Curious By Nature

Anticipating the opening of the first wildflower in spring.  Listening to the calls of returning neotropical songbirds.  Foraging for a myriad of tasty wild edible plants.  Leaf-peeping the autumnal array of colors on display by forbs (in addition to the more obvious trees and shrubs).  Quietly gliding along on cross-country skis through a snow-capped forest.

Each presents the opportunity to enjoy, and wonder about, the beauty of nature.  Many of these opportunities occur in some of the most common of landscapes.

If you share an enthusiasm for nature, I invite you to browse through my blog and observe a collection of color photography featuring wildflowers and seasonal landscapes.  My observations occur primarily within the Capital District region of New York (including the Rensselaer Plateau).  I hope you enjoy them.

Thanks for visiting.

Fall colors are underway! In addition to the brightly colored forest canopies throughout our area, there is also a surprising array of colors and hues now on display by the leaves of wildflowers that have bloomed so beautifully over this past spring and summer. Take the opportunity to walk through a woodland or meadow near you and enjoy the sights (particularly those along the ground, not just in the treetops!) of this ongoing display of nature’s beauty.

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FREE wildflower field guides are now available for download (including directly onto your smartphone via Quick Read bar codes) from my Curious By Nature blog.

Available guides include:

1. 100 Acre Wood (Town of Malta)
2. Anchor Diamond Park at Hawkwood (Town of Ballston)
3. Ann Lee Pond Nature and Historic Preserve (Town of Colonie)
4. Ashford Glen Preserve (Town of Colonie)
5. Ballston Creek Preserve (Town of Ballston)
6. Balsam Way Natural Area (Town of Clifton Park)
7. Bauer Environmental Park (Town of Colonie)
8. Community Connector Trail (Towns of Clifton Park and Halfmoon)
9. Fox Preserve (Town of Colonie)
10. Garnsey Park (Town of Clifton Park)
11. Hayes Nature Park (Town of Clifton Park)
12. Historic Champlain Canalway Trail (Towns of Halfmoon and Waterford)
13. Mohawk Landing Nature Preserve (Town of Clifton Park)
14. North Woods Nature Preserve (Town of Clifton Park)
15. Old Iron Spring Fitness Trail (Town of Ballston)
16. Peter Desrochers Memorial Country Knolls Trails (Town of Clifton Park)
17. Settlers Hill Natural Area (Town of Clifton Park)
18. Shenantaha Creek Park (Town of Malta)
19. Stillwater Multi-Use Trail (Town of Stillwater)
20. Summer Hill Natural Area (Town of Clifton Park)
21. Town Park (Town of Halfmoon)
22. Ushers Road State Forest (Towns of Clifton Park and Halfmoon)
23. Veterans Bike Path (Town of Ballston)
24. Veterans Memorial Park (Town of Clifton Park)
25. Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve (Town of Clifton Park)
26. Woodcock Preserve (Town of Clifton Park)
27. Zim Smith Trail (Towns of Ballston, Clifton Park, Halfmoon and Malta)

Add each to your home computer for a desk reference or to your tablet so that you may access them while visiting each site as handy trailside field guides! 

A favorite pastime of mine is being a visitor to the natural world; most often, I do so in quiet solitude.  Photography has afforded me the means to capture some of those observations and has enabled me to share a particular moment, or view, with others.

My documentary approach to wildflowers or fall colors often reveals beauty within my subject's little features that is not otherwise apparent to most who simply walk on by in their daily routines.  From many of the images on this site, you will undoubtedly discern that details interest me.  Some intrigue me.  I am, after all, curious by nature...

I hope that my photographs will reveal something about nature you've never seen before and, in that discovery, you find or renew an appreciation for the natural world...particularly if that discovery can be revisited in your own backyard.  Perhaps one of my photos will offer you a momentary visual escape.  If either comes true for you, I consider the image to have been a success.

In April 2018, the Fort Orange Garden Club unexpectedly honored me with this commendation –

Club Horticulture Commendation from the Fort Orange Garden Club (April 2018)

I am honored by this acknowledgment of my efforts; what a wonderful surprise!

© David H. Behm / Curious By Nature