Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

On this hot summer evening, I realize I haven't posted anything in nearly two weeks and figured that tonight would be a good a time as any to do so. I have started work at Drumlin once more and I'm looking forward to the start of camp as well. The past few weeks have been busy and full of fun and learning. Fun because of all the returning counselors I know from prior years and learning because of staff training. Other than that, I managed to head to Portcon Maine this year and snap some photos of local bird life in the vacant lot nearby. The jovial songs of House Finches ( Haemorhous mexicanus ) rang out over the parking lot. The pleading cries of a pair of Killdeer ( Charadrius vociferus ) drew us close to what we suspected was their nest site. An American Goldfinch ( Spinus tristis ) surveys cosplayers on a beautiful Sunday morning. A honeybee ( Apis spp. ) feeds on the ornamental mint ( Mentha spp. ) flowers planted outside the Double Tree. Also, I rec...

As most of you who read regularly can tell, I like to carve wood into folksy likenesses of birds. Considering 90% of my posts consist of birds, birding, bitching about birding, and so forth, this isn't much of a change of pace. However, I'm here to give a summary of how I came to be interested in wood carving and what I've created so far. It started when I was young and had bought one of my first books entitled Duck Hunting by Dick Sternberg and Jeff Simpson. While I've always had an on and off interest in waterfowling, I never really have had the opportunity to go and while I would like to at some point, I am more content to read up on the history and learn about regional decoy styles. The page that caught my eye was the decoy page and ever since, I've had a fascination with the bird in a wooden form. One of my earliest posts on here was about the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper ( Eurynorhynchus pygmeus ) and how I'd made some folksy looking deco...

Short post this week as I've been busy with job related things but I'll cover what I did the past few days. I visited my girlfriend over the weekend and helped her out with coastal waterbird monitoring in Westport. I got to see interesting Piping Plover ( Charadrius melodus ) behavior. The male's display flight is moth-like as he drifts over the beach, peeping like mad. I also got my first of the year Snowy Egret ( Egretta thula ), Least Terns ( Sternulla antirillum ), and Ruddy Turnstone ( Arenaria interpres ). I also got good footage of a horseshoe crab ( Limulus polyphemus ) puttering around under the water. It looked like a pancake with legs and a spiky tail, but the way they move kinda creeps me out.   Other than that, I've not done much else. I've been trying to work on some new wood working projects and figure out what's happening next in terms of employment and the future. I have a lot to think about, but hopefully it won't be too ...