Impressionism is defined as "a literary or artistic style that seeks to capture a feeling or experience rather than to achieve accurate depiction." Typically, we think of the famous painters that came out of France beginning in the 1860's. Monet,…
One of the big reasons driving my decision NOT to travel out of the country in 2015 was so that I would have more time exploring and re-exploring the region where I live. I’ve been fortunate to have spent much…
About a month ago as I was hiking my way around the valleys of Tatras National Park in northern Slovakia I was struck by the utter absence of bird song and bird life. I noted it here: “Lacking however are birds.…
See more from the #EcoCostaRica Project From my travel journal: December 2, 2013 Last night at the Savegre Lodge was downright cold. I was there specifically to see the birds of Costa Rica. I lit a fire and hung my…
The kids and I FINALLY got the hummingbird feeder out. Given the incredibly weird winter (really it was nutty everywhere) we had this year the hummingbirds came back a few weeks early this year. In fact, by my observation, they come back…
#ecocostarica You may recall that back in January I went on a fruitless search for El Quetzal in the mountains of Panama. It was an awesome trek into some amazing country with a great friend but alas...not rare and endangered…
These gorgeous little cliff swallows were nesting in the rafters near the Anthropology Museum at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico yesterday. Cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) are a friendly, brave little passeriforme that builds gourd-shaped nests from mud and straw. They tuck them…
It doesn't seem to matter much that many of the habitat maps for the little Ruby throated hummingbird puts Taos well outside of thier range. We've had loads of them. The males, like this one above, showed up early and…
I’ll get it out of the way up front. The Boquete Garden Inn is probably THE BEST little inn I’ve stayed at, ever. Understand, of course, that I am a fanatic for birds, gardens and flowers. So walking through the…
Just after dawn these early spring days, the air is perfectly still and the sound of Red-winged black birds fills the air. The snow and ice have melted and ponded and pooled and the calm morning air makes for some…
My shot for today is actually a year old. One year old exactly in fact. These Whooper swans passed over the kids and I on March 5, 2012 while we played on the ice in the Gulf of Bothnia next…
Editor’s Note: Brutal rule by an oligarchy is never as far off as we might think. It is something that has happened far too often throughout history and it is a danger the supposedly democratized “Western world” is dangerously close…
