Browsing: Environment

Andrew Wilson’s love of weather has taken him from a Mississippi State classroom to a TV station and now into a hurricane.

Seeds can fly – I kid you not! I have witnessed this force of nature on many occasions and admire the strategy of the plants that launch their precious projectiles toward a future life. OK, OK, I may have stretched the definition of fly a bit, so let’s just say sail instead. A variety of plants have evolved fruit that upon drying, explode open to expel their cargo into the air – flying, if you will.

Russet, bright orange, deep red, gold, brown, dark purple, and varying shades of green … those are the colors of…

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, is an atmospheric teleconnection— in which weather at one location relates to weather at another, sometimes thousands of miles away — that involves the direction and strength of the trade winds. 

My series of short stories about the creepy crawly and green pieces and parts of our natural world is based on my lifelong curiosity about nature, regardless of if I knew what they were. I grew up in the 60s in south Louisiana, before air conditioning was a thing. I do not recall being hot but outdoors was where I spent most of my time, looking for stuff! That was the origin of my Qu’est Que C’est journey.

I’ll admit that serious birdwatching is new to me. After moving to an old farm place in Union County, the amazing array of beautiful birds we encountered just flew into our hearts, so to speak. It was a natural process, but before we knew it, we were feeding, watching, and documenting every new bird species we encountered out here on Buttercup Hill.

Somehow, summer has passed and birds are starting to migrate to winter homes. It is still hot, mind you, but birds are attuned to their annual timetable that drives many species hundreds and thousands of miles across continents and oceans. For those of us along the shorelines of the Gulf of Mexico, it can be a fun time to spot birds that we may have missed when they came by last spring. 

Want to join a project that is educational, fun, and contributes to celebrating nature? It is as easy as using the free iNaturalist app to record what you see at some of your favorite nature trails, or better yet, new trails that you can enjoy. You will be helping grow knowledge of biodiversity along the Pascagoula River Basin as part of the Discover Nature on the Singing River Project.

There are certain sounds that seem to follow us through our entire lives. For me, one of those is the sound of cicadas.

As August begins to give way to September, a familiar splash of yellow starts appearing along Mississippi roadsides, fields and…

I love to forage for wild fruit. I love to eat them right off the plant. But if the pickings are plentiful, I am just as apt to collect what I can to make jelly. And late summer is prime time to collect a number of my favorites, including Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia), the most common of seven species in the southeast. The taste is out of this world.

Gulf Blue Navigator has been recognized by TIME and Statista as one of America’s Best Incubators & Accelerators 2026, placing the Mississippi-based program among the nation’s top-performing startup support organizations.

It’s pollinator season across the great state of Mississippi where bees are buzzing, butterflies are fluttering, and late summer and early fall gardens are starting to bloom. Without pollinators, plants would not be able to produce seeds, so it is time to celebrate them.

Spiders are all around us: in our landscapes, our homes, and even our vehicles. My grandchildren are always excited to report a web or small spider lurking in my vehicle. They all know not to kill them and that Paw Paw will show them the door, or not. Of course these are the spiders in plain view, but many others reside out of sight, like Trapdoor Spiders. Of the spiders that live underground, these critters take concealment to the max.

Yes, I am writing about flies – again. In my previous story, An Ode to Maggots, I acknowledged that larval flies get no respect. For the most part, that is true of adult flies as well, especially the species that bite, buzz your face, or fly up your nose. And yet, may I argue that flies are important in our world, whether we appreciate them or not. In part, I offer a few photos of flies that are less offensive, but beautiful, captured with skill by my friends Curtis and Sharon.

What looks like a mass of yellow spaghetti draped over a plant is, well, another plant – Dodder (Cuscuta spp). It is in fact a parasitic vine that is draining the life out of its host. The name dodder is largely thought to be derived from the German word dotter, referring to egg yolk, a reference that fits it well. But if you look close, this vine has flowers, cute ones at that, and an interesting and successful way of life.