The world is waking up and so am I in the context or writing for this site. Winter makes it difficult to encounter all the critters I want – the bugs are gone and the frogs are asleep. It’s true there are squirrels, birds, the occasional ungulate – but they don’t really move me in the same way. That being said a few things have happened this winter that are worth a mention here before I jump into springtime.

Firstly, I have spent the past month nurturing my own little paludarium (part water, part land) ecosystem. It’s currently a little bare bones but soon I think I’ll make a post to show everything inside and some of my plans for its future.

Next, I got to meet a beautiful rough necked grouse on a Christmas day walk in the forest. It was super friendly and let me take lots of pictures and this video!

On another winter walk I got some really cool slow motion footage of some birds eating bird seed left on a bench.

I visited the Body Worlds Animals Inside Out exhibit which – more than anything was very humbling. Getting to see all of the intimate inside parts of these carefully preserved creatures made me appreciate the complexity and the wonder inside something as seemingly simple as a baby duck.

I am very thankful I got the opportunity to see them all.

So those are my winter updates. I have made many plans in my dormancy for a spring, summer and hopefully fall full of exploring and critters. Specifically, I am going to find a stinking Tiger Salamander – no matter what.