Unleashing Curiosity: Embrace Your Inner Explorer

When you work at being curious about everything around you, eventually it becomes second nature. You don’t even realize you’re doing it…until you find yourself sitting on the ground three feet from a ground squirrel, watching it eat for 40 minutes.

At first, we thought our 13-Lined Ground squirrel buddies were eating cute little white flowers. It was an adorable Disney moment like Thumper eating clover flowers in Bambi.

Then I asked myself, do ground squirrels even eat flowers? It didn’t seem likely. Obviously, I *had to* watch them eat to find out what they were really eating. I went into full Jane Goodall Mode. Before I knew it, I was dialed in, sitting on the ground with my camera; committed to observing the rodents for as long as took.

It turns out they were not eating flowers. They were eating grubs. And they were good at it. It took them about one minute to dig up and eat one grub. Then they were onto the next one, all the while keeping an eye on me and my camera as I scootched closer and closer.

They held the grubs like a banana and ate them starting with the head. And with gusto. It wasn’t so much a charming Snow-White-with-her-animal friends moment as it was a Bunnicula moment. Ew. But I had my answer.

Are ground squirrels a bit less adorable in my eyes now? Yes, but now I see they’re gritty and resourceful. They’re helping control the June Bug population.

Doing my own “research” is my favorite. Losing track of time while I’m outside is my favorite.

Do I think everyone should drop what they’re doing and observe the animals around them? Well, yes, but that’s not realistic. What if we could get everyone to commit to choosing curiosity once a day? Look under a leaf, examine a raindrop, follow a caterpillar, stare at the clouds, and peek in the hole. Do it until it becomes second nature. Unleash your curiosity.

I Went to See the Roseate Spoonbill and All I Got Were These Lousy Photos

It was a bummer. Just terrible. This was our second attempt to see the Roseate Spoonbill. Still no sign of it.

Just lame views of the stupid bay. 

A bunch of boring birds.

Bugs everywhere.

A bunch of basic turtles. They just sat there. 

And weeds everywhere.

What a waste of time. 

Perspective is everything.

You Gotta Be There: Magical Moments on the Trail

During those magical moments on the trail when we see a gorgeous and uncommon wild flower or get to observe a magnificent bird fly by at close range, my dad never fails to exclaim “You gotta be there!” It’s sort of become his tagline. It’s the nature version of Wayne Gretzky’s “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” If you stay home and scroll, if you don’t venture out to explore, you don’t get to have these awesome experiences.

This coyote and I had one of those moments. Look at those eyes. That coyote was looking directly into my eyes. I was speechless, scared for a millisecond, and then, I gave in to the extraordinary moment. Here I was in Brown County, in a sprawling urban area, and I was, incredibly, alone with a gorgeous coyote.

This is the third time I’d met this coyote, but this was by far the closest we’d been to one another. Each of the times I’d seen it, it was crossing farther down the ice-covered river. Now, I watched from my favorite lookout on one side of an ice-covered river. The coyote kept an eye on me from behind the branches of a fallen tree on the other side of the river. It was just the coyote and me frozen in that moment…or so I thought.

As the seconds passed by, the coyote turned its head in the direction it had been traveling, towards the fallen tree, and then back to me. It did this several times. It seemed to be trying to decide whether to cross the river and continue on its way or change direction because of my unexpected and potentially threatening presence.

How amazing is that camouflage?

I whistled quietly, gently to it. I’m not sure why. A whistle wouldn’t frighten it and I wasn’t trying to frighten it. Maybe on some level, I was offering a greeting to a fellow animal as would to other hikers when on the trail. Regardless, the coyote did not care at all.

After a few beats, it moved to the base of the large tree trunk and stood with its front legs up on the trunk, swinging its gaze between me and the end of the fallen tree. And then I saw it.

There was a beautiful otter at the end of the tree, doing the delightfully ridiculous dance they do when they are scent marking. It was even closer to me than the coyote. I literally looked around to see if I was being pranked. A coyote and an otter together? Only separated by a narrow segment of the river? It was so fantastical I couldn’t believe it was happening.

The coyote wasn’t trying to cross the river at all. It had been hunting the otter. It was probably trying to decide if I was a bigger threat than the otter breakfast was worth.

I had been trying to see an otter in the wild for two years. I’ve been keeping track of scat, slides, tracks, and other sign to zero in on the best place to see one. It was the very reason I was at that spot in the first place. Incredibly, the coyote led me right to an otter. I would never have seen it if the coyote hadn’t shown me.

