Nature's Navigators

Every time I work on interpretive panels for another National Wildlife Refuge, I am astonished – again! – by the incredible journeys made by millions of birds every year.  These mallard ducks arrived last fall at Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge, a 3700-acre refuge along the Mississippi River in southern Missouri.  This extraordinary photo looks like a watercolor, but it was shot by a refuge staffer at Clarence Canyon.

When you live in the city and spend too many days indoors, as I often do, it’s easy to forget that the age-old cycles of nature are still out there, just outside the window.  Every year, waterfowl and songbirds fly thousands of miles across the continent, summering in the Canadian north and wintering in the southern North America, Mexico, or farther south.  My favorite, especially when I see them on my deck here in Atlanta:  tiny ruby-throated hummingbirds, who winter in southern Mexico and, come early spring, fly 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico without stopping to spend their summers in the U.S.

 Working with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Malone Design/Fabrication, Allie and I wrote the content for a series of wayside exhibits (coming soon!) for two observation decks and a nature trail at Clarence Cannon NWR.