Eurobodalla Encounters, Pt II: As The World Terns

Many Australians take beach holidays between Christmas and New Years’. My Laddie and I, preferring to beat the crowds, took our coastal trip in late November instead. If you’re an Aussie prudently forgoing holiday travel during the latest COVID outbreak, or a Northern Hemisphere reader seeking a little sea and sunshine to brighten dark solstice … More Eurobodalla Encounters, Pt II: As The World Terns

Eurobodalla Encounters, Pt I: Dinosaurs in Dalmeny

Many Australians take beach holidays between Christmas and the new year. My Laddie and I, preferring to beat the crowds, took our coastal trip in late November instead. If you’re an Aussie prudently forgoing holiday travel during the latest COVID outbreak, or a Northern Hemisphere reader seeking a little sea and sunshine to brighten dark … More Eurobodalla Encounters, Pt I: Dinosaurs in Dalmeny

Yeats at Yuletide: Belonging Among The Birds, Berries, and Bees

Where I come from, December 21 marks the winter solstice. Short, chilly days invite protracted, warm holiday meals. I always felt a twinge of guilt at gorging on holiday treats while, beyond the picture window of my family’s kitchen, birds scraped for seed in the frozen backyard. Here in the upside-Down-Under, that dynamic inverts: December … More Yeats at Yuletide: Belonging Among The Birds, Berries, and Bees

Blood and Blooms: A Goshawk’s Garden Gauntlet

My afternoon with a nankeen kestrel family seemed like the most intimate wild-raptor encounter a wildlife photographer could hope for. But that’s the incredible thing about nature: it likes to surprise you, especially in biomes you foolishly think you’ve mastered. Last weekend I joined other lens-toting pilgrims at the botanical gardens on quest for a … More Blood and Blooms: A Goshawk’s Garden Gauntlet

“The Great Kestrel Tree”: Rediscovering Nature Narratives

Growing up, one of my family’s favorite picture books was Lynne Cherry’s The Great Kapok Tree. It follows a laborer in the Amazon rainforest who, wearied by his toils, naps beneath the tree he’s been hired to chop down. As he sleeps, animals who call the tree home whisper pleas for him to spare it … More “The Great Kestrel Tree”: Rediscovering Nature Narratives