Ultimately, the coyote disappeared while I observed the otter. The otter finished marking its spot and disappeared, blending into the tree and branches as it went. I was alone again, trying to hold on to the details of the extraordinary experience.

The whole experience happened in just three minutes. It was easily the best “you gotta be there” experience of my life.

You have to get out into the world in whatever capacity brings you joy for those amazing, joyful, and bucket-filling moments to happen. You have to start, you have to get up, and you gotta be there for those moments to happen.

Maybe this was a once in a lifetime experience, but I’ll never make it a twice in a lifetime experience if I don’t keep getting out there. See you on the trail!

Be a Bird Nerd: Birding for Amateurs and Wannabes

You know I love slow hiking. There is nothing I love more than being in the outdoors and slowing waaay down to take in the details, use all my senses, and tap into the curiosity and wonder we were born with but abandoned as we grew into adults.

Birdwatching is one of the best slow activities. I don’t know much about birds. Well, I can identify the obvious ones like flamingos, ostriches, Tweety, and Big Bird. but if a bird catches my eye or my interest, I lean into it. I have what you might call a situational interest in birding. 

That’s exactly what happened yesterday. While on a slow hike, three swans flying overhead happened to honk just loud enough to catch my attention. They were so stunningly beautiful that I needed to know more. I consulted my personal bird experts (my parents), but they were in disagreement about whether the swans were trumpeter or tundra swans. We’ll probably never really know the answer, but it’s fun going down the rabbit hole listening to recordings, checking records for Brown County, learning where they migrate, winter, and nest, and most of all, messaging each other throughout the day with new information and theories.

That was great fun, but most of the time, I just allow myself to enjoy the music of the birds calling. You do not have to be an expert to enjoy birdwatching or the outdoors. It doesn’t make their music any less beautiful when you don’t know what type of bird serenaded you on a hike. When birds swoop by or I pass birds in a pond, I’m not missing out because I don’t know where they spend their winters or what they’re called. Just appreciating how they move through the air or rest on the water isn’t any less valuable. 

Get Geeky About Birds

Now, should you want to get geeky…well, there are endless possibilities. As a proud bird amateur, when I do want to dig a little deeper, these are the ways I add to the experience.

Today is the first day that Birdcast is back for the migratory season. You can see how many birds passed through your county or state overnight. Sounds nerdy? Oh, it is. Nerdy, wonderful…and addicting.

 

As I mentioned, I don’t know very many bird calls compared to experienced birders. Sometimes a call will catch my attention and I can’t see the bird very well, I’ll ask my mom, our family ornithologist. I’m pretty sure she is completely over me sending her recordings of hard-to-make-out bird calls and/or trying to imitate the calls myself. She *highly* recommended (demanded, pleaded) I download the Merlin Bird ID app. Direct from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, you can record a bird call as you hear it. The app will use the recording and other factors like your location to help you identify which bird is calling.

Where do I find great birds? I don’t usually set out looking for a location to watch birds. Instead, they are an added bonus to my slow hiking adventures, but here are a few of my favorite hiking spots where I usually see interesting birds.

• Osprey Point – specifically the pair of osprey that nest on the platform, herons, owls, hawks, and during the winter, the variety of birds at the giant bird feeder
• The trail loop at Sensiba – Highlights for me are the resident eagles and their nest, birds migrating through in spring, and the yellow-headed blackbirds.
• The Wildlife Viewing Pier at Voyageur Park – The pelicans are my favorite, but there are plenty of birds and waterfowl!
• The bird feeders at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary – Not only is this a great location for birdwatching on the trails, but you can also observe them on the feeders from inside the NatureEducation Center, in animal exhibits on the Habirek Trail, and in the Rehabilitation Building. 
• Any outdoor space where you can sit or stand for a while and just pay attention to what’s going on around you.

You don’t even need to go outdoors to be a birder. You can watch them from your recliner or kitchen table. My husband would never consider himself a birdwatcher, but he’s always checking on our birds, the birds in the woods directly behind us. He reports new arrivals, calls us to the window to check out interesting birds or their behavior, and once in a while, texts me photos of them while I’m at work. Yep, he’s a bird watcher.

Or watch them from your car.

 

 

 

Spring is a great time to get into birds. Thousands of birds move through Wisconsin on their migration. If you love going down the rabbit hole of investigation, then by all means, dive into birding to learn all the things. But please hear me, you do not need to know anything about birds to thoroughly enjoy birdwatching. There’s no wrong way to watch birds.

