North Texas Wild

Aug. 18, 2022

A few years ago, I shattered my C2 vertebra, an injury only two percent survive. The surgeon’s solution was to fuse my top three vertebrae, but the end result was to make my head unable to turn, diminishing my sense of balance by 20 percent. 

As I learned to walk again with a walker and then a cane, sidewalks and streets were essential, but I yearned to hike on dirt again. Six months after the neck wreck, I stopped by Clear Creek Natural Heritage Area near Denton. 

This is Part 2 of the Ash Creek Renovation in East Dallas. To catch you up, the banks of a beloved neighborhood creek were clearcut last year by construction workers during a $69.28 million renovation to Bryan Adams High School in East Dallas.

July 21, 2022

Like many of her neighbors, Kristi Kerr Leonard bought her home for its access to a little bit of wildspace in the city.

Her property backed up to a headwater branch of Ash Creek, which coursed through a tree-lined riparian corridor in East Dallas.

Gazing at the scenic view ringing her backyard brought solace during the protracted passage of her parents and isolation during Covid. She'd even she'd dubbed her abode The Creek House.

March 16, 2022

Even non-birdwatchers flock to see bald eagles. 

Undeniably impressive, they boast a wingspan of over six feet with a gleaming white head and chocolate brown feathers when fully mature. Much easier to see than songbirds, but use binoculars for close-ups.

March 16, 2022

Birdwatchers noticed the pair of young bald eagles at White Rock Lake last October.

Oct. 20, 2021

As I compiled my upcoming book Wild DFW by Timber Press over the last year, I interviewed dozens of North Texans whose experiences as nature-loving kids led to their current eco-occupations. The result is a series of profiles I call Nature Made Me.