WriterByNature.com

December 17, 2009 8:30 am

Any opportunity to hear Gary Lincoff speak is a worthwhile investment. You’re learning without even realize it while being entertained.

Know Your Mushrooms, the DVD gives you a chance to see this remarkable award-winning film.

I’m not a DVD collector, so I don’t fork over the cash unless the product is worth watching over and over.

May 10, 2009 2:53 pm

When I hear a Wood Thrush sing for the first time each season, it’s a moment of pure joy. This has been a remarkable year. I not only got to hear a few stanzas, I got more than a glimpse.  I’d love to have gotten closer, but I’ll take what I can get:

This was on a hike in the woods.

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May 1, 2009 9:16 pm

It’s very odd to be wandering through an urban park, like New York’s Central Park and see more wildlife in a few minutes than I typically see on my usual Hudson Valley hikes.

I first thought this was a cat stalking the migrating birds, but a closer look revealed a raccoon on the way home from a night’s foraging:

As I worked on identifying migrating warblers, I was totally surprised to find that not only squirrels, but cardinals, robins, and even house sparrows would approach anyone with binoculars, expecting seeds.

You just don’t see that in a typical wilderness situation. (more…)

January 5, 2009 8:04 am

This writer really can’t add any words to enhance the value of this image.

September 10, 2008 9:17 am

Maybe this muddy track

belongs to this bear.

I’d stepped less than 100 feet off the trail for a short break. At first I thought the noisy animal was an unleashed dog. I’m learning to have my camera ready.  I had just enough time to get this one photo and about 20 seconds of moving pictures.

I’m sure this strolling bear was aware of my presence, but thought I was on the trail.

One look at me, and the bear ran as soon as I snapped the photo. Good bear. Wise bear. A bear that fears people has a much better chance of survival.

All I can think of is how blessed I am to witness a moment like this.

August 25, 2008 6:29 pm

Thanks to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s nestcam project, I’ve been able to watch time-lapse images of this cardinal on her clutch of three eggs.

The camera is within 20 miles of where I live. I’m surprised to see the cardinals laying eggs so late in the season. According to the accompanying discussion, the baby cardinals will fledge by October.

Sometimes I love the Internet. There’s no way I could get this close to a nest without disturbing the cardinal.

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April 28, 2008 5:58 pm

If the Canada goose had not jumped off her nest, I might have stepped on her. I love finding nests, but not when I create a disturbance.

I was delighted to discover Cornell’s Nestcam, which lets me watch the activities of several species of birds, revealing images I might not otherwise get a chance to see.

April 21, 2008 5:45 am

I was not the one to find the first morel of the year. Luckily, I’m very fond of my friend Zaac, who has a wonderful ability to spot an emerging morel in leaves.

I was surprised to see how much time this garter snake spent checking me out:

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November 21, 2007 5:45 am

If you look carefully at the center of the video you can see the squirrel who climbed a honey locust tree to enjoy a black walnut. It took just under four minutes to clean the hull, penetrate the shell and enjoy the walnut. I wish I could work that fast.

The original footage is gorgeous, but to upload this image, I had to compress my avi file. Ah, technology.

November 11, 2007 7:51 pm

It’s odd to see maple trees with leaves just beginning to turn color in mid November. That grey blur is a squirrel enjoying a black walnut.

It has been unusually warm for several months, so the snow covered leaves are both beautiful and disturbing.When I was growing up, farmers used to say that the day of the month when the first snow falls is a predictor of the number of blizzards to expect. Like any folk wisdom, some years it worked out that way.

Ten blizzards would add up to a lot of snow, but if it relieved the drought, provided great skiing and ensured a bumper crop of morels, I would welcome a real winter.