Independence Cemetery opens three-mile trail system through expansive pollinator habitat
By Gayle Pille Special to NKyTribune Independence Cemetery has recently opened one of the largest contiguous pollinator habitats in Northern…
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Gayle Pille: Spring woodland wildflowers bloom large — ‘don’t leave footprints, take only pictures’
Our spring woodland wildflowers are blooming large, and hikers and photographers are hitting the trails to view them. “Boone County…
Gayle Pille: No shortage of Gray and Fox Squirrels in NKY; just takes trees and food to attract them
Kentucky is home to four different species of squirrels – the Southern Flying Squirrel, Red Squirrel, Eastern Gray Squirrel, and…
Gayle Pille: Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, are woodland dynamos
They are little dynamos! They are the woodland birds we so often see in our forests and at our feeders. …
Gayle Pille: Best Christmas present ever — just in time for the holidays, snowstorm of Snowy Owls
A Snowy Owl showed up about an hour away at one of Ohio’s fantastic state parks. It’s a once in…
Gayle Pille: The maniacal calls of the Barred Owl — is that a ‘discordant scream’ or a ‘burst of laughter’?
Many a person has been awakened in the middle of the night by the maniacal calls of the Barred Owl…
Gayle Pille: Feisty house Wrens are a backyard favorite — they come and go and make great song
One of our most anticipated backyard migrants is the House Wren. Arriving here around Earth Day, these feisty LBJ’s (little…
Gayle Pille: Good neighbors being good neighbors — also welcome the Carolina Wrens to mailboxes
Some folks have all the luck. Shelly Sandfoss of Fort Wright recently had the pleasure of watching and photographing Carolina…
Gayle Pille: Gotta love those hummingbirds — don’t give them sugar-water solutions with red food dye
You gotta love ‘em. Just about every gardener wants them in their backyard. They’re beautiful, they’re fascinating, they’re entertaining. They’re…
Gayle Pille: By any name — Whistle-Pig, Land Beaver, Woodchuck, Groundhog — they are largest squirrels
It’s hard not to love a Whistle-Pig or Land Beaver – or Woodchuck or Groundhog. Yep, they are all the…
Gayle Pille: No shortage of squirrels in Northern Kentucky — where there are trees, there are squirrels
Kentucky is home to four different species of squirrels – the Southern Flying Squirrel, Red Squirrel, Eastern Gray Squirrel, and…
Gayle Pille: Two species of fox — Red and Gray — live here, moving in and out of the shadows
We’re lucky. Two of the four species of fox that live in North America call Northern Kentucky home. Both are…
Gayle Pille: Virginia Opossum — a ‘living fossil’ is our only marsupial; ‘put out more birdseed’
They are “living fossils,” having survived relatively unchanged for at least 70 million years when dinosaurs also roamed the planet….
Gayle Pille: Vulnerable box turtles are in danger — lend a helping hand but don’t take them home
Box turtles are in big trouble. Habitats are so broken up by housing developments and roadways that they are squashed…
Gayle Pille: Handsome cowbirds (aka buffalo birds) are nomads — let others raise their chicks
By Gayle Pille Special to NKyTribune Cowbirds have an interesting history. The handsome Brown-headed Cowbird that is so common in…
Gayle Pille: Please stop kidnapping those baby birds; leave them be — they are trying to grow up
Songbird rehabilitator Ginger Rood has a request for folks – stop kidnapping baby birds! Ginger, Northern Kentucky’s only songbird rehabilitator,…
Gayle Pille: 17-year-old ‘citizen scientist’ Kimmy Birrer monitors nest boxes, meets Tree Swallows
Kimmy Birrer of Villa Hills got more than she bargained for when she volunteered to monitor the Eastern Bluebird nest…
Gayle Pille: Coyotes are here in growing numbers — much maligned, feared and harmless
By Gayle Pille Special to NKyTribune In an age when many species of animals are disappearing at an alarming rate,…
Gayle Pille: Bald Eagles — America’s bird — making a surprising comeback in Northern Kentucky
Lee McNeely, president of the Northern Kentucky Bird Club, was pleasantly surprised recently at the number of American Bald Eagles…
Gayle Pille: Yes Virginia, there are black squirrels; three relocated squirrels bred, thrived in Ft. Mitchell
Mention that you’ve seen a black squirrel to most Greater Cincinnatians and folks will think you’re color blind. In Ft….