📸 Volunteer Spotlight: John W. Garbutt, A Passion for the Prairie

by

I Volunteer Because Blackland Prairie Chapter Template John W Garbutt

For John W. Garbutt, being a Texas Master Naturalist is about the power of shared passion. A graduate of the class of 2019, John has been a vital voice for our Shaking the Trees Newsletter since its founding, using his photography and writing to translate his deep connection with nature into inspiration for others.

Whether he’s documenting wildlife through his lens to educate our community or working side-by-side with fellow naturalists on habitat restoration projects, John’s goal remains the same:

“To use those passions to give back to our communities to hopefully enrich the quality of life within them while educating those we come in contact with.”

John believes that by sharing these experiences, we can inspire everyone to step outside and discover their own connection to the natural world.

We are so proud to have volunteers like John dedicated to sharing his love and his lens of nature.

Read more from John!

February 6, 2026

Cooper’s Hawk

Remember the ‘white aliens’ of 2020? đź‘˝ For this week’s Flashback Friday, we’re revisiting John Garbutt’s wonderful chronicle of a Cooper’s Hawk family—from incubation to the surprise discovery of ‘Thing 5.’ It’s a beautiful reminder of the magic we find when we slow down and observe.
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September 8, 2025

Finding Happiness Through Sharing Nature

John W. Garbutt – Class of 2019- Over time, I learned to find happiness alone through nature. A majority of the learning has been from behind the camera’s viewfinder, the eye piece on my binoculars; and through contributing to the chapter’s monthly newsletter, Shaking the Trees.
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July 28, 2025

My Favorite Things through the Four Seasons: Spring

John W. Garbutt- Class of 2019- It was near the end of February when my sister brought up the imminent arrival of Barn Swallows. Usually the first migrant, the avian harbinger of spring arrives in early March. A couple of years previous, I had seen my first one on…
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August 16, 2024

My Summer Goodbye to the Night-Herons

John W. Garbutt, Class of 2019- It was a warm and windy Fourth of July.  As I approached the pond, the sound of Chimney Swifts and their successful broods greeted me.  Arriving at the pond, I hoped to see the fledgling Yellow-crowned Night-Herons exploring for the first time.
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July 8, 2024

My Spring Amongst the Night-Herons- Part 4

John W. Garbutt, Class of 2019 – By the second weekend of May I anticipated finding evidence of hatchling or nestling stage herons. When attempting to find evidence that the eggs have hatched, I look for many things.
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July 8, 2024

My Spring Amongst the Night-Herons- Part 3

John W. Garbutt, Class of 2019 – “Sometimes I don’t. If I like a moment, for me, personally, I don’t like to have the distraction of the camera. I just want to stay in it.”- Sean O’ Connell- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
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June 6, 2024

My Spring Amongst the Night-Herons- Part 1

John W. Garbutt, Class of 2019 – “It is fortunate, perhaps, that no matter how intently one studies the hundred little dramas of the wood and meadows, on can never learn all of the salient facts about any one of them.”- Aldo Leopold, “Sky Dance”- A Sand County Almanac
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March 31, 2024

Thoughts From Behind the Viewfinder Vol 3.

John W. Garbutt- Class of 2019- When the end of October nears, my thoughts are not of candy and costumes but of the waterfowl arriving to North Texas. In the midst of suburbia, it seems that every branded neighborhood or park contains artificial bodies of water or ponds fed by…
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March 4, 2024

Thoughts From Behind the Viewfinder Vol 2.

John W. Garbutt- Class of 2019- I have been fortunate to have a few memorable encounters at Frisco Commons. Some of my favorites are my first Golden-winged Warbler, my first Least Bittern, a Ring-necked Pheasant, coyotes, a Great-horned Owl, Eastern Screech Owls, bobcats, and the Cooper’s Hawk and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron…
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February 26, 2024

Thoughts From Behind the Viewfinder Vol 1.

John W. Garbutt- Class of 2019- “We must remember that the public can see all the animals we have in any good zoo, but to see them in their natural environment they must come to places like the Wichita”- Aldo Leopold, 1925. Despite my numerous trips here, it was my trip…
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January 26, 2024

When Is It Safe to Dream About Fall?

John Garbutt, Class of 2019 – When is it safe to dream of autumn’s cooler days and colors? Is it perhaps today (early August), a day when Texans rejoiced, for the consecutive streak of twenty-one days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit was broken with an official high temperature of 99 degrees?…
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July 30, 2023
Yellow Crowned Night Heron Photo By John Garbutt

Observations of a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Colony

John W. Garbutt, Class of 2019 – March was winding down. The morning was cool, which made for a lovely morning to make another attempt at locating the Cooper’s Hawks’ nest in the riparian area of the park. I finally found it on the 26th. It turned out that the…
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June 1, 2023
Tufted Titmouse with a Caterpillar in his beak perched on a branch.

Birding the Seasonal Shift – May 12, 2023

John W. Garbutt, 2019 – I have always disliked the end of the year and the subsequent arrival of spring. I like fall and winter. Time seems to slow down from October through December until the last week of the year. Then the next few months seem to go quickly….
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April 1, 2023

Wintering Ducks

John W Garbutt, 2019 – I struggled on how to approach doing an article for the newsletter. I initially wanted to do one on ducks and the seasonal shift that brings them down in autumn. I also switched the theme from my enjoyment of them, my approach to photographing them,…
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April 6, 2021

Winter Ducks at Russell Creek Park

By John Garbutt, 2014 To some, winter and Uri are now four letter words never to be spoken again as we enter spring.  As a birder, the harbinger of spring, Barn Swallows, have been here since the first of March and are flying past my window. The trees outside are…

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January 10, 2021

The Continuing Chronicles of the Commons Cooper’s

By: John Garbutt Watching the five Cooper’s Hawks fledge in mid-June under their mother’s watchful eyes seems like years ago. After that moment, I figured I had possibly seen the last of them, at least as a group. I also had other places to go, The Rio Grande Valley, Fort…

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October 1, 2020
Mississippi Kite

John Garbutt – Mississippi Kites

After the birding doldrums of August, I longed for a change in the wind and the early signs of fall songbird migration. I ventured out on September 6th to Frisco Commons to see what I could find. I would find Baltimore Orioles, Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, White-Eyed Vireos, and Great Crested Flycatchers….

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