Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

Sycamore in the Stony Brook I feel like every once in a while you can appreciate nature in small doses. Nature has become big and that's not just because it's marketing team got better (we can thank National Geographic for that certainly). People wanting to "experience" the great outdoors, buying organic food, life listing rare and unusual species, hunting locavores (as in locavores hunting for wild food, not Ted Nugent's third favorite thing to shoot from a helicopter), and many other grandiose and specific things. Taking a sip While it certainly feels amazing knowing just how maple sap rises due to temperature fluctuations or why amphibians can breathe through their skin, taking time to appreciate a moment of pure presence can impress upon someone all the more. Take for example Monarch butterflies ( Danaus plexippus ). You see them gliding along passageways of tarmac and concrete, flapping furiously along roadsides looking to refuel not at Micky D...

Another quiet Monday and with it raining and cold, I decided to take some pictures of the birds congregating outside on our tube feeder. I counted 10+ Dark-eyed Juncos ( Junco hyemalis ), a couple of Black-capped Chickadees ( Poecile atricapillus ), 4-5 Mourning Doves ( Zenaida macruora ), 2 American Goldfinch ( Spinus tristis ), a Song Sparrow ( Melospiza melodia ) and a Tufted Titmouse ( Baeolophus bicolor ). See if you can spot some in these pictures. Extra points if you can find the Gray Squirrel ( Sciurus carolinensis ) as well. A happy group of restauranteers Everyone's having a flap! Some Juncos fluttering in to investigate the offerings Just the center of attention. Again. Now the doves get in on the act There certainly were a lot of doves today. If you look carefully, you can see the goldfinch on the feeder above Mourning Doves are some of my favorites Juncos at attention Om nom nom... Snowbird Finishing up