It’s a dry September morning and the sun rises orange through a thick mass of wildfire smoke. The smell of it is the first thing […]
Of bitterns and bank swallows: Lake Helena, part 2
This story is the second in a series about Lake Helena and getting to know a place in nature over time. If you haven’t heard […]
Nature at Lake Helena, part 1: shorebirds to the Arctic
May 15, 2024 A light rain fell during the night, and the west end of Lake Helena is wrapped in a gentle gray fog as […]
Learning from starlings: urban ecosystems and weedy species
Nature is all around us, all the time. Wherever we are, we live in an ecosystem. It may be far from pristine. It may be […]
Hidden world in the aspens: getting to know voles and more
July 30, 2023 “We know where all the birds are. We don’t know where all the mammals are,” Cody Lane tells me. We’re walking through […]
A naturalist journey through Kokanee Glacier Park
High in the Rocky Mountains, there’s a vast landscape where the wind sighs over rock and heather. The trees struggle up the steep ridges and […]
A portrait of nature along the Niobrara River
September 28, 2023 It’s a warm, still night in late September along the Niobrara River, flowing east through Nebraska’s sandhills prairie. The moon is nearly […]
Solstice wanderings and the dance of the swallows
June 21, 2023 I came to Spokane Bay on the summer solstice with no intention of writing something new. Paddling up central Montana’s Hauser Lake […]
Finding healing in the midst of climate chaos
I woke up this morning with a gnawing sense of depression, the wildfire smoke blurring the mountains into gray shapes and biting at my nose. […]
Spring in Seattle and an Anna’s hummingbird mystery
March 15, 2023 When I left snow-covered Montana a few days ago to visit friends in Seattle, Washington, it was a sudden transition from the […]