A 12/31/11 Edit: HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! Wishing you a beautiful start to 2012! Every year, for five years now, Jim Goldstein at the JMG-Galleries Blog invites photographers to participate in his “Best Photos” project. Bloggers post about their top five or ten images from that year, then send the link to Jim who compiles…
Archives for 2011
Giving Birds a Fair Distance
Off-season, I regularly walk the trail loops at Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle. It’s one of the longer spurs of waterfront access in a city. So, when I’m feeling homesick for San Francisco Bay and the miles of open trails, I find solace at the Arboretum. In the summer, the human and boat traffic can…
Bird Noir
There are wildlife photographers who apologize for any urban elements — like street lamps — in their bird images. I embrace those shots, for three reasons: I admire the rugged survivalists that are urban birds and wildlife. What we throw at them in the way of obstacles, pollution, windows, automobiles, poisons, traps, wires and electricity,…
You Thinking What I’m Thinking?
I saw a huge group of crows scrounging for grubs and snacks in a vacant field near the Seattle waterfront. Since it was raining when I left home, I packed nothing but my rain gear and a point-and-shoot … just in case. I guess I’m hard-headed because I should have learned by now that Seattle…
Fly On Sweet Angel
Angel came down from heaven yesterday
She stayed with me just long enough to rescue me
And she told me a story yesterday,
About the sweet love between the moon and the deep blue sea;
Home is Where the Cell Tower Is
Sequestered indoors for the rain, I’ve been sorting through my photo archives, hoping to cull my duds, once and for all. I came upon my gallery of Osprey shots … taken this summer as I checked in occasionally with a local nesting couple. These two never did not appear to produce any young, but there…
I’m Not a Birder … and I Also Love Canada Geese
Here’s the ‘condensed’ chronology of how I became that someone who is not a birder: Age 0 to 4: My first (and only) nanny was a German Shepherd. Also, age 0 to 4, born into a family of animal lovers and mushroom foragers. Age 5 to 13: Living as an expat in Europe, left to…
The Turkeys I’ve [Almost] Known
This post is a tribute to the wild turkeys who walk among us. Every year, Hugh and I Adopt a Turkey from Farm Sanctuary. And every year, I try to somehow commemorate the awesomeness of the wild turkeys I’ve been privileged to be among and photograph. The timing of this new episode from Nature on…
Part 3: Our Economic Potential As Birders & Wildlife Watchers
This is Part 3 (of 3) in a series on non-hunting revenue streams for our National Wildlife Refuge system. In Part 1 I talk about the issues surrounding the current funding system. In Part 2, I interview Marlin Greene who’s been producing an alternative refuge stamp since 2006, to draw attention to this subject. Edited…
Add a Voice to the Refuge Stamp Discussion
There’s a great comment thread happening over at 10,000 Birds where Mike was kind enough to cross-link to my recent posts here on Non-Hunters and Wildlife Refuges. The 10,000 Birds site is an awesome place — a repository for all things bird and birding. It’s one of my regular stops for bird news and commentary,…
