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Winding Pathways encourages you to create a wonderous yard, whether that yard is an expansive acreage, a suburban lot or a condominium balcony. Go outside and play!
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Solar Is Hardly Mumbo Jumbo
Mumbo Jumbo “That solar stuff is just a bunch of mumbo jumbo,” said the passenger sitting next to Rich on a recent flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Charlotte, North Carolina. As the plane climbed over urban New Jersey, he could see solar collectors on large flat...
Sunfish Sex
The Guys Do the Work Some aspects of sunfish sex are bizarre. Here is a huge family of many species of fish where the guys do the hard work caring for their babies. That’s unusual in the animal kingdom, where normally mom cares for the young. There are many sunfish...
Winding Pathways Gazette Features
Winding Pathways has been busy the past several years with features for the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Below are features from the past two years. I will post links to the other features in the Gazette from the past. 2023 to date April 2, 2023. Agritourism Attraction....
The Blue Bridge Blues
The Blue Bridge is gone! Well, it was still there, but when we saw it on April 4, 2023, its back was broken and its span sagged down into Indian Creek. Seeing the prostrate structure and after thousands of crossings on that historic iron bridge, we got a case of the...
Modifying Our Focus of Winding Pathways
For nearly a decade we have been posting Winding Pathways Blogs mostly about various items of nature, especially those encountered in yards and around homes. Topics appear seasonally and we can usually find a new "spin" to keep blogs fresh. We have a large inventory...
Meet Lonely Louie the Turkey
Sometimes we feel sorry for Lonely Louie, so sorry that we toss him a scoop of corn. Flocks of wild turkeys have been visiting our yard almost daily for years. Most often we see gobbler groups. They are adult males with long beards and spurs. Once in a while a group...
What is the “To-Do” About Moles?
People make a "to-do" about moles. They might be the most disliked animal in suburbia. We have them at Winding Pathways and are sharing tips on what we do about them. Human Created Problems Suburban and urban soil has a common problem. It is too often compacted. ...
Look Up! Look Down! Shhhh, Listen!
A Season of Variables After a drab March “look up, look down, listen” season is here. It’s exciting and frustrating. Always something to see and hear and things we miss, too. What is look up, look down, listen? Well, when we walk in woods and prairies, we’re always...
How Do Yellow-Bellied-Sapsuckers Time Their Arrival?
Yellow-bellied sapsuckers are precise timers. Every late March we look for this gorgeous, yet sometimes hard-to-spot, migrating bird. They visit our woods in April on their way to northern breeding areas. Weather Conditions Late March and April nights are often below...
Backpacker Meals and Car Travel
We Bring Along Backpacker Meals* We don’t do wilderness backpacking anymore but we are never far from backpacker meals at home and when we travel. Last May we drove to Casper, Wyoming, with plans to set our tent up at Nebraska’s Smith Falls State Park the first night...
Battery-Powered Chainsaws
Are battery-powered chainsaws worth the money? We decided to find out. * Gas chainsaws have been around for decades. Rich wondered if newer electric battery-powered chainsaws would be as functional and easier to use. So, he acquired a Milwaukee saw with a 16-inch bar...
Meet The Confusing Tree Sparrows
Tree Sparrows. Two species. What could be more confusing? Well, there’s more. Both look like common House Sparrows (formerly known as English Sparrows. Meet the American Tree Sparrows Marion glanced at our feeders recently and noticed what looked like a Chipping...
Can You Tell History from Syrup Tap Scars?
Scars in a tree at the Indian Creek Nature Center reveal maple syruping history. Back in 1979 Rich Patterson and volunteers approached a husky Box Elder tree, armed with a drill, spile, and buckets. It was early March. Nights were cold and frosty, followed by warm...
Winter Travel – Foiled By Blue Northers – Almost
What Do You Need to Know About Winter Travel? Guest Bloggers, Nancy Sauerman and Bruce Bachmann I have gone to conferences in the winter but that involves flights, motels, and schedules arranged by someone else. I have had my share of winter travel within the state...
Amusing Winter Squirrels
Winter squirrels are amusing as they scout out food resources, navigate high wires to cross the road, and forage at local feeders. Diane and Frank Olsen feed birds, and squirrels, daily and enjoy the antics and dexterity of the neighborhood...
Vrieze and Geese!
"Yes," to Geese If You Please Guest blog by Jody Vrieze When we lived in Plymouth, Iowa, my husband and I realized there is more to a home than just a house. We embraced our love of nature and animals by creating a retreat in our yard featuring natural diversity and...