The world may tell you that you *need* fancy gear, identification guides, and apps. If those things bring you joy and you have the resources, that’s awesome, but you don’t need to spend money on gear. You don’t need to know what birds you’ve seen. You don’t need a birding life-list to track the birds you’ve seen. You don’t need to log the birds you see on a birding app. All you absolutely need is a beginner’s mind and willingness to fully immerse yourself in the experience.

13 Great Lakes Novels to Read in 2023

There’s a common setting in many of our field trips: The Great Lakes. If there’s a way I can swim in, wade through, hike near, drive along, or do any activity near a Great Lake, I’m in.

There is unnameable energy and power that calls me to them. Once I’m in the presence of a Great Lake, the siren song sucks me in and it’s impossible to get me to leave.

It follows that I’m also drawn to books set near the Great Lakes.

Last weekend I turned page after page of A Death in Door County by Anneliese Ryan. I’ve read and enjoyed her other books, but this one is different. It’s set in Door County and Lake Michigan is a main part of the mystery.

It was a light, fun, read filled with cryptids, shipwrecks, adventure, a little romance, some Door County geology, and natural history, and of course, plenty of time on Lake Michigan. This is a perfect read if you love Door County, are heading to Door County, or just love a good midwest mystery.

It got me thinking, about the other Great Lakes books I’ve read and enjoyed over the years. Here are a few of them.

South of Superior and Tin Camp Road by Ellen Airgood are both set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. South of Superior has the heartwarming feel of a Hallmark movie. The main character moves from Chicago to a quirky small town in the UP. It was a feel-good read.

Tin Camp was a harder read, but just as good. The main characters are a single mother and her daughter trying to make it in a small town on Lake Superior that survives (just barely) on tourism. The author shows just how hard life can be when the tourist season is over and the visitors go home.

All of Wendy Webb’s books are filled with suspense and set on the shores of Lake Superior. Her latest freaked me the heck out but I could not stop reading. My favorite is The Vanishing, but you can’t go wrong with any of them. These make great creepy fall reads.

The Woods Cop mystery series by Joseph Heywood is set in the Upper Peninsula. Grady is a conservation officer and his work takes him from one end of the peninsula to the other, often near the lakes.

Patricia Skalka’s mystery series is set in Door County. These excellent short mysteries feature Sheriff Dave Cubiak. Cubiak leaves tough circumstances behind in Chicago to start a new life up north. His cases take him all over the peninsula.

Night Swimmers by Peter Rock is also set in Door County – an older woman and a younger man connect while swimming in Lake Michigan at night. Falls under the psychological fiction heading, but is also inspired by the author’s life. It’s hard to categorize this beautiful piece of literature, but really do we need to know anything other than it’s set near Lake Michigan?

Light Keeper’s Legacy by Kathleen Ernst is the third book in her historical mystery series. The main character Chloe is a historian and museum curator and is working on research on Rock Island. One the island, a State Park in Lake Michigan at the tip of Door County, there are no motorized vehicles, no electricity, and no running water. The story alternates between Chloe in the 1980s and a woman lighthouse assistant in the 1800s.

The Cherry Harvest by Lucy Sanna is set in Door County during World War II. It’s a historical romance with a bit of suspense, set on a Cherry farm. German war prisoners come to a family farm to work harvesting the fruit. When one of the prisoners and a member of the family form a connection, the family’s secrets start to unravel.

The Bone House by Brian Freeman – This thriller begins in Florida but moves north to Door County where the plot twists just keep coming. If you like James Patterson’s thrillers, this is for you.

Superior Death and Winter Study by Nevada Barr are installments of her well-known Anna Pigeon mystery series. Anna is a National Park Ranger and each book takes place in different parks. Both books of these are set in Isle Royal National Park, a remote, primitive island in Lake Superior.

In Superior Death, Anna is drawn into a mystery when scuba divers discover a body in a shipwreck at the bottom of Lake Superior. In Winter Study, a team of scientists is doing long-term wolf research when things start to go wrong and they’re stalked by someone or something.

Stuck in Manistique by Dennis Cuesta takes place on the shore of Lake Michigan. A Chicagoan heads north to the UP to wrap up his aunt’s affairs after her death. Instead, he meets a quirky set of characters and gets drawn into small-town life while deciding what to do with his aunt’s bed and breakfast.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach is a coming-of-age story set on the shores of Lake Michigan – Henry is a college baseball star headed for the big leagues, but a chance event changes everything. I don’t, as a rule, enjoy sports fiction, but this one was different. I thoroughly enjoyed the college setting and the intertwined stories of the characters.

