Nature

  • Detail of the Great Garden South of the Conservatory in Lincoln Park

    The other day I rode to the Alfred Caldwell Lilly Pool just north of the Lincoln Park Zoo. This is one of my favorite places in the city. I also stopped in the Conservatory and was stunned to see the incredibly full–bloomed Great Garden at Stockton Dr. & Webster St. Here’s some info on the Garden…

  • An Open Field in Illinois, Late July, Near Dusk

    There is really very little I like to photograph more than the controlled randomness of nature. Getting up close is always fun:

  • Lincoln Marsh in Early Summer

    There is a wonderful lushness to this marsh right now. The rain you served us well. The reeds are thin and green, but with one ripe orange one here: And here's what I'm pretty sure is a Black-headed Grosbeak: Here's the complete set. Marshes and prairies are our oceans here in Illinois. Breathe them in.

  • In Praise of Invasives

    Naturalists like to talk about "invasives" in derisive terms. Here's a snip from the wikipeida entry for the term: They disrupt by dominating a region, wilderness areas, particular habitats, and/or wildland-urban interface land from loss of natural controls (i.e.: predators or herbivores). This includes non-native invasive plant species labeled as exotic pest plants and invasive…

  • Wildflowers of Michigan

    I love nature– experiencing the simple joy of flowers, shrubs, plants, clouds, lake water— all that stuff. I also like to think myself a student of how we approach nature. I love how we fix it to be just so, like in my periodic shots of the retention pond outside of the California Pizza Kitchen…