Jul 24 2009
Meet the Modern Naturalist
Self-portrait by Matthew Sarver
Good news for all of you who enjoy well-written, thoughtful, authoritative, and nicely-illustrated blog posts (and if that’s you, what are you doing here?). My buddy Matt Sarver has been cultivating his web presence, including launching a new blog, appropriately called The Modern Naturalist.
Matt’s a great birder, naturally, but he’s also lamentably talented in just about every field of natural history. Did I say lamentably? I meant laudably. Just a little jealous here, sorry.
Being afield with Matt is a little like drinking from the proverbial fire hose. It seems like he can put a name to everything that flies, crawls, or photosynthesizes. And usually not just a name–he almost always has some interesting tidbit to share about the life history of each animal or vegetable, turning an ordinary walk into something educational and entertaining. Last Sunday, he showed me a bee which despite all appearances, was not a bumblebee. He went on to tell me that this non-bumblebee specializes in eating the pollen of hibiscus flowers. This was just one of dozens of cool critters he alerted me to that day. I was impressed.
Matt’s a hands-on kind of guy. He manages a property he owns in southwestern Pennsylvania, striving to improve the quality of the habitat there. And now that the governor of Pennsylvania has given his blessing to fire as a management tool–look out. I expect to see some pretty hot posts coming out of that. He’s also a sailor, crewing on the Kalmar Nyckel, our friendly neighborhood tall ship. Some say he got that gig in classic high-seas fashion–by sleeping with the captain–but I’ll leave that to him to confirm or deny.
Though he’s only been in Delaware for a couple of years, Matt is already making quite a mark. He and his Captain already keelhauled us in the Delaware Birdathon this year.
I’m betting that Matt will quickly become a star in the nature blogging sky. So click on over and say hello.
hee hee..whoops..
commented on wrong blog..Sorry Jeff..just doing too many things at once..u can delete that previous comment..
So to you i say..
Thanks for introducing me to The Modern Naturalist..
great blog..
now instead of a blogroll of ten miles long it is ten miles plus!
Seriously though, I am always happy to find new interesting blogs.
Thanks!
Hey Dawn–
Thanks for stopping by and for spreading the word about Matt’s blog.
I really appreciate all you do for the bird and nature blogging community.
What a coinkidink, I just reconnected with Matt last week when he commented on my Roseate Spoonbill post.
During his Cornell days, which overlapped mine, he was part of a legendary group of young Ithaca birders all named Matt. As in, the Many Matts Who Bird. Mike Powers helped me piece together the trio, which included Matt Young and Matt Medler. The Matts were all avid, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic birders and contributed much to the Ithaca birding scene.
It’s good to see Matt on the blogosphere and I look forward to reading his blogging adventures.
Hey Jeff –
Thanks for the introduction! It’s an honor to be lamented/lauded by such a birding superstar. I should warn your readers that while I try to know a little something about everything in nature, being a jack-of-all-trades has its trade-offs. Those trade-offs are woefully evident when I go birding with one Jeffrey A. Gordon. Fortunately – it’s a great way for both of us to expand our horizons. Jeff helps me improve with things like identifying distant peeps, and I trick Jeff into thinking I’m smart by making up random Latin names for every non-bird organism we see. So far, the collaboration seems to be working nicely. As for the suspiciously tabloid-esque intimations about exactly how I was shanghaied into the shadowy world of 17th-century tallships, I’ll leave that to the collective imagination of the blogosphere.
Dawn – thanks for checking out my blog!
Laura – thanks for the compliments about the Cornell days! What a great birding community there! No discussion of the Matts, however, could be complete without Matt Williams, the 4th amigo, he of the engineering persuasion, who after a few years of bird field work in California, actually decided to use his degree to get a “regular” job. Go figure. With two of the original four Matts now back on the Cornell scene, a Matt reunion can’t be far off….
Matt,
You’re right! I forgot about Williams the fourth Matt, who made it a virtual cornucopia of bird-wise Matts! A ‘Matt’ reunion sounds fun.
L
I can’t believe nobody nailed me for typing altered when I meant alerted. “…dozens of cool critters he altered me to….” That brings up all kinds of images, none of them especially pleasant.
Were y’all just being nice, or are you multitasking? Fortunately, Liz caught it.
Thanks for all the commentary on this one…though Matt, I think you’re making our bromance a tad obvious.
Hey sailor…