Chuck Lura has a broad knowledge of "Natural North Dakota"and loves sharing that knowledge with others. Since 2005, Chuck has written a weekly column, “Naturalist at Large,” for the Lake Metigoshe Mirror, and his “The Naturalist” columns appear in several other weekly North Dakota newspapers.
Lura was a long-time biology professor at Dakota College at Bottineau, publishing research on ecological aspects of grasslands in the northern Great Plains. In retirement, he continues to share his Natural North Dakota essays for the Prairie Public audience.
—
Natural North Dakota is supported by NDSU Central Grasslands Research Extension Center and Dakota College at Bottineau, and by the members of Prairie Public. Thanks to Sunny 101.9 in Bottineau for their recording services.
Hear Natural North Dakota on Prairie Public on Saturdays and Sundays at 8:35am CT.
-
In 1908, a railroad station in McHenry County, North Dakota, was platted and incorporated. We know the town as Upham, located about 50 miles northeast of Minot. But, unlike many towns that were named for the founder or early settler, Upham was named in honor of geologist Warren Upham. -
Have you ever noticed how the hilly topography of Turtle Mountain is much the same as the Missouri Coteau, that band of hills that runs along the north and east side of the Missouri River? If so, it is because they are the same geological landform — largely dead-ice "moraine," or collapsed glacial topography. -
The Orion Nebula is the closest and most active area of star formation in the Milky Way. It is often compared to a stellar nursery or maternity ward. The dimensions of this thing are mind-boggling -- it is around 1,300 light years away and about 30-40 light years across. In terms of actual miles, a light year represents 6 trillion miles. -
One of the more popular citizen science efforts is the Great Backyard Bird Count, and it is coming up on February 17-20. It is an effort between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, and Birds Canada to help scientists better understand the bird population dynamics and movements. Last year, participants turned in over 350,000 checklists from 192 countries around the world. These observations are helping scientists identify population trends, range expansions or contractions, how birds are doing in urban or rural areas, and more. -
The birds have been busy at our bird feeders this winter! The bulk of birds do not consume the seeds at the feeder -- Chickadees and nuthatches come in, get one sunflower seed, and quickly fly away. Blue jays fill up with several seeds before flying away. These birds are flying off to a safer place to open and/or consume the food, or perhaps cache it. -
We don’t give it much thought these days, but grizzly bears historically ranged across most of North Dakota. -
For the casual observer it can often be difficult to distinguish quaking aspen from paper birch. That topic came up in a conversation recently. A friend mentioned that he cannot comfortably differentiate the two species. Both species are medium sized trees with light bark, but once a person learns what to look for, differentiating the two can become quite easy. -
On January 6, 1805, the men of the Lewis and Clark expedition trapped a fox that was apparently hanging around Fort Mandan. Russell Reid, in his book Lewis and Clark in North Dakota (1988) speculated it could have been a swift fox. Most North Dakotans are familiar with the red fox. But the swift fox, also known as kit fox or prairie fox? Not so much, if at all. -
With the leaves off the trees, winter can be a good time of the year to do some woodpecker watching. -
Snow is an interesting phenomenon: As a water droplet freezes, it forms a hexagonal lattice that resembles a stop sign, but of course with six sides instead of eight. The ice crystal may continue to grow if water vapor around it continues to condense and freeze on the surface. Eventually, it makes a snowflake.
