Category Archives: Nature

Yesterday’s Snowstorm

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Katherine Wikoff

The storm that dumped 10-ish inches of snow in Milwaukee yesterday had moved out over Lake Michigan by this morning. Can you see the dense wall of clouds looming just beyond the downtown skyline? I took this photo on the way … Continue reading →

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Texture – Damp Crabapple Bark

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

First of all, is it “Crabapple,” “Crab Apple,” or “Crab-Apple”? I grew up thinking of it as a one-word tree name, but I see it spelled all three of these ways and could probably find even more variants if I … Continue reading →

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Birch bark texture

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

Now that I took a photo of one tree’s bark, I’m looking more closely at bark everywhere. This older birch has a very craggy-textured outer bark, which then peels itself away in curled loops to reveal the smoother, cleaner-looking “new … Continue reading →

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Sing it, mystery girl!

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

This little critter was warbling away up on the power lines this morning. Is this a robin? It has a reddish breast but also a fair amount of white lower down. A female? The bill is yellowish with a black tip like … Continue reading →

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Big Yellow Taxi

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

I happened across this AP story by Frank Eltman in yesterday’s newspaper: “Solar projects can’t save the forests for the trees?” According to the article, several projects are currently in the works to cut down hundreds of acres of forest in New … Continue reading →

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Neighborhood Watch (Stump Sculpture, Carved Tree Art)

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

Apparently this is a thing, to have your dead tree turned into a work of art. I’ve been driving past this guy for several years now. Might he be described as a “wood wizard”? Today I finally made time to pull over and … Continue reading →

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Wildebeests at the Watering Hole

Posted on July 3, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

A new series is beginning on BBCA (BBC America) tonight, “The Hunt,” originally broadcast last December on BBC One. Narrated by David Attenborough (who also narrated the brilliant “Planet Earth” documentary series), this new series apparently does something I’ve really never … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Nature, Television | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Lilac Tree

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

‘The Lilac Tree’ features a natural field recording of a Blackbird in full song. Recorded 17 May 2016, Saham Hills, Norfolk, England. Source: The Lilac Tree (Note from me: Sounds like R2D2 here and there😄)

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Tenacity (or, “Life finds a way.”)

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

At first glance this probably looks like my usual abstract, geometrical whatever type of photo. (It surprises me to realize I even have a “usual” type of photo . . . ) But look again. Can you see it? That delicate little spiral … Continue reading →

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Fallen Petals in Wet Grass

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Katherine Wikoff

When the spring rains come, the litter of magnolia petals and crab apple blossoms somehow reminds me of the Ezra Pound poem, “In a Station of the Metro”: The apparition of these faces in the crowd: Petals on a wet, … Continue reading →

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