Have you read any of these? What books would you add to the list? I’d love to read books set on the other Great Lakes: Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and Lake Huron. Drop me a recommendation!

Looking for Animal Sign: Tracks

When I put on my backpack and step onto a trail, I transform into Terra, Nature Detective! Well, maybe I’m not a real detective, but I am *really* interested in knowing who shares the natural spaces I move through. As I hike, I scan the ground, the grasses, brush, trees, and basically everything around me looking for signs of my fellow outdoor residents. Feathers, scat, scrapes, owl pellets… there are many types of animal sign to look for, but most of us think of tracks first.

When there’s snow, winter is an awesome time to look for animal tracks.

I spy squirrel tracks

Looking for animal tracks in the snow is how I learned there are river otters in Brown County. Those adorable, furry water lovers are in our county! Otter slides are an unmistakable trail. We stumbled on tracks that revealed an otter running and sliding (alternating) for a quarter mile before we decided to turn around and get back on the hiking trail. Once I knew there were otters in Brown County, I noticed their tracks and slides in other wild spaces in the county.

One of the best parts of looking for tracks is you don’t have to know anything about the tracks to enjoy finding animal tracks. I appreciate wondering who might have left the prints and trying to narrow down what animal it could be. Think about what animals you’ve seen in the area. Or just narrow it down to a type of animal. For example, most of us can tell if a track is a mammal track versus a bird track.

bird wing and feet tracks (and a dog)

If you’re with your kids, talk about the tracks and ask questions. Do you think this was a big animal or a small animal? Do you think they were running or walking? Where do you think they were going? Imagine what animal it could be using deductive reasoning. Or make up ridiculous and fun guesses. I love to “guess” prints could be from ridiculous fantastical animals like dragons or unicorns. Last week I suggested a print was either a platypus or a sea lion. Though they are real animals they’re not super common in Wisconsin. I’m pretty sure they knew I was kidding…

If you do want to identify animal tracks, check out a book at the library or look them up online (but make sure it’s a good resource. Literally anybody can say they are an animal track expert online). My two favorite track books are Peterson Field Guide Animal Tracks and Mammal Tracks & Sign by Mark Elbroch.

I’ve had this one for years!

Remember to take a photo so you have something to refer to when researching prints. It’s also a good idea to take a photo with something for scale so you know what size it is later. You can use a coin or a car key in a pinch like I did in the squirrel tracks photos above. 

Looking for animal sign has added a whole new dimension to my slow hikes. Once you start looking for and paying attention to animal tracks you will see them everywhere and wonder how you never noticed them before! 

If you’re a more experienced tracker, what tips would you give to a beginner?

Ice Stars

The ice stars are starting to bloom.

I started noticing ice stars just a few years ago. I’m still tickled every time I see one. Like the first snow, icicles, and frost on windowpanes, it’s another beautiful winter thing I look forward to.

Some people call them Lake Stars, but I see them regularly on river and pond ice. They say the stars form when warmer water pushes up through a thin layer of ice and slush. There are theories, but none that completely explains why and how they appear.

The good news is you don’t have to understand them to appreciate them! Like clouds, you can see many images in them. You could call them ice spiders, octopi, fingers, roots… or whatever your imagination dreams up. They also make a good game of search and find. Keep those kiddos (or yourself) moving by making them the ice star spotters. Count how many they see on the hike.

Can you see the two mini stars?

You don’t have to go far to see them. Today, we saw dozens of them during our slow hike at Sensiba State Wildlife Area. I’ve seen them many times on the East River in Bellevue and Allouez. Have you seen them before? Where? Once you see one, you’ll start noticing them everywhere!

Polar Bear in the Teen Lair: Holiday Magic for Big Kids

This isn’t my normal type of content, but I think this year we could all use a little fun about now.

When Paolo was younger, we did Elf on the Shelf for a few years. We did it with a twist, making it about spreading the holiday spirit and not about behavior. If you’re interested, you can see what we did here. I don’t think Elf on the Shelf is for everyone. It’s always been my opinion that you should do it if it’s fun for YOU to make it happen. If it doesn’t bring you joy, then don’t do it. I loved setting up funny scenarios for our elf, Elf-vis. Paolo loved looking for Elf-vis every day. And we both loved doing the activities the elf assigned to Paolo.

Now Paolo’s 16 and the holiday season from November to January is a whole lot different. It’s still about family, great meals, and delicious treats, but the anticipation and sparkle are gone. I think teens (and adults) need a little holiday magic, too.

