Archive - Flutter By Meadows

FIELD NOTE 004 | It Spent the Winter in the Rain Garden

What I found in late June had been wintering under the leaves and munching on violets at night in the early spring garden. You won't believe what it…

19 mins ago • Samantha @ Flutter By Meadows

Episode 32 | The Hidden Lessons of Forest Floors

A pre-dawn walk through an old forest becomes a lesson in growth, persistence, and the things that take years to build. Episode 32 of The Flutter By…

Jun 17 • Samantha @ Flutter By Meadows

7:52

The Phantom Bird

Move over spark bird and nemesis bird. Something else just flew into town. Or not?

Jun 14 • Samantha @ Flutter By Meadows

A Coneflower Conundrum, A Growing Mystery

How's A Shopping Mall Echinacea Blooming Faster Than MINE?

Jun 12 • Samantha @ Flutter By Meadows

Scents and Sensibility

Sometimes the best thing we can do is pause. A look at Jupiter and Venus, blooming butterfly weed, shifting seasons, and why Episode 32 can wait.

Jun 10 • Samantha @ Flutter By Meadows

Site Fidelity, Banding, and the Data That Will Blow Ya Mind

A band in the grass. A pile of bones. One cold January morning led me from backyard birder to banding volunteer—and into the science of site fidelity.

Jun 8 • Samantha @ Flutter By Meadows

Episode 31 | It Was Right There, Waiting For Me

When a hike in the woods takes a slightly wrong turn, there's a quiet lesson I didn't know I was about to learn.

Jun 3 • Samantha @ Flutter By Meadows

5:25

That Tree Isn't Dead

Seeing the Garden as A Place for Discovery over Design

Jun 2 • Samantha @ Flutter By Meadows

May 2026

What Found Me When I Was Looking In All the Wrong Places (again...)

Sometimes the things we're looking for arrive on their own schedule. A photo essay from the Ted Stiles Preserve about missed expectations, unexpected…

May 31 • Samantha @ Flutter By Meadows

Episode 30 | Looking in All the Wrong Places

A threatened shorebird, a gray afternoon at Sandy Hook, and the kind of encounter you don't go looking for. Episode 30 of The Flutter By Effect podcast.

May 27 • Samantha @ Flutter By Meadows

9:38

Drought or Deluge? Nine Years with a Rain Garden

Rain gardens handle drought and deluge. Do they stop working when it stops raining? What this garden teaches about resilience and going with the flow.

May 25 • Samantha @ Flutter By Meadows

FIELD NOTE 003 | Lost and Found in the Native Plant Garden

Why a native plant disappearing from your garden isn't always a loss — and what a vole, some bee balm, and a surprise sprout are trying to tell me.

May 21 • Samantha @ Flutter By Meadows