October: Foraging

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Everything’s gotta eat! When I am out with my camera, I especially appreciate catching critters in the act of foraging. These are not always the “prettiest” pictures. Critters in the act of capturing and consuming each other can be a bit disturbing. But they are real and beautiful in their own way, and they tell an essential part of the story. October 22, 2022 – Banana spiders (Trichonephila clavipes) rule in the autumn woods in Louisiana! This web at Black Bayou Lake NWR spanned a 5-foot opening between shrubs next to the boardwalk trail. It is constructed of golden thread,…

September: Sense of Place

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Born and raised in Iowa. It will always be Home, with a capital H. Living the good life in Louisiana. Loving my adopted home. Two places so different, so beautiful. I am enriched by both. September 1, 2022 – “Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and a filé gumbo, ‘Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio. Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o, Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on da bayou.” If you’re hearing Hank Williams’ voice right now, please be aware that when he sings “bayou” and pronounces it “bayoooo” with a drawn out…

August: Dog Days Fun

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Come along now for a visit to a national wildlife refuge I had never visited before, and join me for a fun, heartening, and educational baby turtle release on the bank of the Ouachita River! August 1, 2022 – Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge is 24,000 acres of marshes and forests waaay down in the toe of the Louisiana boot, on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain. I don’t make it down that way very often, so when I had to drive I-10 and I-12 from points farther east all the way to Baton Rouge, I took a little…

July: Count Them if You Can

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Hot. July 2023 was hot, hot, hot. It is perfectly sane and respectable to just stay indoors in Louisiana in a normal July, and July 2023 was hotter than most. But you can’t see or count butterflies indoors, so…. a bunch of the incurable fortify themselves with bottles of water, field hats, and energy snacks, and out they go. July 31, 2022 – Knowing which flowers to plant is hugely helpful if you want to attract butterflies to your home, and Charles Allen wrote a book about it!* So counting butterflies at Allen Acres is great fun. Beauties like this…

June: National Forests

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According to Wikipedia, the U.S. has 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands containing 193 million acres. That’s 8.5 percent of the total U.S. land mass. Add to that the 12 percent of U.S. land protected as national wildlife refuges for a total of 20.5 percent. This means we must protect another 9.5 percent in the next 6 years if we are to meet the current “30 percent of land by 2030” conservation goal. I’m for it! I’m deeply grateful for what we have. But the esteemed naturalist and scientist E. O. Wilson says we must protect half of earth…