People+Plants+Wildlife

  When naturalist Neal Maine looks at a tree—or a single leaf, as in the photo above—he doesn’t just see the tree, or the shrub. He sees a gigantic solar panel. Check it out: Photosynthesis, the encyclopedia reminds us, is

  Elk have been on the Oregon Coast a long, long, long, long time. Scientists believe elk migrated from Asia to North America over Beringia—better known as the Bering Land Bridge—some 120,000 years ago. The animals would have been a

Nature photography requires patience and perseverance. Neal Maine knew that when, one recent day, he headed out to Circle Creek Conservation Center in search of wildlife to capture on camera. With a scalpel, he scraped a scrap of lichen clinging

There’s a spot along Klootchy Creek east of Seaside where Gearhart naturalist Neal Maine has been dropping in to observe water striders on the calm pools at the water’s edge. The tree canopy here is sparse, letting through enough light

The Sibley Guide to Birds says the American white pelican is a rare visitor to the Oregon Coast. Photographer and naturalist Neal Maine has been seeing these large birds—twice the size of brown pelicans—along the lower Columbia River for years.