From late summer into early fall, the wild bird population reaches its highest numbers for the year. This year’s young account for the increase. The population boom coincides with nature’s fall abundance. Many birds, including this year’s young, won’t survive the winter. Their … read more

Everywhere we go these days, we see people looking at their phones, their tablets, their laptops, their e-readers. Electronically generated information and entertainment are part of our daily lives. We love the convenience of it and the portability. And yet, in the West … read more

This beautiful wineglass wherry was built by Vaughn resident Frank Garratt and his friend, Buzz Bowman, of Annapolis, MD. The two high school friends decided to do a project together when they retired. The 14-foot, two-station, classic rowing skiff was designed by Pygmy … read more

West Sound residents and businesses can now recycle fluorescent lights and other mercury-containing lights at no charge as part of a state product-stewardship program called LightRecycle Washington. Throwing away mercury-containing lights in the garbage is illegal, as the mercury accumulates in the environment … read more

In 2005, Hansville Master Gardeners Roland Malan, Susan Harrington and Sheri Kiley, along with landscape architects Mary Booth and Patrick Leuner, met with county parks staff and presented a plan to steward and beautify a very neglected, weed-infested, abandoned motocross dirt bike track … read more

NOAA, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, part of the U. S. Department of Commerce, has deployed many distinctive, yellow data-gathering buoys globally. Six of them, all technically owned and managed by the University of Washington for NOAA, are located in Puget Sound. … read more

There are a wide variety of sparkling wines made throughout the world. Lets first establish the idea of champagne vs. sparkling wine. Sparkling wine can only be called champagne if it comes from the region of Champagne, which is just outside of Paris. … read more

From late June to early September, harbor seals all over the Puget Sound are giving birth to their young. While these fuzzy, Bambi-eyed babies are drop-dead adorable, it is extremely important that beach visitors give these little friends a lot of space. If … read more

There is at least one bird that really whistles. Most of the time, when you hear what sounds like a whistling bird, it is air passing through its feathers when it flies. This “whistler” is a small, black bird seen on Northwest waters … read more