By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

For the past two nights, a barred owl has been calling from the big-leaf maple outside my bedroom window. I didn’t see him, I heard him, and I know his species because I checked his call against the audio files posted on the internet. The checking process made me realize how dependent I am on the web for information about what goes on in my garden from day to day.

Here are some of the web sites I use most.

Birds. Go to whatbird.com to see what they look like, how they sound, and more.

Earthquakes. I like the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network's page. It maps when and where recent earthquakes have occurred in Oregon and Washington, and just how intense they were.

Garden design, at its most fundamental level. Get sense of how mathematics describes plant growth patterns by looking at a site devoted to the Fibonacci sequence.

Insects. From butterflies to spiders, skippers to scarabs, you're likely to find whatever you want to know on What's That Bug?. If you decide to go the next step and get rid of the creature that's bothering you, check out the online version of the Pacific Northwest Insect Management Handbook.

Lightning. Did I hear thunder? Find out at StrikeStarUS.

Plant cultivation. For ornamentals and edibles, check out Sunset Magazine's new Plant Finder, whose content is derived from Sunset's Western Garden Book. It's growing and being updated all the time.

Plant diseases. Start with Oregon State University's Online Guide to Plant Disease Control.

Weather. Among many excellent weather-related sites, I start with Weather Underground for daily conditions, forecasts, and history. To get a satellite picture of current weather for the western United States, I go to NOAA. To look at complete historical weather data, I tap into Western Regional Climate Center summaries. And when somebody says "boy, it's sure been dry," I check for my self on the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Weeds. I used to buy an updated reference copy of the Pacific Northwest Weed Management Handbook every couple of years. Now I read it free online.