I stare across at the mountains often; seeing adventure, seeing wilderness, seeing an escape from traffic. The jagged horizon of the high places, seen from the East, looks pasted up, a green screen across the water. Crossing the inland see between us, the surreal aspect… Read More
All posts tagged “Brendan McGarry”
Weekend Reading | April 2016 Edition
Happy Earth Week! I hope you found a moment this week to think about the planet we are fortunate enough to inhabit. Here’s some reading for you this weekend! While I am most passionate about the more visible array of flora and fauna, I find… 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
A River Out of Exile
From where we stood, the wide valley opened into the nothingness of low slung clouds. If brought here blindfolded, aside from a couple hints, I would’ve not known the location, other than a river valley in the Pacific Northwest. The give away was the river… 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
How to Take Macro Photos on Budget
Last year, feeling in a bit of a rut photographic rut, I decided to act on a DIY project I’d been contemplating. In my internet perusals of nature photography I’ve always been impressed by macro photography of insects and plants and I found a photographer… Read More
A Natural History Lexicon | Speculum
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! Speculum Noun \ˈspəkyələm\ -A… 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









