I'm feeling like a bit of a turkey vulture these days.
While I watch my good friend Sue Yingling wing her way like an elegant eagle to other wonderful adventures (think total relaxation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina), I am riding the thermals here at home (like good turkey vultures do) and checking out the scenery below.
There's a lot to see on the six acres I inhabit along with my partner Jim, my sidekick Navi, the black lab, and many, many wild critters. I've lived just outside of Hampstead for over 30 years. Most every day Navi and I don our Sherlock Holmes hats (well, maybe me; she would eat hers) and turn nature investigators as we walk our property.
You could say it's in our DNA to find out what's going on in our neck of the woods and fields. She, of course, has her fantastic sense of smell, along with a twist of mischief that keeps me on my toes when it comes to our discoveries. Clues of fur, feathers, bones, mysterious noises and fleeting sightings (think the elusive pileated woodpecker) all make for the stuff of fantastic nature detective stories.
Though I may put the words to paper, she wants credit, too, as collaborator and co-conspirator.
I have my dad, my high school chemistry teacher, and many friends to thank for my interest in the natural world. Dad took me fishing and camping as a kid. Childhood best friend Valerie and I constantly roamed the neighborhood in search of critters (I guess you could say that we were tomboys back then). My high school chemistry teacher, Mr. Dowling, sponsored an outdoors club (I was terrible at chemistry but loved our hiking trips).
All of them put me on a path to graduating from college with a degree in parks and recreation. From there, I got my first job with the US Army Corps of Engineers as a park ranger.
Over my 34-plus years with the corps, I got to do many of the things I love, chief among them nature writing. Trail guides, exhibits, film productions and internal newsletters gave me the opportunity to share my love of nature with thousands of visitors to our parks. It was the perfect counterbalance to other projects like environmental audits (vital and necessary but not near as much fun).
When I retired almost five years ago, my hands were still itching to write. Along came the short-lived Hampstead Life, a magazine with many local contributors like myself.
Back then, I had three dogs, which literally made for a three ring circus when we walked our woods trails and reported back on our adventures to the magazine. The magazine inspired another interest, too, that being photography. Though I am strictly in the amateur league, I did manage to get a few photos published along with my articles, which was very gratifying.
Not long after the magazine folded (like many print publications these days, it was too expensive to keep in operation), I turned to a local weekly paper called the Northern News. Over the next two-and-a-half years, I got to share some truly fun stories with loyal readers like skunks in our garage, poisonous caterpillars lurking in the bushes, snake hunting with the dogs and dissecting owl pellets left by our mysterious nocturnal friends.
My favorite stories, though, centered around a Cooper's hawk family who decided to nest on our property. Over a period of months, I gave everyone in the family names, watched the kids grow up, and dodged mother hawk's occasional dive-bombing expeditions when I stepped into her territory. It was frightening at times, but what a thrill to see these birds of prey up close and personal!
Now with the help of my mentor and friend, Sue, I'm about to embark on some new adventures with all of you.
I hope I can live up to her high flying standards by offering some insightful and thought provoking stories along with a big dose of self-deprecating humor.
In turn, I look forward to hearing from you, the readers. No doubt you've had your own nature adventures, too, from encounters with varmints (one of my favorite words) to love affairs with our wild bird friends.
We all have stories to tell!
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