Mary Terra-Berns

1 month ago | blog.nature.org | Matthew Miller |Cara Byington |Mary Terra-Berns

We hike up the wooded trail on a warm August day, as cardinals, blue jays and other songbirds dart back and forth into the brush. Within a few minutes, we see much larger wildlife. The forest opens, revealing a large meadow–once the site of a coal minefield–and our group looks out upon it. I’m here with colleagues from The Nature Conservancy as well as biologists from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). Earlier in the day, they had noted we’d have a high likelihood of success.

1 month ago | blog.nature.org | Cara Byington |Mary Terra-Berns |Natalie van Hoose |Matthew Miller

Next time you’re in need of an odd animal fact to fill a conversational lull, consider the nesting preferences of the Humboldt penguin. To protect their eggs and hatchlings from sun, heat and other elements, they dig nests and burrows out of the accumulated guano (poop) of generations of Humboldt penguins and other sea birds. Native to western South America, Humboldt penguins take their name from the Humboldt current that flows a few miles offshore.

2 months ago | blog.nature.org | Jenny Rogers |Justine E Hausheer |Mary Terra-Berns |Matthew Miller

Ian Biazzo, then a University of Central Florida PhD candidate, was working on a controlled burn at The Nature Conservancy’s Tiger Creek Preserve in Florida when he noticed a single frog hop off a palmetto bush and land in a pile of ash. The fire was burning low and slow, and he watched as a few animals, like the frog, dispersed.

2 months ago | idahomagazine.com | Mary Terra-Berns |Steve Bunk

Over the Pass to a Different FutureBy Mary Terra-BernsSeveral years ago I worked on Idaho Fish and Game snorkeling surveys of fish above Avery on the upper Saint Joe River, which is federally designated as Wild and Scenic. Twenty-eight snorkeling transects were established in 1969, extending about forty-five river miles from Ruby Creek downstream to Avery. This part of “The Joe” is on the bucket list of anglers across the country.

Jan 20, 2025 | blog.nature.org | Justine E Hausheer |Mary Terra-Berns |Matthew Miller

Dawn in south-east Queensland. I’m up early, before the stifling summer heat settles in and the thunderstorms storms brew up over the hinterland. I walk my usual route through the neighborhood, keeping a mental list of birds as I go: the tu-heer of a figbird, the short pee-pee-pee chime of a pale-headed rosella, an explosion of rainbow lorikeets, and the mournful cry of a Pacific koel perched high in a purple-blooming jacaranda. Thirty minutes and 30 birds in, I turn back for home.