February 15, we returned to nearby Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. Some three weeks had passed since our last trip. From mid-December through late January, visits rewarded us with thousands of sandhill cranes — feeding, dancing, cavorting, rattling, and bugling across the flats near the observation center. The center’s external microphones captured their cacophonous joy; speakers […]
This past Sunday, my nine-year-old grandson (Jack) and I visited a nearby nature preserve, our first visit to this location. Most of us conjure an image of raw, unblemished wilderness with the term “preserve.” Not so this Harvest Square Nature Preserve, an approximately 70-acre parcel donated by the developer of an adjacent commercial property. The […]
Our Alabama home sits in a development on a four-acre lake/pond. I say lake/pond because were we in Minnesota (Land of Ten Thousand Lakes) or Alaska (its number is two million!), ours would unquestionably be a pond. Quite frankly, I prefer the image, character, and significance that the term lake conveys. The Infoplease web site […]
Big Blue, the great blue heron that is resident to our small lake here in northern Alabama, is spending more and more time with us. Our home sits 50 feet above water level on the north shore. Our shore-line vegetation includes three willow clumps, which I have lopped to eight feet — that’s as far […]
Judy and I walked pre-dawn this morning. We often see Big Blue standing knee-deep at the neck that reaches north to near the road just east of our home. Illuminated by the street lamp, he stood there once more. I suppose we appeared too suddenly — he spooked to the south, quickly disappearing into the […]
My Great Blue Heron web site went live earlier this week. I am testing the posting function. The great blue heron for me is both totem and talisman, a palpable spiritual connection to my deceased father. Dad inspired my love of Nature and propelled me into my lifelong passion for applying Nature’s Wisdom to living, […]