Hellbender Press

Assuming stephen is required, and lyn is required, and bales is required, the following results were found.

(News alert: Katy did it!) Seventeen-year cicadas were just an opening act. Now the woods are rolling with the rhythm of our annual insects.

here. It’s one of the main insects that provides a permanent soundtrack to your summer life in the Knoxville area. Stephen Lyn Bales/Hellbender Press What’s that buzz? We thought Brood X was over. In case you haven’t noticed: It’s hot! The “dog days of...
Still no glimpses of the ghost bird

The red-cockaded woodpecker is vanishingly rare, but its true status in the wild is not known. Courtesy Stephen Lyn Bales ‘Lord God Bird’ of lore, a sad reminder of what we have lost We stood agape. Before us, on a white countertop as big as a ping...
Monarch butterflies, an ephemeral but regular glimpse of beauty, are fluttering toward extinction

A monarch butterfly, recently declared endangered despite decades of conservation, is seen atop a coneflower. Stephen Lyn Bales Dramatic monarch declines mean the bell tolls for we KNOXVILLE — Monarch butterflies are ephemeral by nature. The orange and...
Lead is flying as bald eagles face ambush on road to full recovery

This grounded bald eagle at a wildlife refuge in Missouri eventually succumbed to lead poisoning. Lead from bullets and shot are the latest threat to bald eagles, the recovery of which is an American conservation success story. Betty Thompson Once...
Bald eagles fly with the Tennessee angels who helped save them from extinction. We must keep them on the wing.

American Eagle Foundation founder Al Cecere releases a rehabilitated bald eagle at Ijams Nature Center on Aug. 12, 2016. The foundation named her Summit in honor of UT Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summit. Photo by Chuck Cooper. Is the bald eagle’s...
Into the Royal Blue: Public and private lands crucial for cerulean warbler preservation

Ephemeral birds of lasting beauty dependent on Tennessee forest Think azure. A male cerulean warbler is sky blue. And to see one, you have to climb to the tops of certain Appalachian ridges and look toward the wild blue. To see one is to see a bit of...
Brood X cicadas to emerge this spring for last gestures of beauty, reproduction and death

After 17-year wait, millions of cicadas are coming “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at the close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light." — Dylan Thomas Imagine living 99.99 percent of your life...
The sounds of silence: 17-year cicadas fade away as offspring prepare for 2038 performance

Dead cicadas are seen on concrete in Knoxville at Holston River Park. Their brief sonic reign has come to an end. Photo courtesy of Lyn Bales The cicada soundtrack of spring and early summer has come to a quiet end “Turn out the lights, the party’s...
Brood X is not a bust. Wait for it...

Eva Millwood holds Brood X cicadas on her property in South Knoxville in this submitted photo. We will see a groundswell of East Tennessee 17-year cicadas as the heat comes on. We have been hearing about it for weeks, online and on TV and in print....
Prepare for a rare period of cicada pandemonium

entire 13-year or 17-year lives underground seeking nourishment in roots and slowing growing before time to emerge. Stephen Lyn Bales/Hellbender Press Billions upon billions of cicadas will emerge this spring and summer during a rare convergence of...
Requiem for the Lord God Bird

Movie footage from Louisiana, 1935 by Arthur Allen. Courtesy of Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The library also has ivory-billed woodpecker calls recorded by Allen. The ivory-billed woodpecker is officially extinct, and it strikes...
(Part 2) Flight to safety: Life finds a way like a great blue heron

A great blue heron is seen above a nest in the Tennessee River Valley. Herons moved northward to the valley from tiny remaining Florida rookeries after the birds were annihilated in the early 20th century for hat decorations. Betty Thompson After their...
Mad about saffron: Cardinals of color fly through Appalachian winter

A rare yellow cardinal is seen at a residence in Roane County this winter. Catherine Reddick As yellow cardinals proliferate, are we watching evolution unfold in real time? HARRIMAN — During the pandemic, when isolating at home became a necessity,...
How we saved the birds that carry the sky on their backs

One man’s initial efforts led to the bluebird’s recovery Eastern bluebirds have long been cherished. Henry David Thoreau was this country’s first widely regarded and, perhaps, foremost nature writer. He rigorously kept a journal, recording the...
Please don’t poison the humble carpenter bees

A male carpenter bee takes a break from building its nest to get nourishing nectar from the base of a penstemon. Juian Cowles/U.S. Forest Service Please don’t wage chemical warfare on these busy bees KNOXVILLE — Old George Harvey lived two houses...
Foreign freshwater jellyfish have been swimming among us since the 1930s

Freshwater jellyfish: Here one year, gone the next. KNOXVILLE — Paddling along the still water of Mead’s Quarry Lake you notice the air bubbles created by your oars. They are all around your canoe near the surface. It’s a hot early September afternoon...
(Part 1) Flight to safety: Herons barely survived a bloody fashion trend

Great blue herons and other heron species were reduced to a handful of rookeries after numbers plummeted because of high demand for their plumage. Courtesy Betty Thompson Herons were almost a victim of their own beauty plume. noun. a long, soft...
Ijams gets down to Earth with our winged friends

Certified master bander Mark Armstrong tends gently to a tufted titmouse shortly before turning his attention to a hummingbird. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press Ijams Nature Center offers a celebration of winged creatures that can bring us all to new...
Hellbender Press nets two top awards from Society of Professional Journalists

KNOXVILLE — Hellbender Press took home two awards from the 2021 Golden Press Card contest sponsored by the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists. Hellbender Press was recognized with two first-place awards for East Tennessee digital...
Butterfly release scratched at UT Arboretum festival after pushback on ecological wisdom

Come join the fun at the annual UT Arboretum Society Butterfly Festival from 10 a.m to 1 p.m on September 9 at the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center and Arboretum. The event will include educational activities about protecting these...
Roll up your sleeves and clean our Tennessee River waterways on April 15

KNOXVILLE — Volunteer registration is open for the 34th Ijams River Rescue on Saturday, April 15, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A severe weather date is set for Saturday, April 22. Ijams Nature Center’s annual event removes tons of trash and tires from sites...
Fifty is nifty at Ijams Nature Center

Homecoming celebrates a story that ‘weaves across generations’ Cindy Hassil is Ijams Nature Center development director. KNOXVILLE — Ijams Nature Center will celebrate 50 years of being a nonprofit organization dedicated to nature, education, and...
Calling all Vols: Help clean up Helene’s mess

Debris hangs from trees on the banks of the French Broad River near the main building of Hot Springs Resort and Spa. The river gauge at Hot Springs was offline during the main rain events immediately preceding the Sept. 27, 2024 floods but registered a...
We made a mess of this town: Ijams River Rescue set for March 21

a free T-shirt featuring a frog that is passionate about clean water. It was designed by Hellbender Press contributor Stephen Lyn Bales.
Flutter over for educational fun at the annual UT Arboretum Butterfly Festival

OAK RIDGE — More than 2,500 people are expected to attend the ninth annual Butterfly Festival hosted by the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society and the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center. Gates will open at 9:30 a.m. Saturday,...

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