Natural North Dakota
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Hosted by Chuck Lura, a biology professor at Dakota College in Bottineau. Chuck has a broad knowledge of Natural North Dakota and loves sharing that knowledge with others. Since 2005, he has written a weekly column, Naturalist at Large, for the Lake Metigoshe Mirror. His columns also appear under The Naturalist in several other weekly newspapers across North Dakota. Natural North Dakota is..
Natural North Dakota
2d ago
Many newspapers and other media will run stories about the leaves turning color on the trees before falling. Many of these news items will explain how chlorophyll breaks down, and the other colors (pigments) that were there all along become visible. They may compare the color change to “removing the chlorophyll mask” from the leaves ..read more
Natural North Dakota
1w ago
If you are up for a little stargazing, now might be a good time to do so. There is a new moon coming up on October 2, so with the relatively warm temperatures and clear skies, conditions could be quite good. Plus, the Orionids meteor shower is about to begin ..read more
Natural North Dakota
1w ago
It’s that time of year! The fall equinox occurs this year on Sunday, September 22. At precisely 7:43am CT, the sun will be directly over the equator ..read more
Natural North Dakota
3w ago
For many, be they native North Dakotans, transplants, or those just passing through, it often takes some time to warm to the wide-open spaces of the North Dakota landscape. Although there is a lot of cropland, I suspect that for many people, the wide-open expanses of prairie are a large part of what calls people to love and appreciation of the landscape ..read more
Natural North Dakota
1M ago
Sharp-tailed grouse season opens up on September 19. To quote Morris Johnson and Joseph Knue from their Feathers from the Prairie (1989), “no other upland bird has been in the state so long or in such numbers ..read more
Natural North Dakota
1M ago
September is upon us! As you have probably noticed, the days are getting shorter and cooler. The birds have started migrating, and the fall foliage will soon start to come out ..read more
Natural North Dakota
1M ago
Are you seeing yellow? As you look out on the North Dakota landscape this time of year, it seems that there are yellow flowers everywhere. It is the color of the season ..read more
Natural North Dakota
1M ago
Much of central and eastern North Dakota is pothole country. As you look out at all those sloughs, it appears that the vast majority of them are dominated by cattails. Those sloughs have been changing more than most people realize ..read more
Natural North Dakota
2M ago
When traveling across North Dakota and looking out at the rangeland, some people see just a bunch of grass. However, it is much more than that! An important step in understanding the ecology of our rangelands is to have a working knowledge of what range ecologists call ecological sites and their associated ecological site descriptions ..read more
Natural North Dakota
2M ago
Driving down the roads in North Dakota this time of year, particularly gravel roads, one is likely to occasionally see a sunflower in bloom with broad leaves, producing a flower head, and growing to around 3 to 6 feet tall. That is probably the common sunflower (Helianthus annuus), the same species that is grown in the sunflower fields ..read more