Last week I laid out a plan to pontificate on Pacific Northwest trees, a storied appreciation of the most prominent of plants. I offered up experiences with the red alder, those ever-cycling nutrient bombs, the first wave. What comes after? Well, by design or chance… Read More
All posts filed under “San Juan Islands”
A Spring Paddle
From where I sat, I could feel the water swaying beneath me. A light breeze pricked at my flushed face. We sat, waiting for them in hushed anticipation, punctuated by an exhale of four wispy puffs of breath, and a matching explicative from someone in… Read More
A 2015 Photographic Year in Review
As an annual tradition, I go back through the previous year’s photos and revisit the experiences past, contemplate the now, and plan for the future. Sometimes I do it right away, just as the dust has settled in the first week of January. Sometimes I… Read More
Debriefing with Dolphins
I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye, to mull over a summer past, until I saw it from the air. A great dark mass bulging from the water, narrated by the strong white noise of a purring engine and spinning propeller. I gesticulated wildly at… Read More
A Natural History Lexicon | Mantle
Welcome to Wingtrip’s Natural History Lexicon, a regular rundown of natural history terms, however varied and at random. To find future and past posts on this subject, simply search “natural history lexicon” or find it in the tags. Thanks for reading! Mantle Noun /ˈman(t)l/ –… 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
Reservations and Jumpstarts
I didn’t realize I was feeling stressed till I walked around the farm. Out there were the waves of green I’d forgotten about. Aimlessly I dawdled between this plant or that. Admiring the life I’d helped my friends stick in the ground, meditating on what… Read More
Photographing Just the Bees, Not the Birds
Winter in the Northwest was deflated this year. Spring seems to have come early, because we never really had those agonizing monotonous days of gray skies with just enough rain to keep you indoors, but not enough to feel like you should. I still managed… Read More
A Natural History Lexicon | Samara
Welcome to Wingtrip’s Natural History Lexicon, a regular rundown of natural history terms, however varied and at random. To find future and past posts on this subject, simply search “natural history lexicon” or find it in the tags. Thanks for reading! Samara Noun \ˈsamərə\ -A winged nut or achene containing one seed,… 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