Nature Note #198: A Few Months On

Writing has always been a way for me to express what I see in the natural world and to focus things that many don't take the time to appreciate in their busy lives. The past couple of months have piled up without so much as a wink of information as to why I stopped writing. I'm not going to go into depth here, but I don't think that just saying "life happened" is a justified answer either.

Last night, I read a blog post by author and serial wanderer, Ken Ilgunas as he lamented not updating his blog and how his uncertainty made him feel inadequate about where his future lay. This experience spoke to me deeply as does all his writing. On the drive down to North Carolina, I listened to his first book, Walden on Wheels about his two and half year journey to become debt free after college during which he traveled across the country, working odd jobs and eventually living in a van for several semesters while in graduate school at Duke.

The past seven months have contained some of the most important lessons of my life and have paved the way to where I am for the moment. I'm about to embark on a year long stay on North Carolina's Crystal Coast where I'll be documenting my wanderings through the maritime forests, salt marshes, and tidal zones of Bogue Banks and beyond. Just yesterday, I explored my first section of the Crystal Coast by visiting an eBird hotspot at Bogue Inlet in Emerald Isle and had such a wonderful experience seeing so many shorebird species in one place. I'll write about that adventure in the next post. For now, here's a brief synopsis of the past few months.

Cumulus hover over the Point near Bogue Inlet, Emerald Isle, NC. Photo by me.

In February, I left Massachusetts to work in North Carolina for the spring season. After having departed from New York only a month earlier, I felt like I didn't have time to process the move and felt especially nervous about my ability to adapt to a new environment. This felt surprising to me as one of the necessary skills of a professional naturalist is the ability to adapt quickly and react with flexibility to new situations. Perhaps I had been out of the loop for so long that I felt like I wouldn't be able to perform in my chosen field. I'm glad to say that I was completely wrong. 

The land of the longleaf pine was a wake up call for me and presented a door through which I saw a new range of possibilities. I met wonderful people with the same passion for the natural world that I have and truly felt at home for the first time in years. I was also able fill up my birding year list with southeastern natives and wintering migrants from a measly 58 in February to a gratifying 131 by the end of May. While I didn't get to see an alligator like I'd hoped, I did get the chance to regularly see sunning anoles, startle a shy rough green snake, and hear the beeping chorus of green tree frogs as I drifted off to sleep at night. The season flew by and although I was present in every moment, May came faster than I expected. As I cast my net wide looking for work across the country, I managed to secure a summer job in Albion, ME and eventually a year long position on the Crystal Coast. In the fall, I would be back in North Carolina once more and I couldn't have been happier with that prospect.

After spending time near my alma mater for the summer, I came to realize that if I wanted to, I could truly go for what I wanted in life. I was working in my field with the potential to end up practically anywhere. Despite this I hadn't felt happy for the first few weeks. I felt like I was trying to hold up others expectations of where I was supposed to be in life, of who I was supposed to be. Like a ship adrift, negative thoughts swirled about how I wasn't getting anywhere fast, despite having the clearest path ahead of me in years. I didn't know what to do and so I reached out to good friends with deep roots. They helped me to get back on course and find my way. Finally, I summoned the courage to go for my dream of being free, of meeting new people, and of finding adventure for myself. I am still in the process of transforming myself into the person I want to be. Part of that will be to keep up with this blog, to record my progress through the year, and to process how I'm feeling, doing, and being.

I'm here to write about what I hear, see, and feel. Even though I won't feel like I have something to contribute every week, I will write about what comes to mind. The birding won't change as I'm still as obsessed as ever. As of this writing, I'm within spitting distance of 200 species for the year and currently stand at 181. I'm eager to find new trekking grounds to photograph and write about what's there. I want to see what the Outer Banks have to offer year round and see how a top vacation destination functions when the tourists leave for home. Mostly, I want to learn more about myself and where I find peace, adventure, and every emotion in between. I want to feel real again. I felt it yesterday on the beach with the birds, who knows where I will find it today and tomorrow. I hope you'll be able to join me.

See you soon.

Caspian and royal terns take flight near Bogue Inlet in Emerald Isle, NC. Photo by me.

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson