February: Timberdoodle Time

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February 2025 brought me a brand new fun and educational experience. One of my Master Naturalist friends, Suzaanne Laird, gave our chapter a presentation on Woodcocks, then took us out to find some with the help of Quill, the Wonder Dog. Suzanne leads hunts, but hunting season was over. We were strictly out to experience a well-trained bird dog and to get a glimpse of a Woodcock. The day was a huge success on both accounts. Quill pointed a half dozen birds for us, but try as I might, I never saw one on the ground. On one occasion, I…

January: Birds & Beaches

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It’s really late to be starting my #YearInReview series, but I’m going with “better late than never”! Winter is birding season and January 2025 I participated in the Lake Claiborne (State Park) Christmas Bird Count for the first time. Claiborne is in the northwest corner of the state, so two birding and butterfly counting friends and I met at a nearby hotel the night before so we could begin counting early the designated day. I’m sorry to say, I did not save documentation of the count totals to my computer, but I do recall that the three of us identified…

December: D’Arbonne CBC

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“CBC” stands for “Christmas Bird Count,” an event sponsored by the Audubon Society that was begun on Christmas Day 1900 by ornithologist Frank Chapman and 26 fellow conservationists. I have been participating for only a few years, but it has become one of my favorite things to do. I am fully indebted to my friend, fellow certified naturalist and expert birder Roselie Overby, who lets me ride along with her and learn. By myself, I would be virtually useless. Indeed, my only marketable contribution when it comes to birding is that I occasionally get a really nice photo of a…

November: Denver

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This 2024 Year in Review is dragging on a bit, but not for lack of images to share! Picking a place to feature for November was easy. Picking just a few images to share is hard! Because.. snow! I was in Denver to attend the opening reception of an art exhibit for new satellite members at D’Art Gallery, a co-op in the Denver arts district I have joined. In fact, the voluminous snow resulted in the opening reception being canceled. But what fun it was to tramp around and photograph snow for a change! I did get to see the…

October: Black Bayou Lake NWR

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“You’re a noticer,” said my friend Cherry Whipple when I posted some of these photos from a nature walk out at Black Bayou Lake NWR on Facebook. Thank you, Cherry. Yes, I strive to be. The occasion was Friends of Black Bayou’s annual Fall Celebration. I’m always there with my Care of Creation table right next to the Louisiana Master Naturalists–Northeast table ready to talk to folks about how to learn about the natural world and take better care of it. But the first event of the day is a nature walk for the early birds. I followed a group…