Musings
Cow Elk
This website is my attempt to reach out to folks who live in "The Real World", love it like I do, and want to share. Many moons ago I ran across an uncredited quote that has long resided at the bottom of my stationary. "The joy of a beautiful thing is the happiness that sharing it can bring." For 35 plus years I've shared my field encounters with thousands of audiences across the land. Now, everyone can explore and share with me as I seek out the tiny exotic Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, Vancouver Island's famous killer whales, the spectacular highlands and islands of Scotland, the bears and moose of Alaska, as well as the moose of northern Ontario.
Mandarin Duck
The major difference between the moose I'm sharing, and those you may have seen before, is their color - they're white! I hunted (with a camera) those white moose for nearly a decade. "The Gift of the White Moose" is one of my proudest accomplishments. It's not only an amazing opportunity to see one of nature's rarest creatures; but I've also taken the time to acquaint you with their home - the Boreal Forest and many of its other inhabitants.
The white moose are also part of a much longer film titled, "In Search of the Albino". I roamed over much of the contiguous 48 states looking for albino and leucistic animals. Leucistic is simply a term meaning "white". For nearly a decade, I found and filmed over 30 of these rare and amazing creatures.
Early in my filmmaking/lecturing career I produced a "backyard" film titled "Superior, Land of the Woodland Drummer". Having been raised in Michigan and a big fan of the children's book Paddle to the Sea, I wanted to make a film about the north country. The woodland drummer is of course the Ruffed Grouse who drums atop a log to advise hens of his availability while warning other males to stay out of his territory. It has long been a popular film. I've now put a full soundtrack on it. It is now available as a DVD.
Bhutan Dancer
A more recent adventure centered around the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan in the Himalayas. At my wife Nancy's urging, we went there twice to assemble what I believe is an intimate look at one of the world's premier travel destinations. It's often referred to as "The Last Shangri-la" and rightly so. Everyone smiles at you, security is not a concern and theft is unheard of. The Buddhist philosophy is simple: The Golden Rule.
Highland Dancer
Between 1990 and 2000 I went to Scotland three times and produced two 90 minute films on that most cherished and time-honored land. I was not content to simply record the usual tourist destinations. My training and sense of wonder compelled me to take the viewer into the back country for closeup looks at "Wild Scotland". The two shows are unique visits with lots of surprises along the way.
"Surprises along the way" describes most of my many journeys hither and yon over the years. I love and treasure the natural world. It's where I'm happiest and most comfortable. It's in the wild that my "sense of wonder", and I hope yours, can be exploited to the fullest.
Thank you for these few precious moments. May all of your senses remain sharp and in tune with the world around you.
Tom Sterling
Harbor Seal