Author: wren
As a blogger returning after a multi-year hiatus, I am widening the focus of my blog to include not just nature, but food, friends, travel, knitting, and general thoughts. I don't know quite where I'm going yet, but I'm looking forward to getting there.
Species close to home – photos from nytimes.com
Those of you who share my interest in making backyards and other suburban spaces wildlife-friendly will enjoy this photo series from the New York Times, Species Close to Home. Times readers from around the world sent in photos of interesting or unusual animals they saw in their backyards. Some photos are wonderful photography and all … Continue reading Species close to home – photos from nytimes.com
Hazy summer days
I took this photo in June, but the same hot and heavy weather is still with us in August. I imagine I can see the heat being gently exhaled by the earth and water behind us, rising up to surround everything and everyone outside
Transit of Venus
I had a great time observing the not-again-in-my-lifetime Transit of Venus earlier this month. Detroit Observatory is just a couple of blocks from my office, so as well as seeing the transit, I also made a much-overdue visit there and saw the historic telescope.
Why eBird?
I’ve long resisted entering my observations in eBird. Too much trouble, too restrictive a format, and I don’t need all those fields – I just want a record of what species I’ve seen. Only compulsive listers would keep records that intense. What’s changed my mind? Partly practical considerations: Birdstack has closed, and I haven’t found … Continue reading Why eBird?
Living in a snow globe world
You’ve heard of “water off a duck’s back”? Snow doesn’t think it’s water. Big, slow flakes swirling around rewind me of snow globes. This must be what it’s like to be inside one, except the snow doesn’t get recycled. And nobody’s shaking our world. Big bird gets cold feet.
Defying winter
Not the flowers – this photo was taken back in August – but me, defying the gray days by showing the bright orange petals overcoming the drab background.
What’s going on?
In September, I wrote:It's hard to know what to write here. One month ago, I thought I was slowing down the number of posts on Wrenaissance for a while. I thought I was going to the Midwest Birding Symposium as an official blogger. I thought I had an overly busy and heavily scheduled life.One of … Continue reading What’s going on?
Changes
Wind moving through the grass or the trees has long been a metaphor for change. When I started my website, long before it was a blog, I thought I’d be sharing information about backyard wildlife habitats, and that my enthusiasm would be contagious. In those long-ago days, the internet was lightly populated compared to today. … Continue reading Changes
Wrenaissance in 2003
Although I moved text around and reorganized the pages on the website, I also reused a significant portion of the text. The introduction, motivation, and general information on habitats stayed the same. The description of the habitat changed as I made changes in the yard. I'm not repeating the home page info which hadn't changed … Continue reading Wrenaissance in 2003
Wrenaissance 2002
Welcome to WrenaissanceNWF Backyard Wildlife Habitat #23563Urban Wildlife Sanctuary #304 Not at lot of changes from 2001 and earlier, but websites were a lot more static back in the day. Despite that, it seemed to take up a fair amount time. Perhaps I'm conflating all my online actives and communities into one blob of time … Continue reading Wrenaissance 2002
Wrenaissance in the new millennium
By 2001, I had updated the home page with a shorter intro combined with the former How and Why page. I had the same photos in a banner at the top, which I haven't repeated here. I also provided a timeline of habitat development, that's a sort of proto-blog. Welcome to WrenaissanceNWF Backyard Wildlife Habitat #23563 … Continue reading Wrenaissance in the new millennium
