Blue herons are a familiar sight on the banks of ditches and ponds. Maybe you have noticed that they have something distinctly contradictory about them: on the one hand their manners can be highly refined and gracious; on the other they are common and uncouth in how they go begging fishermen...
A cock is the boss over a hareem of hens. This proud stately creature was once a tough independent bird. How he came to be a domestic pet is a special story. Draw closer and listen to my tale: Like every other year all the people and animals from far and wide came for the […]
Butterflies are a symbol of freedom and colour. The atalanta is a dark brown butterfly with striking small white spots. Its wings are tipped with white spots and encircled by a necklace of red beads. Did you know that this delicate fragile flower-lover has noble origins? Draw closer and listen...
When I’m out rowing on a summer’s day I enjoy looking at the wild flowers growing in the banks. The clear blue fragile little flowers of the Water Forget-Me-Not move me in particular, because they remind me of a romantic and tragic story of a lovestruck knight: In the year 1248 an English...
Animals adapt to their circumstances. Some creatures, like the snail, take this to extremes. So as not to dry out and to protect themselves against their enemies, these special little creatures not only live 24/24 in their small house, they also carry it around with them on their back. How many...
Every gardener welcomes a song thrush into his garden, because it readily devours so many snails. If you watch carefully you will see how this bird cracks open the shells on any steady stone it can find closeby. That stone is his ‘anvil’. The song of the thrush has rich warm tones. He often...
Chaque jardinier apprécie la présence de la grive musicienne dans son jardin parce qu’elle dévore beaucoup d’escargots. Si vous la surveillez bien, vous verrez que cet oiseau utilise une pierre solide pour y ouvrir les escargots, tout comme un forgeron. La grive musicienne est dotée d’un timbre...
Jeder Gärtner freut sich wenn eine Singdrossel seinen Garten besucht, da sie viele Schnecken verspeist. Wenn man drauf achtet bemerkt man, dass der Vogel immer denselben Stein benutzt um die Schneckenhäuser drauf kaputt zu schlagen. Der Stein ist eine Art Amboss für ihn. Die Singdrossel hat...
Une petite fille se promena avec sa grand-mère dans la prairie. Sa grand-mère lui raconta souvent des histoires sur les miracles de la nature. Elles regardèrent ensemble un bouleau. Etonnée la fille demanda : ‘Pourquoi cet arbre a une si belle écorce blanche et pourquoi il a de si petites...
Ein Mädchen lief mit ihrer Großmutter durch das offene Land. Großmutter erzählte ihr oft Kurzgeschichten über die Wunder der Natur. Zusammen schauten sie sich eine Birke an. Erstaunt fragte das Mädchen: “Warum hat der Baum so eine schöne weiße Rinde und warum hat er solche kleine Blättchen?”...