John E. Riutta

Last night I had to be rushed twenty-five miles from my home to an urgent care facility (like many rural areas, our county of residence has no hospital) in order to treat a severe asthma attack. After spending some time on a nebulizer and presently under a regimine of Prednisone, I am slowly recovering from […]

As the title of this site implies, I find something deep and profound in the contemplation of nature in all its myriad forms. From the time I was young, the natural world has always held both a physical as well as a metaphysical quality for me and it is in my observation of it that […]

People often ask me why I stop to watch seemingly non-descript birds. I generally give them an answer that varies from philosophical to aesthetic, generally with an ecological twist. However from now on I am going to recount to them the possibility that the innocuous little grey bird bearing a strong resemblance to a dozen […]

It was a Junco-heavy day in Scappoose this second Saturday in February. The weather has suddenly turned from unexpectedly frigid with snow and ice to mild with sporadic rain (the normal weather for the area in February). The heavy concentrations of birds clustering around the feeders dispersed almost immediately leaving the usual visitors to pretty […]