Dawn slips near and sounds of night meld with morning. Large things move about in the dewy spring grass. Despite myself, lying comfortably in bed, I think of strange, terrible monsters and the quiet house I slept alone in, not the Black-tailed Deer that are… Read More
Another year has passed and with it, more images and words have been published on Wingtrip. I’ve been busier and seen far more than I realized in the past year. This will be the third time I’ve done a photographic year in review. Reviewing is… Read More
We’d been standing there for nearly an hour and they hadn’t stopped. Any one moment framed at least 50, sometimes more, Sooty Shearwaters, winging past in what seemed an infinite supply. No number of encounters with this display make it less jaw dropping. Birds of… Read More
Unless you’ve encountered a truly large flock of migrating songbirds, it’s difficult to imagine the mass exodus of neotropical migrants vacillating between North and South. In reality we only get small views of their journeys, filtered by space and time, augmented by our imaginations and… Read More
They say what goes up, must come down. I pondered that notion both in terms of physics (which I have no business in pondering) and philosophically, as the wind tickled the surface of hidden lake and I eyed the frozen peaks. We all were quietly… Read More
Ultimately, as a species, we don’t belong in the high alpine. We visit them and occasional cultures embrace the peaks or wend above the treeline, but all our bones are easily dashed against the callous steeples. You climb for spiritual experiences and most descend unharmed.… Read More
As we walked down the trail, discussing life and the nature around us, I mentioned that I thought I was lucky to have parents who took me out as a kid. My mother didn’t seem to agree. Possibly she thought this because I am an… Read More
The major curse of being a birder is that you find yourself evaluating your day based on species counts and the relative obscurity of your observations. When days are pleasant and birds are numerous enough all is well in the universe. I can stroll… Read More
A quick note: for those of you haven’t donated yet, my big day was in support of Seattle Audubon. This money is for a general fund but continues programs like Birdwatch, the high school group I volunteer with and have blogged about. Please consider pledging… Read More
