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Winter Goals: New York

November 3, 2009 By 5 Comments

Coastline in Winter - Bailey's Island, Maine

Well, it’s November and the deciduous trees are mostly leafless and most nights we are below freezing.  I guess it’s time to start thinking about the upcoming winter.  As a kid who grew up in Florida, I imagine I am in for quite a long winter considering we already had the earliest snowfall of over an inch.  Except for four years in Maine during my time at Bowdoin College, I really haven’t done much winter photography and even then I was awfully busy with classes and didn’t get out as much as I would have liked.

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Filed Under: Daily Musings Tagged With: , , ,

Brant! Despite a Dog

November 2, 2009 By 3 Comments

Brant - Cass Park, Ithaca, New York

For the last few weeks, flocks of Brant have been passing through the Ithaca area on their way south.  My first looks at these geese were in a scope at a distance of probably 400-500 meters, not exactly the most exciting and rewarding experience.  As people have been reporting these birds throughout the region, I keep chasing them down for a chance to photograph them.  I’ve now seen Brant on a number of different occasions but usually at either great distances or in situations where I couldn’t make a photograph.  Sunday evening that finally changed!

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Filed Under: Birding, Daily Musings, Natural History Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Presidential Natural History and Exploration

November 1, 2009 By 1 Comment

Can you imagine reading the following headline in The New York Times?

“Former President Bush near death after exploring unknown Brazilian river”

No?  Sounds beyond absurd right?  Well, in 1914, it would have described Former President Theodore Roosevelt nearly perfectly.

For the past few weeks I’ve been listening to the audio version of the book, The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard.  The book describes the journey of Roosevelt in 1913 down the totally unknown and unmapped River of Doubt, now the Rio Roosevelt, in South America The book is a fascinating portrayal of a former President who lived life large and advocated a life of hard work, particularly in the outdoors.

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Filed Under: Natural History, Sunday Essay Tagged With: , , , ,
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