It has been a full year since I started my blog - Watching Out for Nature. To celebrate I thought I would do a collection of my best and / or favorite photos from my blogs. The photos may not be of the best quality but they are my “favorites.” They are favorites because it was a favorite subject to photograph or it was a topic which was exciting and/or unique or it was amazing to witness the occurrence / subject!
The first one is one of my all-time favorite photos and an unbelievable opportunity! We were lucky to see three to four separate Bald Eagles along the same stretch of highway on our “grand” camping trip to celebrate my retirement; it is still a mystery why so many were there. The number seen is unsure because we were not certain if we were seeing the same ones or not!
[From the blog: September 29, 2015 (NATURE - TRAVELING)]
 |
On southward-leading highway from Crater Lake National Park, Oregon / June 2015
|
I will try to put them in order and list the date of the blog from which the photos were originally posted. Already as I look over how the blog was organized at first, I noticed I have made considerable changes. I no longer make a distinction between Nature - At Home, Traveling, and in Hawaii. I guess my writing got shorter and I felt that the “layers” (pages) was too complicated. Some people may not have ever looked at the other “pages.”
The next are photos of the subject which probably first inspired me to do this blog and which continues to inspire / fascinate me every day and are “near and dear to my heart,” - the Northern Cardinals! I am so lucky to have the Cardinals use the areas around my yard as a base for their day-to-day living. They have provided me with so many photo taking opportunities / hunts!
[From the blog: October 1, 2015 (NATURE - AT HOME)]
 |
| Northern Red Cardinal (male) / outside my house / September 2015 |
[From the blog: October 8, 2015 - Still Favorite Birds]
 |
| Northern Red Cardinal (female) on wall / tree in my neighbor’s yard / October 2015 |
A quiet weekend afternoon at our neighbor’s was interrupted by the Plover battle for territory. An occurrence I have never seen again, even as our new Plover season has started.
[From the blog: October 22, 2015 - FIGHT! FIGHT!]
 |
Pacific Golden Plovers take down / neighbor’s yard / October 17, 2015 |
 |
Brown Anole on deck / in my yard / October 2015 |
The first providential photos series begun just from sitting out on my deck. I knew I didn’t like those Brown Anole lizards. From further photos (not all shown here), I am convinced he was eating a Gecko!
[From the blog: October 29, 2015 - More violence in my yard!]
 |
| On side of trail / Carl Washburne State Park, OR / June 2015 |
After seeing lots of mushrooms appearing in my lawns, I featured this photo on the Nature - Traveling “page.” This is a real “pop-up” plant! Although I searched and searched, I did not ever find out what it was beyond its identification as a parasitic plant.
[From the blog: November 5, 2015 - Another "Pop-up Plant" - Parasitic plants (Nature - Traveling)]
[From the blog: December 10, 2015 - One of the greatest "miracles of nature" - the butterfly!]
 |
| Citrus Swallowtail / on plant in my yard / December 2015 |
The second providential photos series begun when sitting out on my deck looking for a new blog topic. For this series, a Swallowtail Butterfly hangs around for the close-up photo session. Again, I have not seen that occur again. I did see a Monarch Butterfly at the same plant but it didn’t stay for my arrival with the camera.
 |
| First set of Mynah fights / in my yard / January 2016 |
 |
| Northern Cardinal, male and young / neighbor’s yard / May 9, 2016 |
Incredibly I photographed another set of bird fights. This time the noisy Mynah and more than one pair of them!
[From the blog: January 14, 2016 - Gangster birds of Hawaii (with violent fights added in!)]
[From the blog: May 20, 2016 - It’s twins! Twice - cardinals that is!]
I guess the quality of my photos and nature experiences have waxed and waned over the year. Most “best of” photos occurred within the first months of my blog! Perhaps that occurred to inspire me to make an enthusiastic start so the momentum would carry me through the year.
 |
| Northern Cardinal, two babies / neighbor’s yard / May 10, 2016 |
But I did go into the final months of my first full year of my Watching Out for Nature blog with an ultimate for me. I observed, and photographed, baby Northern Cardinals.
 |
| Northern Cardinal, one juvenile / neighbor’s yard / May 18, 2016 |
After hearing (an ever-present sound) and monitoring the Northern Cardinals for nearly a full year (look for a future blog all about a year of Northern Cardinals), I was so thrilled to be able to photograph the twin Northern Cardinals and the interactions with their parents!
 |
| Red-crested Cardinal, parent feeding / neighbor’s yard / May 17, 2016 |
 |
| Red-crested Cardinal two offspring / neighbor’s yard / May 17, 2016 |
[From the blog: May 20, 2016 - It’s twins! Twice - cardinals that is!]
An added bonus at the end of about a week of photographing the Northern Cardinal (adults and young) was happening to see (in closer bushes), Red-crested Cardinal with their own “twins!”
It is still amazing to me that there were two pairs of twin juvenile Cardinals at the same time. Especially after earlier thinking that Red-crested Cardinals did not live all the way up here. Perhaps all that time, I was just blinded by the attractive, and showy, Northern Cardinal flitting, singing, and chirping around! I don’t think the Red-crested Cardinal does either of the two latter behaviors or at least not as loudly as the Northern Cardinal.
[From the blog: August 13, 2016 - No, that’s not my cat… My love affair with a not-my-cat cat.]
 |
| being sassy / October 2015 |
 |
| “performing” on the railing / January 2016 |
I will finish off with my photos of my favorite blogging companion - my “not-my-cat” cat who kept me company throughout the year. (They are bittersweet as she moved away in August!)
 |
| cleaning / April 2016 |
 |
| sleeping at my house / May 2016 |
Sometimes she even sat right next to me as I used my computer. She certainly demanded my attention if I blogged too late at night by sitting on my computer. I still miss her, and her owners :), so much and every once and awhile will look at the pillow outside my door expecting to see her waiting to come in.
 |
| Halema`uma`u crater / from Jaggar Museum / April 2015 |
In this one eventful year of “watching out for nature,” it is amazing to me that I could keep finding topics. I guess as I wrote in my first blog, I have always photographed nature to primarily share with students. That desire must have set the groundwork for my continued practice of looking at nature all around me - in its many amazing form!
[From the blog: February 11, 2016 - Hawai`i Volcano activity displays in so many ways!]
 |
| Halema`uma`u crater at night / from Jaggar Museum / February 2016 |
I suppose the blog has been my way to keep teaching. And of course to keep learning! My love for learning is probably one of the reasons I went into teaching in the first place.
[From the blog: March 3, 2016 - Childhood nature memories revisited]
 |
| Caterpillar setting self and dark chrysalis / Aiea Heights neighborhood / March 2016 |
We all need to “watch out for nature” as we preserve the wonders of our world. When those wonders of nature are preserved, it will in turn keep our quality of life at its best!
[From the blog: March 17, 2016 - On the beach (literally) in Fall and Winter]
 |
| Green Sea Turtles / Laniakaea Beach / February 2016 |
I hope you learned something from my blog this year and will continue “watching out for nature!”
