This morning, I set out early with Finnegan and my Aunt to go birding. Truthfully, I needed to run away from life for a little while. Not in any dramatic way — just in the way the heart sometimes needs to step outside, breathe fresh air, and spend time with wildlife. Nature has a way of making the world feel softer, even when life feels heavy. And, as usual, wildlife had a few surprises waiting for me. At our first stop, before I had even really settled into birding mode, I w

Today’s photo adventure looked a little different. Instead of heading out with my camera in search of birds, squirrels, shorebirds, or the usual urban wildlife characters that make my heart light up, I volunteered to train as a Bee Creek cutthroat trout monitor. What is that, you may ask? Well, it means becoming part of a small local conservation effort where volunteers monitor an assigned creek by setting fish traps, returning the next day to pull them out, and carefully rec

Sunday morning had two official objectives. One: photograph babies, because it is baby season and, frankly, tiny wildlife is one of the greatest gifts nature gives us. Two: find and photograph a Barred Owl that had been spotted in the park. But underneath those two goals was the real reason I got up early, packed up my camera gear, and brought Finn along in his little backpack: I wanted quiet time. I wanted to wander through the park before the crowds arrived. I wanted that p