Last year I started Polar Bear in the Teen Lair. I bought a stuffed polar bear and introduced Percy Ursus.

I left it open-ended. I didn’t do it every day. I picked up a few treats, shared jokes, and drawings. Just little stuff to make him smile.

Did he roll his eyes? Of course, he did. Did he secretly love it? Absolutely.

It doesn’t have to be a plush character. It doesn’t have to be a teen. You could do 25 days of corny Christmas jokes left on your spouse’s pillow. Or, Hershey’s kisses in your teen’s or spouse’s jacket pocket on all the Mondays between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Or seasonal bakery cookies waiting for your teen when they get home from school once a week. Or their old action heroes or Barbies doing random, silly things around the house. Or decorate their door, put up twinkle lights, and decorate a mini tree.

Get creative. Have fun. Make them smile. I bet you’ll smile, too.

About 2.0: Let Me Re-Introduce Myself

I haven’t shared anything here in six months. I’ve written dozens of drafts. The posts are all about 90% ready. I never finish them. I never hit publish.

Sure, I’ve been busy taking field trips and 2022 has resembled 2020 and 2021 far too much, but that’s no excuse. Starting now, I’ll be sharing our field trips here monthly. Hopefully, weekly, but baby steps.

Let me reintroduce myself!

I’m Terra, a librarian, a mom to a 16-year-old, a spouse, and a nature lover. I started the Life as a Field Trip blog when Paolo (our son) was much younger as a way to reclaim a creative part of myself I had let slip away as I let parenthood swallow my whole self.

I also wanted to share our adventures with friends and family who were interested in our adventures. This has never been and never will be about chasing likes, followers, and shares. If you like what we’re doing, awesome 🙌 If you don’t, I won’t be hurt if you unfollow us.

The focus of the blog and this account has evolved during the pandemic. Where we once explored the world in many forms (museums, restaurants, and auditoriums), now we mostly explore outdoors.

We are not professional outdoors people. Neither mileage nor heart rate factor into our outings. While we are super comfortable outside, we are also super slow hikers. We prefer to examine the natural world slowly, with curiosity and a sense of wonder, seeking to study what others walk or run past, oblivious.

This is the place for you if you:

• Want to be inspired to get outside more
• Want to be inspired to look for the wonder and beauty all around you, in the everyday small things
• Believe the outdoors is for all people not just the perfect people shown in outdoors advertising
• Don’t think you’re an outdoorsy person but would like to try it
• Would like to slow down
• You’d like to discover new places to explore
• Want to learn a little about nature
• Love/appreciate nature, camping, or hiking
• Can’t get out in wild spaces anymore and enjoy exploring vicariously through photos, videos, and writing

A few of our field trip moments in 2022

I hope you’ll follow us on our adventures and maybe be inspired to explore somewhere new or see the natural world in a new way every now and then. Or, if you’re already a slow-hiking nature lover, share your insights, favorites, and tips with us. See you on the trail!

Here’s to 46

I really love my forties. That’s not to say this decade has been perfect. Life is still messy. There’s still plenty of drama. Things are consistently imperfect. But my forties have also a beautiful evolution, inside and out. 

I peaked at age eight. Well, I thought so at the time. I dreaded growing out of childhood in the second grade, well before it was even over.

I had some independence, I knew who I was, and I knew I was having the best time of my life playing all day. I also knew, and I am not kidding, I never wanted to share my blanket with a husband and I most certainly did not want to grow up. I wanted to stay eight forever. 

But I turned nine. The birthdays kept coming. I made it to adulthood. I never did share blankets with my husband. (It turns out he didn’t want to share either. Who knew you could have your own blankets?!) Most surprising to my eight-year-old self, I did enjoy being a grownup. Motherhood taught me how.

I knew pretty early in my son’s life that every new developmental stage he went through was my favorite. Each new stage was different and sometimes difficult, but each one essentially built on the previous ages and developments. I have felt such joy getting to watch him grow, develop, and learn through all those stages. There hasn’t been an age that I didn’t enjoy. 

And today, after 16 of his years and 46 of my own, I realized that’s why I love my forties, and why I loved each age that came before. I’m just leveling up, building on the experience that comes with growing older, and appreciating the knowledge and skills, and self-awareness that comes with leveling up.

Each new age has built upon the ones that came before it. Being an adult doesn’t mean I have to lose or give up the wonder and play of childhood. With one eye on retaining my eight-year-old self’s sense of wonder and play and the other on living in the moment, I get to continue this evolution; I get to keep growing, developing, and learning in this thing called life.