Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

What a strange year it's been. Again. As I sit at home with my parents in Massachusetts where I started off 2015, I'm doing what all people do at this time of year; looking back at the accomplishments, failures, regrets, ideas, and events that defined the year. Normally, I reserve this space for "Bird of the Year" and gloat about how my journey to getting 200 species of birds on my life list has been the triumph of my year. Instead, it was finding full time work and graduating from a stay-at-parent's-home adult to a fully fledged living my own life adult. It's been a strange journey and while I've been happy with how I've been doing, I have also been looking forward at what's next. 2016 obviously. But that's just another year. Another set of 366 days (it's a leap year, don't cha know?) to fill up with happiness, anxiety, rage, tears, sweat, thought, and experience. This year, I've decided to give a rundown of the main events for...

So this past week, I've traveled to a new home once again and got settled in. I'm happy to report that the people and place I'll be working at for the next few months are lovely, quaint, and filled with fun and adventures to be had. We start with our first school on Monday and I'm so ready to start teaching again. Naturally, with my first "well-earned" weekend, I set out to find some life birds. While traveling along the now familiar Interstate 76, I had decided the night before to visit Middle Creek WMA in Stevens because of the huge numbers of wintering waterfowl that could be found there. While driving, I wondered how I would look for the Tundra Swans ( Cygnus columbianus ) that had been reported there. It didn't take me long to find them. As I entered the parking lot, I munched on a granola bar and thought about my game plan. As usual, I'd come up with nothing and decided that randomly ambling about until I either got bored or frustrated was goin...

This weekend was one of the most successful and amazing birding experiences I've had in ages. I saw seven life birds, spend an inspiring and adoring, yet inappropriately limited amount of time with my love (it'll be longer in July, I promise!), and met one of America's best birders, Kenn Kaufman. The warblers alone were amazing, but what touched me the most was the variety of birders present. Young and old, big and small. Beginners with Peterson's and Sibley Guides and enthusiasts with enormous telephoto lenses! Huge crowds gathered to see feathered migratory miracles like Blackburnian ( Setophaga fusca ), Wilson's ( Cardellina pusilla ), and Chestnut-sided Warblers ( S. pensylvanica ) (all life birds for me by the way) and there was an overall appreciation of the wonders of bird life in the spring time. What a marvelous weekend indeed and I only hope that I can get back there as fast as possible to experience it all again.  Rose-breasted Grosbeak ( Pheucticus lu...