Mushroom Eating Squirrel Teaches Us About Nature
After a rainy spell a couple weeks ago, mushrooms appeared in a section of my rewilded yard. About a week later I started noticing...
ljmarkson
Dec 21, 20213 min read


The Squirrel and Acorn Connection
I wish I spoke Eastern grey squirrel on a warm day a couple weeks ago when I saw an industrious young squirrel think he was cleverly...
ljmarkson
Nov 29, 20215 min read


Connecting the Rodenticide and Backyard Ecosystem Dots
My biophobic, eco-clueless neighbor found dead snakes in her driveway and posted in our neighborhood group because she wanted to know if...
ljmarkson
Nov 23, 20215 min read


A Handful of Late Blooming Fall Native Plants
I love profiling native plants but have a growing list of other topics I also want to write about and feel like I’m always running...
ljmarkson
Oct 31, 20214 min read


I'm Done Tidying Nature For an Outdated Aesthetic
I’ve recently had a paradigm shift about spending so much energy making my rewilded yard more approachable, neater, or more traditionally...
ljmarkson
Oct 17, 20215 min read


Robber Flies are Ferocious Insect Hunters!
Yesterday, when a robber fly landed on my backdoor window I felt like it wanted to say hi and have its picture taken because it...
ljmarkson
Aug 1, 20212 min read


My Moth Week Miracle
There seems to be a special place in all secular and religious belief systems for the idea that things happen for a reason. A few days...
ljmarkson
Jul 26, 20213 min read


Be Greedy About Supporting Wildlife in Your Yard!
OR How to optimize the habitat value of your yard. In his book Nature’s Best Hope Doug Tallamy explains how “greedy” he is when it...
ljmarkson
Jun 20, 20214 min read


Coexisting With Snakes In Your Atlanta Yard
Despite making my yard welcoming for wildlife, I still can't control what happens outside the safety of my sanctuary. The long list of...
ljmarkson
Jun 11, 20216 min read


Nurturing Nature in the Herb Garden
If we consider every inch of our yard as potential wildlife habitat, we need to rethink how we can maximize what the herb garden offers....
ljmarkson
Apr 17, 20214 min read


Dear Neighbor: Your Mosquito Control is Environmentally Hostile
Spring in Atlanta means the return of the war on insects. If I combined everyone in my area into one person, this is the snarky letter...
ljmarkson
Mar 26, 20214 min read


We Can Teach Our Children How to Interact with Nature One Squirrel, Earthworm and Ladybug at a Time
OR Teaching Our Children How to Appreciate Nature Using the Peter Parker Principle. I was in earshot of hearing a neighbor’s young child...
ljmarkson
Mar 16, 20213 min read


Squirrels: Ambassadors for Coexisting with Nature in Our Yards
Our house is our human nest but once we step outside, we share space with wildlife. Just because we’ve destroyed habitats to build our...
ljmarkson
Mar 11, 20213 min read
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