Exploring Nature by Sheila Newenham
I’m saying goodbye to this land that I’ve loved and nurtured, and that has nurtured me back. We arrived in June 2009 to a sterile, weedy landscape. Morning glory vines had overrun all of the landscape beds, their long tendril roots anchored firmly through the … Continue readingSaying Goodbye
When the weather prevents snorkeling, there is still ocean life to see. The difference here between low tide and high tide is one foot, yet it exposes twenty yards or so of seafloor. If these were the extreme tides like they get in Alaska (twenty … Continue readingLow Tide Meander
They’re the size of a big dog only with bigger, soft, brown, pleading eyes; no wonder people want to feed them. The federally endangered Key deer only exist in the lower Florida Keys. They are a subspecies of the common white-tailed deer. Like most animals … Continue readingFlorida’s Key Deer
The Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit is more rugged than the expansive South Unit. Sixty-five miles of private land separate the two. There is one 14-mile out-and-back road in the North Unit that snakes up to acrophobic overlooks along the river gorge. In light … Continue readingTheodore Roosevelt National Park – North Unit
A guest post by Rob I went out fishing during our most recent stay in Alaska at Silver Salmon Creek Lodge in Lake Clark National Park. One afternoon I went out with a guide and another couple to fish. We fished a bend in the … Continue readingA Fed Bear
Don’t Mess with Mama Bear Mama bears are notoriously, fiercely protective of their cubs. It’s unusual for adult male bears (boars) to hang out here. In other places where I’ve watched bears fish, the opposite is true; sows with cubs are rare. This stretch of … Continue readingBrown Bear Stories (Part Two)
The salmon run congregates bears closer together and in higher numbers than they would otherwise tolerate. Like Big Brother on television, this creates drama. Family Drama When a sow with cubs begins fishing, the hungry cubs watch with rapt attention. Once she catches a salmon … Continue readingBrown Bear Stories (Part One)
It’s all about the timing. Life in coastal Alaska is dictated by the tides – for both human and non-human animals. On the shore of Lake Clark National Park, the annual silver salmon run has just begun. A few days ago, there were a few … Continue readingFishing Bears
Black-legged Kittiwakes I’m idly watching a colony of thousands of nesting kittiwakes, white gull-like birds that don’t really do it for me. But there’s a beautiful, rustic, derelict cannery along this stunning, cliff-lined inlet, where we’ve stopped on our way back to camp from an … Continue readingHunting Peregrine Falcons
Communication This bear argument is loud, powerful, and impassioned, yet fairly benign. All social species require a way to resolve conflict without risking their lives or their relationships. Just because you have power does not mean you need to use it. Nature has so much … Continue readingBears: A Heated Discussion