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Short stories about amazing wildlife, ecosystems, and natural outdoor habitats in rural British Columbia and Northwest Territories. Fireside recollections of outstanding tundra, rainforest, river, wetland, and coastal ecosystems. I hope you enjoy these articles, and my wife Christine’s photographs in the links below. The “Five” most recent articles are posted here. Check out the Archives to view more.
Safe Travels
Gordon & Christine Patterson (and Rosie too)
Journal 📓
Exploring Nature One Story at a Time
- Protected: How Canada’s Eagles Helped Rebuild America’s Skies
This content is password protected. - Memories of a Red Tailed Hawk
Then a hawk appeared overhead circling gracefully. One moment, the raptor was hunting low over fireweed, rose hips, and wilted brown bracken; the next, it caught an invisible thermal to rise effortlessly toward the sky. Soon, the silence was broken by the unmistakable call of a Red-tailed Hawk, an iconic raptor that lives year-round in these woodland settings. Perhaps he was calling to Rosie, who looked up with curiosity, or perhaps he was simply enjoying the morning as much as we were. - Autumn’s Arrival
A single leaf laid on the trail entrance. It hadn’t fully turned yet, still firm and green in the centre, but the edges carried that first rusty hint of Autumn. No colourful harvest hillsides yet, no sudden shift in the canopy colours. Just one early leaf letting go, as if the tree had quietly acknowledged Fall would be arriving soon… We noted a subtle change in the air too… a freshness that carried a musky scent beneath the familiar aromas of evergreen and moss. Summer still lingered in this remote Vancouver Island forest. - The Incredible Peregrine Falcon
Long before gravel logging roads stitched Vancouver Island and winds brought tall masted sailing ships that reshaped British Columbia’s coastal margins, peregrine falcons were already part of our lofty skies. Weather-worn cliffs, salty shorelines, and Lilly covered meadows echoed with their calls. Their presence was not the result of a recent introduction or an incidental range expansion, such as the Barred Owl’s arrival on the West Coast. These raptors have always lived in the Pacific Northwest, and belong to a distinct non-migrating peregrine subspecies: the Peale’s Peregrine Falcon. - The Spruce Who Remembers the Storm
Somewhere along the rugged sweep of Northern Vancouver Island stands an old Sitka spruce upon roots that grip earth and stone…. A weathered trunk leans slightly toward the sea. Gnarled branches bear marks of decades facing the full force of both fury and gentleness. Sitka spruce thrive along the Pacific coast, where ocean air feeds them. They are the largest spruce species on Earth, capable of reaching heights over 70 metres; and survive horrendous northern winds because their wood bends rather than breaks.
For More Please Check Out Archives
