May: Dauphin Island Adventure

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In May, I spent a few days on Dauphin Island–always a good time! But that trip I had a cold that wouldn’t quit, so one afternoon, instead of walking beaches and bird sanctuaries and neighborhoods as usual, I went to the marina and got on a “Lighthouse, Shrimping, Dolphin” boat tour. Turns out the dolphins were all vacationing in the Bahamas and the sea was too rough to go out to the lighthouse. Nevertheless…. it happened that the smallish group on the boat included a family of seven: mom, dad, a babe in arms, and four kids ranging in age…

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…

#AdventWord #Mother

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We were traveling by pontoon boat down the Sierpe River that flows through the largest mangrove swamp of the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica into the Pacific Ocean. Me, several other photographers and our boat captain and a guide were all scanning the shoreline for birds, crocodiles, iguanas, snakes, monkeys–you name it. The Osa Peninsula is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. I’m not sure who first spied the baby Green Heron (Butorides virescens), still covered with down, struggling among the mangrove and ficus roots along the bank. But no sooner had the shout gone up and…

#AdventWord #Declared/Sha’ir

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At the edge of the swamp, drink in the mundane beauty of tall grass, green and gold in its dying, a lovely copper choker of dead plants around its throat, all the more color full against a monochrome backdrop of nude limbs and twigs and trunks. Will we ever learn to cherish this divine home? “Sha’ir” is the Arabic word for “declared.” It is used to speak of Sufi poetry using earthly metaphors for spiritual experience. A Divine Invitation You have been invited to meet The Friend. No one can resist a Divine Invitation. That narrows down all our choices…