Mother Earth

A lovely woman named Vero from France came hiking with me in the Peace River hills a couple of summers ago, and we heard chickadee-dee-dee coming from amongst the branches of the aspen trees. I said, That’s a chickadee! And she said, We call them mésanges, which means my angels. Chickadees are my favourite birds. It always makes me smile to hear one or see one, especially in winter. I have hundreds of pictures of them, and Wendy Parkin has a delightful photo of a chickadee happily playing in her bird bath, so our Mother Earth - a picture book from the Peace Country will have at least three full 12"x12" pages dedicated to these little angels who are with us through every season.

I love the Downy woodpecker - the smallest woodpecker in North America. It's quite a bit smaller than its Hairy cousin and has a shorter beak. Here's a photo of one hanging out at our chickadee feeder today (wishing it were more ergonomically designed), and I've added another couple of photos and a page draft from our Mother Earth book that shows the difference between Downy and Hairy. (2nd photo: Female downy woodpeckers do not have the red patch on their head.)

May you enter into a place of peace through the magic of good stories this Christmas.

I've been working on the wolves, coyotes and foxes section of the Mother Earth book. This is a two-page spread (12"x24") featuring a photo by Lyle Fullerton. How many wolves do you see? This 240-page book will be available for pre-purchase this summer and published in November.

A lovely woman named Vero from France came hiking with me in the Peace River hills a couple of summers ago, and we heard chickadee-dee-dee coming from amongst the branches of the aspen trees. I said, That’s a chickadee! And she said, We call them mésanges, which means my angels. Chickadees are my favourite birds. It always makes me smile to hear one or see one, especially in winter. I have hundreds of pictures of them, and Wendy Parkin has a delightful photo of a chickadee happily playing in her bird bath, so our Mother Earth - a picture book from the Peace Country will have at least three full 12"x12" pages dedicated to these little angels who are with us through every season.

Here are two of my favourite pages from the "Mother Earth" book, featuring my favourite bird - the charming chickadee with its stylish black cap. I'm deeply grateful these hardy little friends stay around to cheer us through the cold and dark of winter.

Here are a couple of beary comical pages that will be added to the "Mother Earth" book, featuring a dancing grizzly bear cub photographed by Wanda Watts near Grande Cache, and black bear photos by Ken Colwill, including a very upstanding spirit bear photographed west of Athabasca.

I love the Downy woodpecker - the smallest woodpecker in North America. It's quite a bit smaller than its Hairy cousin and has a shorter beak. Here's a photo of one hanging out at our chickadee feeder today (wishing it were more ergonomically designed), and I've added another couple of photos and a page draft from our Mother Earth book that shows the difference between Downy and Hairy. (2nd photo: Female downy woodpeckers do not have the red patch on their head.)

May you enter into a place of peace through the magic of good stories this Christmas.

This Blue member of the Gossamer-Winged Butterfly family will likely be making an appearance in the Mother Earth book. :)

I recently discovered that these tiny blue winged creatures are called Gossamer-winged butterflies. There 63 species in Canada. The outsides of their wings look very different from the inner decor. In the "Bugs and Butterflies" section of the Mother Earth book, you will find everything from Canada's own butterfly (Canadian Tiger Swallowtail) to a wolf spider mama carrying all her babies on her back. There's a beetle that's so beautifully iridescent the elytra (wing cases) are used to make jewelry and art. And there's a fly who's a wannabee. Enjoy!

I have some odd new crocus photos to add to the Mother Earth book! Crocuses don't usually have this many sepals (that's what the mauve petal-looking structures are called on a crocus). I learned from Lori Skulski on the Alberta Native Plant Council Facebook page that this multiple-sepal presentation is a rare anomaly. Since a prairie crocus is a type of anemone, I'm calling this is an anemone anomaly. (Try saying that five times fast.) When any flower has more petals or sep...als than usual, the anomaly is called a "double". Since there were two of these anomalous crocuses side by side, one could say it was a double double. (My corny humour may be a symptom of too much isolation.) I'm also posting pictures of the two-page spread of crocuses for the book. I'll be adding at least one more crocus page since this is my favourite flower, and there's so much fascinating information to share about this unique harbinger of spring! See more

Here are two of my favourite pages from the "Mother Earth" book, featuring my favourite bird - the charming chickadee with its stylish black cap. I'm deeply grateful these hardy little friends stay around to cheer us through the cold and dark of winter.

Here are a couple of beary comical pages that will be added to the "Mother Earth" book, featuring a dancing grizzly bear cub photographed by Wanda Watts near Grande Cache, and black bear photos by Ken Colwill, including a very upstanding spirit bear photographed west of Athabasca.

Wanda Watts' grizzly bear cub doing tai chi - destined to entertain all who look into the "Mother Earth" book to be published by Earth Day (April 22), 2021.