Wordless Wednesday: Short-eared Owl

I am fearfully and wonderfully made

Psalm 139:14

"Short-eared Owl." Digital Image. March 18, 2015

Copyright (c) 2015. Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

Wordless Wednesday: Now You See Me - Now You Don't (Chestnut-sided Warbler)

"Now You See Me." "Now You Don't." Digital Image. May 10, 2014.

Copyright (c) Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski. 2014

Western Meadowlark on the Buena Vista Grasslands

Blessed are the moments when the light is perfect, you've selected the correct aperture and ISO and the bird lands in the perfect spot.

"Western Meadowlark." Digital image. (c) 2014 Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

A Year of Creativity #201: Yarrow

The presence of yarrow growing among the Black-eye Susan, Hawkweed and Daisies reminds me of Grandpa Harley. His association with the herb didn't happen because he showed me the large flat-top flower clusters. In fact, this association came several years after his death.

My love of family history and all things outdoors can be traced back to summers spent at "the farm" with my maternal grandparents. Both of my grandparents enjoyed sharing their childhood memories. I credit my grandmother (and my Mom) for giving me a love of reading but it was my grandfather who gave me the gift of all things outside my front door.

Making maple syrup, harvesting hazel and butternuts, how to catch toads and frogs - but the most important lesson about being out in the woods ... keep still. When I am sitting on my deer stand or stopping to sit down "just because" - I can still here his voice, "Now keep still." I'm sure that is what his father or grandfather told him when he was a young boy.

One of the many letters I received from him during some of the darkest days of his life, when my grandmother was being consumed by Alzheimer's, he shared a story from his childhood. While he and his brothers were "horsing" around, he fell and broke his arm. His dad was working out in the field and couldn't take grandpa to see the doctor, a 20 mile trip, until the next morning. His mother picked a bunch of yarrow, boiled it in water and used the mixture to bath his arm. 

In Homer's epic tale, the Iliad, the warrior Achilles uses the herb yarrow to bathe the wounds of his fallen comrades. According to other online sources, elements in yarrow accelerate the healing of cuts and bruises.

I've often wondered how many times during his lifetime did my grandfather see a yarrow plant blooming on the side of the road and think about that time when he was "horsing around" and broke his arm. His granddaughter certainly does.

"Yarrow." Digital Image. Text and photography Copyright (c) Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski 2013

A Year of Creativity #170: Maple Tree

June 13, 2013, was a family anniversary that passed by relatively unnoticed. It was on a hot Friday afternoon in 1980 that our family backed a U-Haul truck into the driveway and proceeded to settle into our new home.

Thirty-three years ago we were the family that moved into John and Ann's house. It wasn't long before our front lawn was littered with bikes as the boys became part of what we affectionately called The Weslan Mafia. We all made countless new friends, enjoyed neighborhood barbecues and block parties.

In the blink of an eye and a few years on: bicycles on the lawn were replaced by cars and pickup trucks parked in the driveway. Soccer, football and baseball, homecoming, prom, graduation.

As I walked out onto the deck earlier today I thought about that first summer - the maple tree which was a little more than a sapling, now towers over the house offering shade in the summer, showers the yard with golden leaves in the fall and a haven for creatures of all sizes. A backyard sentinel giving witness to the changes of life's seasons.

"Maple Tree." Digital Image. Copyright (c) 2013 Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

A Journey Complete

I never get tired of warbler stalking: time spent with my camera walking through the brushy thickets avoiding wet feet, swatting mosquitoes, checking for ticks, all the while listening and looking for the tell tail sign of warblers.

My favorite? All of them but especially any warbler who comes out in the open long enough to allow me to focus and capture a terrific image.

The truth is - I could fill an external hard drive with images of the Common Yellowthroat. The males look like little bandits with their black face mask with a fuzzy white border. In flight (low to the ground) their olive brown color is a perfect camouflage. But once they land their bright yellow is unmistakable.

