My 2022 nature highlights

How to choose my nature highlights for the year, when every opportunity is a highlight! So here we go, in no particular order.

Observing Yellow-crowned Night Heron courtship and nest-building

Watching Yellow-crowned Night Heron nestlings daily for weeks

Monitoring 20+ nest boxes. During the season, 33 Eastern Bluebirds, 26 Tree Swallows and 20 House Wrens fledged from my trail. (Pictured: Several Eastern Bluebird nests on one day in May.)

Viewing European Badgers in the wild in Scotland. They are gentler than their North American counterpart.

Once again spotting an S2 state-endangered wildflower, Agalinis setacea, in an unlikely location and having the ID verified on location by the state botanist for entry in the registry of state Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species.

Spotting a Pileated Woodpecker pair in my yard.
Photo: female (facing left) and male

Photo: Pileated Woodpecker male probing for insects

December’s Lunar Eclipse, one of many stunning moon views during the year

A close-up view of Wood Ducks. I’d only ever seen them at a distance.

The return to the area for a couple weeks of a pair of Snow Buntings, an infrequent visitor from the tundra.

Discovering a large stand of American Witch-hazel in my favorite park

Visiting an historic lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay, still active as a navigational aid and USGS weather station. Not nature itself, but humans reckoning with nature.

Spring wildflower season. A sampling pictured left to right, top: Bloodroot, Spring Beauties, Rue Anenome; middle: Cutleaf Toothwort, Trout Lily, Virginia Bluebells; bottom: Dutchman’s Breeches, Showy Orchis, Mayapple. Counting the days until they reappear.

Wishing you a bright, happy and healthy New Year with countless opportunities to enjoy nature!