magickcanoe.com Blog

It’s been awhile since I posted a “recently read” collection. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been seeing lots of great blog posts as there have been plenty. It’s more a case of not having the time to sit down and assemble a list to the links I’ve been saving from my forays to visit other favourite blogs. I’m always impressed by the quality of the writing and photography that I encounter while wandering around the net. Here’s just a sampling of some of my favourites from the past few weeks.

* Cathy from Looking Up has posted some terrific photos on the theme of Watching & Being Watched. My favourites are the opossum skull and the frog. Wonderful.

* In April, Dave from Via Negativa wrote a couple of pieces that set me to pondering over the various ways in which nature is “put on display” for the purpose of education, entertainment, or mythologizing. As always, the accompanying photos add another dimension to these essays.

* Around here, the weather has been such that insect activity has been off to a very slow start. However, this has not been the case in Georgia. I’ve been vicariously enjoying Wayne’s invertebrate observations at Niches. Check out Wayne’s bug walk on May 8th, and some neat observations about leafcutting bees that have found a unique nest site.

* Recently returned from his trip to Vimy, Clare at The House and Other Arctic Musings has written several pieces about his thoughts and experiences. If you are interested, you will find them here, and here, and here.

* Awhile back, I wrote a post about arachnophobia. Susannah from Wanderin’ Weeta promised to write about the chilling encounters that contributed to her one time fear of arachnids. After reading Sleeping With Tarantulas, I can understand how she acquired her fear. I’m glad she’s over it now and enjoying spider observation along with the rest of us.

* Those interested in conservation matters, will find Marcia Bonta’s piece entitled, Saving the Future, provides a very good read. A lot of important conservation issues take place at the grassroots level and their impacts are far greater than might appear. The establishment of effective watershed buffer zones is a prime example. If you want to know more about these issues, read Marcia’s piece for some good background.

* If you haven’t already been around for a visit, do check out the latest edition of Festival of the Trees, which is up at Xris’s Flatbush Gardener. The theme is “Trees in Concrete” and you’ll find plenty of wonderful reading there.

* As many of you know, a couple of weeks ago, many of us who write about nature on our blogs, participated in the Blogger BioBlitz. Jeremy Bruno at The Voltage Gate has posted a collected list of links to everyone’s blog posts about their blitz. I’d say that everyone put in a super effort on their blitzes. Definitely peruse through Jeremy’s list and visit some of the blogs. As you might guess, quite a number of the participants will be familiar as they frequently comment here.

And that’s about it for this time. Hope you enjoyed!