You hear them long before you see them - by the time you zero in on their proximity, they will have moved; usually not far but gone nonetheless. A twitch of green, a momentary flash of yellow gives them away. Before they are gone. Again.

What is also unmistakable is their song ... a bold "wichity-wichity-wichity" that heralds the arrival of that wonderful season: almost summer.

Like all energetic warblers the Common Yellowthroats are elusive and nearly impossible to photograph. They rarely are seen "in the open" - they prefer to stay close to thick vegetation on the ground. A solitary bird, they can be seen in pairs but it is the male who is first to make the long trek from Central America, Mexico or the Caribbean.

It never ceases to amaze me to think about these tiny birds - 5 inches in length with a 7 inch wing span - following an unknown call that compels them to wing their way across open water, through farmlands, forests and cities to make their way back to a small section of land in northeastern Wisconsin and announce the arrival of summer.

"A Journey Complete." Digital Image. May 22, 2013. Original photography

Copyright (c) Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski 2013

A Year Of Creativity #135: Bloom Where You're Planted

Spring was late in arriving this year - it felt as if the winter of 2012-2013 was the never ending season. The morning after a day 'up north' which produced 30+ mph winds, sleet, rain and numerous snow squalls, I took a walk down the driveway. I was so intent on getting out to the road that I walked right by the patch of white hidden in the raspberry brush. I retraced my steps to find a patch of sanguinaria canadensis, otherwise known as Blood Root hidden among the brown of last years oak and elm leaves. 

It was a struggle to get though the tangle of raspberry brush and while the light wasn't at its best, I was happy to bring home an image of what feels like the first true sign of spring. Sometimes capturing the moment is more important than the perfect conditions. 

"Bloom Where You're Planted: Blood Root." Digital Image. May 13, 2013.

Copyright (c) Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski 2013

A Year Of Creativity #105: They Don't Call It A Bird Bath For Nothing

No light, low light, incorrect ev and f-stop settings - missed opportunities, not enough opportunities - sometimes it seems that the expense of great camera equipment is being wasted. 

Apparently this photographer sometimes expects those National Geographic moments to be an every day occurrence instead of looking for the every day to be a personal moment.

"They Don't Call It A Bird Bath For Nothing." Digital Image. April 7, 2013

Copyright (c) Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski 2013

A Year Of Creativity #21: Magic In A Bird Bath

Reason number 86 of why I love winter. 

During the months when walking the trails on our property can be done with a light jacket, a sweatshirt or a t-shirt (braving the mosquitoes and insects that swoop down as soon as you enter the shelter of the woods ...) you are left to wonder what bird or animal has gone before you. Unless you happen upon them or they leave a track or scat ... you can only speculate.

If you enjoy upland bird hunting in northern Wisconsin, you look forward to those mornings when the scent of grouse and woodcock is carried on the cool crisp air to your favorite hunting companion. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, it is a thing of beauty to watch a cocker working the cover, gathering in the scent of all the creatures, searching for The One that will lead him/her to the ultimate goal.

Head out to those same trails when they are snow covered and you will see what is hidden from your view during the warm and green time of the year that everyone seems to yearn for. The meandering tracks of a mouse, the purposeful track of a deer, the imprint in the snow of a Ruffed Grouse landing in the snow ... it's as if nature is rewarding you for venturing out in the cold by sharing some of her secrets.

It's the reason I chose frost as my creative moment of the day: water vapor, invisible under any other circumstances until the temperature reaches that certain number and as if by magic, crystal one-of-a-kind shapes appear and cling together. Magic. Even in a bird bath.

"Magic In A Bird Bath." Digital image. January 21, 2013. Original photograph privately held by

Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski (c) 2013.

A Year Of Creativity #04: Winter Sentinel

For as long as I can remember, this pine tree has been standing guard in the field across the road from my grandparents farm. Through the years it has offered shade to generations of cows, home to hundreds of birds, a perch for hawks and eagles. Visiting the standing stones in England and in Orkney reminded me of this lone tree "back home." I think winter is when the tree shows its strength and beauty.

