Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

One of many live oaks on Bogue Banks. Personal Photo. When you think of an oak, you might envision a mighty tree standing proudly among its fellow trees, its branches brimming with acorns. Squirrels and jays hop betwixt its limbs in a fervent collection spree to supply themselves with food for the harsh winter ahead. When I think of an oak, I'm used to the oaks of New England especially the towering red oaks that lined a back corner of the yard at my parent's old house in Sudbury, Massachusetts. Over the years that we lived there, we were witnesses to many of nature's little moments that sometimes play out at the right moment. One winter, those trees hid a barred owl that gazed at my dad and I with its deep brown eyes. After my parents had the smelly chestnuts removed one spring morning; later that fall, squirrels and chickens alike scampered over their leaves looking for acorns and other fallen treasures. While the chickens were an addition to the oaks domain, the s...

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...

After having an amazing weekend at Arisia 2015 in Boston where spending time with good friends and seeing amazing cosplay was the name of the game. One day after the end of the convention though, I decided to get out and see if I could do some woodland birding close to home. After all, even a nerd needs to get out and see the sunshine once in a while. I had some setbacks before getting out the door though. I had left my winter jacket at the hotel (but I did get to borrow my dad's warm ski jacket) and a snafu at the bank nearly put a damper on the day, but when I got out there, it seemed perfect. I exited the car and looked out over the stubble and grass of the community gardens and saw no real signs of life. I snapped some photos as I went and noticed a shadow overhead. I looked up to find one, no! Two! Two Red-tailed Hawks ( Buteo jamaicensis ) soaring in the winter sunshine overhead. These two beautiful adults treated me to a ten minute display of expert avian flight co...

It will be two more weeks until my time in Pennsylvania ends, but before that arrives, I've been actively trying to add more species to my year list in an attempt to beat my year birding record from last year (223 spp.) With the addition of two American Coots ( Fulica americana ) this afternoon during a visit to Peace Valley Park in Doylestown, I now have 211 species on the list thus far. While I'm confident I can beat my record from last year, the nail biting finish is fast approaching and I can only hope that the sea ducks, LBJs, and auks I need, manifest themselves before December ends. Still it's been an amazing year and I've been clicking away whenever I get the chance (both in terms of photography and blogging). I decided to walk around Lake Galena (the main attraction in Peace Valley Park) today for two reasons. This past week I've been using a pedometer app to track how far I walk during the day at work and for the most part, I get about 10,000 steps a day...