John W. Garbutt- Class of 2019- I have always found irony in that on the summer solstice, when the sun reaches its northern most location in the sky, it provides the longest amount of daylight during the course of a year and that the subsequent days get shorter, yet hotter as we long for fall by late August.
My Favorite Things through the Four Seasons: Spring
John W. Garbutt, Class of 2019- I never really looked forward to spring being a lover of winter’s cooler air. Then I got into birding and in turn began paying attention to the natural world. I now look forward to the plant’s subtle signs they are awakening from their winter slumber, the behavioral changes of the resident birds, and for the arrival and passing through of neotropical migrants to our area.
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.
My Spring Amongst the Night-Herons- Part 5
John W. Garbutt, Class of 2019- There alone, was an approximately three-week-old nestling Night-Heron on the ground.
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.
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
My Spring Amongst the Night-Herons- Part 2
John W. Garbutt, Class of 2019 – As April entered its first week, the moon was destined to intercept our line of sight to the sun, as were the Night-Herons for each other. April is possibly my favorite month in this location because of the sensations of spring, the smells and sounds.
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
Thoughts From Behind the Viewfinder Vol 3. Part 2
John W. Garbutt, Class of 2019- Around Thanksgiving the autumn color reaches its late and brief climax. I hope to use the canvas nature provides as a backdrop for the ducks on the pond.
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 diverting water from an existing creek. In doing this, “we” have unintentionally, or perhaps sometimes with purpose, created a plethora of winter homes for waterfowl seeking respite from the frozen bodies of water in which they were raised.