Books, Blogs, and Pods

It is mid-January and here at the Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum, the outside temperatures are hovering around zero, making this an excellent time of the year to curl up under an afghan, with a cup of hot tea and explore natural history from the comfort of home.  Below are a few book and blog suggestions, some old and some new, but all are entertaining opportunities to learn from.

The Backyard Bird Chronicles, by Amy Tan, was just published in 2024, and it is a wonderful look into the daily lives of birds and the species they interact with.  Many of Tan’s journal pages are reproduced throughout this volume where she shares an insightful array of observations of bird behavior.  She has a drawing or two on each page to capture the central action and includes notes on what she is watching, while adding questions to her journal that can be reread to learn more.  She also includes many of her beautiful and intricate watercolor paintings of birds.

Handbook of Nature Study, written by Anna Botsford Comstock over a hundred years ago, was first published in 1911.  She writes in the style used by many teachers: stating a lesson goal, a suggested method to teach the information, and a list of well thought-out questions that help direct the student.  I found it easy to add several of my own questions and answers to the basic information presented in each lesson.  The book begins with a detailed discussion on tools and nature journals that can be used in the field.  Comstock covers a wide range of natural history topics including all of the major plant and animal groups, geology, climate, weather, and the night skies.

The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, by Edith Holden, was written in 1906.  It is a delightful account of Holden’s observations of plants, animals, and general nature taken while walking or riding in the areas surrounding her home in the English countryside.  Holden’s watercolor drawings are beautiful with bright colors and exquisite details.  In the back of her journal, she lists the plants and birds from her observations, with not only the common name in use at the time, but also the genus and species.  While not a book meant for fieldwork, it provides pleasant reading for many evenings.

Books are wonderful, and I have hundreds more in our collection, but blogs and podcasts can also provide a wealth of information and learning opportunities and are quite easy to access.  There are many to choose from (and thank you to all of my readers!) –here are a few of my favorites.

Tuesdays In The Tallgrass, by Cindy Crosby, is a weekly trip through the prairies and meadows of northern Illinois.  Crosby stewards several prairies including the Schulenberg Prairie, Nachusa Grasslands, and her own backyard.  She takes the reader along on her travels in these sites and many more natural areas through her photos.  Relating her observations of the weekly changes, her blog provides a wonderful chronicle of what is happening over time in an area encompassing both wild and urban communities.   https://tuesdaysinthetallgrass.wordpress.com/

The podcast, A Way To Garden, by organic gardener Margaret Roach, presents information on how to care for and enjoy a garden, learning about its inhabitants and other parts of nature that a garden provides habitat for.   Each podcast is an interview with an expert on a chosen topic.  Some of her past podcasts include handling invasives with Daniel Weitoish of Cornell Botanic Gardens, birds in winter with David Sibley, and journaling bird observations with Joan E. Strassmann.  The podcast can be read or listened to, taking a look at nature through the perspective of a gardener, with lively and entertaining discussions.  https://awaytogarden.com/

A Botanist’s Field Notes, by Andrew Hipp, takes us along on his periodic walks through some of the natural areas in northern Illinois.  His experience and knowledge of the plants in this region is profound, and it shows in the depth and detail of each entry.  Hipp includes his observations of the flora and fauna encountered during every season of the year, and he provides a wonderful insight into the ecology encompassed by each short walk.  https://botanistsfieldnotes.com/

The blogs I have shared are all quite entertaining, easy to learn from, packed with detail, and short enough to comfortably browse in a limited amount of time or spend an entire evening by reading/listening to additional topics.  The books I highlighted are some of my favorites, easy to read as a whole story or to pick individual entries from and enjoy a free hour.  While the weather here in northern Illinois is keeping most of us indoors at times, we can find some fun ways to learn.