"Winter Sentinel." January 4, 2013. Original photograph privately held by 

Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski (c) 2013

A Year of Creativity #01: Reach Beyond Your Grasp

Sometimes you have to reach beyond what you think you are capable of.

The results will surprise you

"Reach Beyond Your Grasp." Digital Image. December 26,2012. Original Photograph.
Privately Held by Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski (c) 2012

Wordless Wednesday: Carrying The Sky On His Back

The bluebird carries the sky on his back ~ Henry David Thoreau

"Carrying The Sky On His Back." Digital Image. April 8, 2012. Original Photograph.

Privately Held by Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski (c) 2012

Wordless Wednesday: Sometimes It's Enough Just To Hang On

"Sometimes It's Enough Just to Hang On." Digital Image. December 2010.

Copyright (c) Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski, 2012

Wordless Wednesday: Sandhill Crane Minuet

"Sandhill Crane Minuet." Copyright (c) 2011 Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

Wordless Wednesday: Summer Day

Copyright (c) 2010, Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

Wordless Wednesday

Copyright (c) 2010 Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

Wordless Wednesday: Logging in Northern Wisconsin

Logging in Forest county, located in northeast Wisconsin, December 1927. Many of the men featured in this photograph, including my maternal grandfather Harley Space (pictured in the front row, sixth from the left), were children and grandchildren of pioneers who settled this part of the state. As I look forward to time spent 'up north' to ring in the new year with my lightweight snowshoes, Polartec jacket and gloves, Under Armor insulating layers, I think back to when this photograph was taken; a time when it was uncommon to spend more time inside than out. This brings to mind how close we are to losing contact with Mother Nature.

Copyright Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski 2009

Wordless Wednesday

A chilly early Autumn sunrise "up north" Wisconsin

Copyright © 2009 by Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

Wordless Wednesday

Copyright © 2009 by Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

Travels With Iris

One of the joys in my life is biking. What started out as an alternative to walking seems to have taken on a life of its own. Our first bikes were Schwinn comfort bike - comfy seat, sitting upright - the perfect bike for a couple of then forty-year-olds rediscovering biking. The kind of bike you could just jump on and head off down the street. After a few months spent riding around the neighborhood, Al and I progressed to tackling one of our area's 'gems', the Green Circle Trail. A twenty-seven mile route that encompasses not only city streets and neighborhoods but paths through pine and hardwood forests as well as views of the Little Plover River and the Wisconsin River. While I would have been happy continuing to put miles on my Schwinn, Al began to look at mountain bikes, something more suited to off road biking. The purchase of the mountain bikes was the start of our relationships with the Trek dealers within a 100 mile radius.


Thanks to Bring's, Wheel and Sproket, Machinery Row and Trek Bicycle Store, not only do I have three bikes but just about every gadget and cycling apparel that allows me to ride in any kind of weather except snow (that is where I draw the line.) However, when I want to find my center, there is nothing better than hauling out the mountain bike, nicknamed Iris for the color of her paint, and biking half of the Green Circle. I can clear my mind of the clutter and where oftentimes the answer to those nagging family research questions seem to drop down from nowhere.


I wish everyone those green spaces in your life to help balance the beauty of the city with the beauty of what my grandmother use to call 'the out of doors.'





I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets. It has given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day. It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful. Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy. ~Hamlin Garland, McClure's, February 1899








The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man. ~Author Unknown

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I can enjoy society in a room; but out of doors, nature is company enough for me. ~William Hazlitt

To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. ~Helen Keller

The woods were made for the hunters of dreams,

The brooks for the fishers of song;

To the hunters who hunt for the gunless game

The streams and the woods belong.

~Sam Walter Foss

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~Albert Einstein

Nature is my medicine. ~Sara Moss-Wolfe



Photographs Copyright © 2009 by Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski