Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

For thousands of years, human beings have been inspired and encouraged to create artwork that celebrates the diversity of the natural world. From early cave paintings of big game animals like mammoths and bison to the works of famous painters like John James Audubon and Louis Agassiz Fuertes, people have found countless ways to appreciate wildlife. My inspiration comes from the rustic wood carvings of ducks, geese, and other birds made by market hunters in the 1800s. The simplicity of their design combined with their rustic paint jobs and regional differences make them an interesting medium to look at. I've worked on woodcarvings of birds on and off for several years now and wanted to share some of my creations as well as the creative process behind them as well. Drawing from the decoys of yore, some of my first creations mirror the patterns of waterfowl and shorebird decoys represented along the Eastern shores of the United States. Carving decoys for hunting and shooting, eve...

As the final month of the year draws closer, I am once again rushing to complete something that I resolved to do earlier this year. While I have held fast to completing some of my new years resolutions such as being more creative (with painting rocks and shells swiftly becoming my new favorite thing to do), learning about wild edibles, and completing my year birding goal of beating last year's goal. Over the past four years, my year birding totals have varied wildly, but as of 2012 I had seen 228 species, whereas last year I got 225. That means that as of today, I have 215 species on this year's list. As of 1:44pm this afternoon, I listed a King Eider ( Someteria spectabilis ) that had been spotted between the point at Weymouth's Webb State Park and the metal walkway leading up to Grape Island. It was an easy list and one that I had had on my most wanted birds list. The most wanted list features 20 (now 17 with the acquisition of the King, as well as Long-tailed Duck ( Cl...

 The Canvasback ( Aythya valisineria ) has been showing up in Massachusetts over the past few months. They have mainly shown up in traditional spots such as Fresh Pond and Jamaica Pond, but also in others like Plum Island, Acushnet, and Pope John Paul II Park. But even as I search those areas, I always seem to be coming up with nothing. It seems like they either aren't there or I miss them by a few days. The same seemed to be happening when I couldn't find Lincoln's Sparrow ( Melospiza lincolnii ) and Rusty Blackbird ( Euphagus carolinus ) but eventually I did come across them. In the mean time, I'm happy to report that I got to see the King Eider ( Someteria spectabilis ) up near Salt Island off of Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester. While it was a distant speck amongst the Common Eiders ( S. mollisima ) it was associating with. I could barely tell what it was, but the extra black on the back separated this adult male from the more piebald males. Had it been a female ...