Field Journal

Welcome to the Just My Nature Field Journal. 

This field journal gathers the threads of a life lived outdoors and what I make of it.  It holds days spent on moving water, quiet hours at the vise, images found through my lens or shaped by my hands, and marks made in pencil, paint, or music. Some entries are observations, some reflections, others fragments worth keeping - moments, patterns, ideas, and small experiments that may grow toward larger expeditions and conservation work down a road that I hope to travel more of. It is not meant to be complete or polished, but honest to the experience of truly seeing, of making things, and of following curiosity wherever it leads. I keep this journal first for myself and those closest to me, but anyone who finds their way here is welcome to wander alongside.

"Mystery Globes" Found In Our Forest
June 17, 2026  |  Whippoorwill Woods, Brule Forest

Walking the edges of our oak rich forest forest today, I expect to see leaves and miniature acorns this time of year - not little green globes hanging from the twigs like marble‑sized ornaments...

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Bois Brule: 2026 First Foray Hits The Mark
Bois Brule: 2026 First Foray Hits The Mark
June 16, 2026  |  Bois Brule River, Wisconsin

Saturday - June 13, 2026

I’m a little late to my favorite Wisconsin river this year. There have been plenty of early season waters to keep me away! From Driftless pastures to Northwoods forests...

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Giant Moths of Northwest Wisconsin
Giant Moths of Northwest Wisconsin
June 10, 2026  |  Whiskey Lake - Douglas County, Wisconsin

The Giant Moths of Northwest Wisconsin. . . and what they tell us about a healthy forest.

Anyone who has fly-fished the Bois Brule River in the dead of night knows the sound: Whippoorwills calling up and down the river, hunting the big night-hatching mayflies like the Brown Drake and Hexagenia Limbata...

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Barred Owls of Whippoorwill Forest
Barred Owls of Whippoorwill Forest
May 21, 2026  |  Highland, WI

One of the best parts of owning a northwoods forest is realizing you can step outside and find experiences on par with anywhere else you’ve traveled. Our 102 acres are a mix of mature oak, maple, aspen, birch, and basswood, along with spruce, cedar, tamarack, black spruce, and both white and red pine...

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A Rare Encounter
A Rare Encounter
May 21, 2026  |  Whiskey Lake - Douglas County, Wisconsin

He slips between the forest trees like a shadow. My eyes search intently, but I cannot find him. I have no choice but to sit quietly and wait. Eventually I will hear the heavy flutter of his wings or the magnetic “drumming” that this largest of woodpeckers is known for...

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Morning Mist
Morning Mist
February 2019  |  Bois Brule River

Morning Mist From Flowing Water Rises - By Paul Stillmank

Morning mist from flowing water rises,
And wafts like clouds swirling through the sky...

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Lost In The Bois Brule River
Lost In The Bois Brule River
June 2018  |  Bois Brule River

I have lost myself in the gentle waters of the Bois Brule River once again. The light is fading as I creep along its boulder-strewn edges. Peering through the rolling fog and drizzle, I spy a brown drake adrift along the tag alders lining the opposite bank...

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Ode to the Cedar Tree
Ode to the Cedar Tree
December 28, 2014

Oh cedar tree of forest pure 
That bows at river’s edge,
You greet the angler wading by
And hide the new-hatched sedge.

Aroma spoors the air we breathe
While Tannin seeps below,
To color waters amber brown
And hide the trout, our foe...

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River of Emotion
River of Emotion
June 10, 2010  |  Breed, WI

Rivers talk to us. Early in our fishing careers, the sound is faint and we can only make out some of the words. As the river miles stretch out across our lives, the message becomes clearer. Listen closely...

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Promised Land – The Bois Brule River
Promised Land – The Bois Brule River
June 20, 2009  |  Brule, Wisconsin
Saturday, June 20th, 2009

It’s “Christmas Day” today! Last night was “Christmas Eve.”  What do I mean by that? It’s the Bois Brule River trip! The preparations and care that we go through to plan this annual pilgrimage are no less than the effort and planning than we put into that most sacred of holidays...

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St. Croix County – A Blast From Our Past
St. Croix County – A Blast From Our Past
May 16, 2009  |  Hudson, WI

Saturday, May 16th, 2009
Well, here we are in St. Croix County. Hudson, Wisconsin. It’s Saturday, the 16th of May. I am here with my brother Joe and we are going back to the oldest of haunts: the Willow River, the Rush River, and the Kinnickinnick River...

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Castle Rock Creek - Early Years
Castle Rock Creek - Early Years
May 21, 2009  |  Fennimore, WI

Some of my earliest and best flyfishing memories are of Castle Rock Creek in Grant County, Wisconsin. This creek is located just outside Fennimore and is labeled Fennimore Fork on most maps. My brother Joe and I were intensely devoted to that creek between 1993 and 1999 and we still stop by to look it over each year – walking its banks and remembering...

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Of Fish and Friends – Part 2
Of Fish and Friends – Part 2
May 12, 2009  |  Avalanche, WI

Tuesday, May 12th and Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

Planes are steadily coming and going from the General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The FJ is parked outside of baggage claim for only a short time when Ingemar emerges, bags in hand...

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Of Fish and Friends – Part 1
Of Fish and Friends – Part 1
May 11, 2009  |  Fennimore, WI

Mother’s day weekend is spent at home – time well spent with a wonderful woman – some would say a saint! . We have a 2 ½ year old on the run and another little guy arriving sometime in August...

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A Trio of Small Waters
A Trio of Small Waters
May 7, 2009

Monday, May 4th thru Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Wisconsin Fly Fishing Fever continues! I dropped my brother Joe off at his home in Waukesha last night and then drove into Madison to pick up my daughter Caitlin and we headed right back out to SW Wisconsin...

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The Serenity of a Small River and the Reward of a Big Fish
The Serenity of a Small River and the Reward of a Big Fish
May 4, 2009  |  Fennimore, WI

Well here we are on Sunday Morning, May 3rd – our 2nd day of opening weekend. Today we are headed for a much smaller piece of river. It is labeled a river; however it is much more the size of a small creek...

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Opening Trout Season 2009
Opening Trout Season 2009
May 2, 2009  |  Fennimore, WI

Well here we are on opening day weekend in Fennimore, Wisconsin and I am finally out with my brother Joe – appropriate on an opening day in 2009. The first order of the day was to knock out a quick blog post covering a little controversy on the blog with respect to how much detail is shared on streams that we fish (see below)...

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Big Green River - Day Trip
Big Green River - Day Trip
April 23, 2009  |  Fennimore, WI

The forecast for Fennimore was sunny and 70-degrees today, so my brother-in-law Chuck and I high-tailed it back over the to Big Green River for one last foray before the regular season. We drove through some rain in Madison, but Fennimore did not disappoint us...

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Big Green River – 2009 Kickoff
Big Green River – 2009 Kickoff
April 21, 2009  |  Fennimore, WI

There probably is not a more varied stream in SW Wisconsin than the Big Green River. Pasture Land with open room to cast. Wooded sections with overhanging limbs, downed timber and under cut banks...

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