About Beautiful/Wonderful
Dear friends,
Welcome! Beautiful/Wonderful is a new twice-monthly, nature-focused newsletter from me, David Jeffrey Ringer, for curious people and nature lovers. Think of Beautiful/Wonderful as a series of nature walks and wide-ranging conversations about natural history and science.
I will publish new essays on the second and final Saturdays of each month. I'll post an audio version of each essay as well, and I'll include some original photography when I can. By signing up here, you'll never miss out!
Who you are
If you have a cactus on your windowsill, if you text animal questions and videos to that one friend (or if you're the friend who gets all those messages), if you feel a little better when you go outside, if you've ever looked at a bird and wondered what exactly it was doing, if you liked science or dinosaurs as a kid, or if you wonder about new places or how things fit together, then Beautiful/Wonderful is for you.
Membership
I'd love to have you subscribe to Beautiful/Wonderful as a free or supporting member. Free membership means you'll receive new content via email and you'll be able to comment on the site to discuss things with me and other members. As a supporting member, you'll also get dedicated behind-the-scenes/bonus content with each new essay and links to additional photos, plus, you'll help me develop and grow Beautiful/Wonderful. Thank you so much!
The cover image
I photographed the Roseate Spoonbills on my cover image at a nesting colony in West Bay, Texas, in 2018 when I was working for Audubon. You can read about that beautiful day here. Also in the photo (l-r): Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, Forster's Tern. Black mangroves provide the nesting environment for these large, colorful wading birds.
More about me
I've been a naturalist and birder since I was a little kid. I live in Manhattan and get to travel a lot for work, life, and natural history pursuits. You can find me on social media, iNaturalist, and eBird. I am co-founder of Green Jay Strategies and advise public figures, CEOs, and communications executives (professional bio).
The title
The title Beautiful/Wonderful is a nod to the closing lines of On the Origin of Species, but more important, it's an invitation for you to revel with me in the profound joys and abiding mysteries of life on Earth.