Category: Trip report
-
Warbler Watching
The real jewel of my disease-ridden woodlot is the prothonotary warbler … The flash of his gold-and-blue plumage amid the dank decay of the June woods is in itself proof that dead trees are transmuted into living animals, and vice versa. ~Aldo Leopold This final post on our recent swamp trip is about one of… Read more…
Written by
-
Bird Spot
Simply wait, be quiet, still. The world will freely offer itself to you. ~Franz Kafka Yesterday’s post mentioned the excellent birding we experienced on our recent paddle trip on the Roanoke River. When we arrived at our second camping platform, Three Sisters, the late day light was gorgeous and the sky was filled with all… Read more…
Written by
-
Social Distancing – Swamp Style
Yes, though you may think me perverse, if it were proposed to me to dwell in the neighborhood of the most beautiful garden that ever human art contrived, or else of a Dismal Swamp, I should certainly decide for the swamp. ~Henry David Thoreau I will admit to feeling a little guilty about this, but… Read more…
Written by
-
Savanna Sights
To think that plants ate insects would go against the order of nature… ~Carl Linnaeus After a crazy busy spring field trip season at work, I am finally getting around to catching up on a couple of posts. Like last year, toward the end of April I collaborated with Melissa and the NC Museum of… Read more…
Written by
-
Getting Back To It
It’s always good to get back to the places you love… Life has been way too busy these past many weeks and my blog entries have suffered, but I finally have a break this morning while I wait on some overdue car maintenance. With the busyness has been less time exploring outside, but this weekend… Read more…
Written by
-
Swamp Break
Each mile on a river will take you further from home than a hundred miles on a road. ~Bob Marshall It has been a hectic spring at work so we decided to take a break last week and do something we both love to do – paddle in a swamp. We both blocked off 3… Read more…
Written by
-
Wild Places
The world and the universe is an extremely beautiful place, and the more we understand about it, the more beautiful does it appear. ~Richard Dawkins Memories of Yellowstone are still lingering in my head…the scenery, the snow, the quiet, and the incredible wildlife. So, I did what I needed to do for my spirit last… Read more…
Written by
-
Endings
For this final post on our recent winter trip to Yellowstone, I share a poem that Melissa wrote on a previous trip and read to our group while snowshoeing one day. It seems like an appropriate ending for this incredible journey. Yellowstone (a poem by Melissa Dowland) I want so much To connect ever… Read more…
Written by
-
Hayden Valley Highlight
At this season Nature makes the most of every throb of life that can withstand her severity. How heartily she endorses this fox! ~John Burroughs, “The Snow-Walkers”, 1866 Hayden Valley is one of my favorite spots in winter, with its gently rolling hills covered in deep, smooth snow, interrupted only by an isolated tree here… Read more…
Written by
-
Sharing The Place We Love
Through the weeks of deep snow we walked above the ground on fallen sky… ~Wendell Berry After a few days of hanging out with our friends in Gardiner and exploring the park on our own, we drove to Bozeman to pick up a group of friends from NC that would be joining us on our… Read more…
Written by
Roads End Naturalist 