If for some reason you thought that I wouldn’t say anything about the current state of the world here on Wingtrip, I wouldn’t blame you. The reason I wouldn’t blame you is that I have had countless opportunities to talk about systemic and overt racism… Read More
All posts filed under “Birding”
A Global Big Day; A Backyard Bioblitz; A Day of Lunacy
Last weekend I decided to do something that sounds odd. We’ve all had to get creative about what we do during a pandemic, both in desperate measures and finding trivial pursuits. The self-prescribed activity I will describe below definitely falls under the more trivial side… Read More
The Last Days of Winter
Winter is a season we love and hate. When you step outside and are immediately cold and wet, you curse it, and the wind it rode in on. Yet an afternoon crowded with sombre clouds dropping fluffy snow, a night of sparkling hoarfrost casting rainbows… Read More
Navigating the Nisqually
I’ve always appreciated the language we use to describe rivers. They bend and stretch. They have a reach and run. They carry things. Really, they’re alive. Not too long ago it occurred to me I’d never seen a wild, major river. What a thought. Thinking… Read More
Wandering at Discovery
Discovery Park is a place I visit when I want a slice of nature and solitude but don’t have time nor energy to get to higher up or farther out. At any time of year I can go birding, get some exercise, and maybe get… Read More
Barred Owls on the Farm (and a Brief Discussion of Non-native Species)
They were screaming from the woods. Over and over the piercing, wheezy complaints were just audible from the garden. I noticed them first and told everyone else to listen. Of course listening isn’t always hearing. Soon everyone was tuned in, but I scrambled over the… Read More
A Shaw Island Big Day (or How Birders Support Conservation)
In the world of birding, most are familiar with big days. These all out 24 hour birding sprees often co-opted into a way to raise funds, similar to a jog-a-thon. Bird-a-thons, as they are so called, could be viewed as the bread and butter fundraisers… Read More
Five Years with a DSLR
Five years ago, almost to the day, I finally broke down to the idea of buying a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera. A DSLR would give me better images, would get me closer to birds, and would ultimately give me more control, going back to… Read More
Seasonal Notes from the San Juans: September (and October)
9/8 – Though it’s still warm, there are less insects around, which I’ll miss. I hardly mention them in these journals, because I know so little about them; possibly I don’t want to admit my ignorance even to myself. Really I have little to say… Read More
Seasonal Notes from the San Juans: August
Like many writers, I keep a (sometimes) daily journal about my life and the natural history events, largely bird related, that I experience. The following blog posts, organized by month are excerpts from my summer living and working the San Juan Islands of Washington State.… Read More