One of the things I’ve loved about blogging but that was unexpected when I first started has been the community of like-minded people. I love that I can post a photo of something unknown and somebody will be able to identify it for me. I like when readers comment about similar experiences they’ve had, or when I perhaps (unintentionally) answered a question they had. It’s fun when readers take what I’ve shared and then go out to search for it themselves – sometimes with surprising and interesting results. And although there are many, many more excellent blogs out there than I’m humanly able to visit on a regular basis, I also like popping over to see what’s going on in other bloggers’ worlds.
When I started this blog in January last year, I knew pretty much all of my regular readers. It was pretty simple at the beginning – there were only a dozen or two people who visited the blog with any frequency. Twenty months later, the readership of this blog has grown substantially – far more people drop by than I’d ever imagined when I first started it! As the blog grows, I’ve started to feel more of a disconnect from the readership. And I’m still a relatively small fish – I have to imagine that bloggers with enough readers to rank on the frontpage of the Nature Blog Network have trouble with this on an even larger scale.
I love that I’m reaching more people, but I wish I better knew who I was reaching. So I want to hear from YOU, the reader: Who are you? Where are you from? Do you keep your own blog? What brought you here – and better yet, what keeps you here?
I’ve been thinking of adding in more interactive posts – polls, quizes, etc. Perhaps as another weekly regular akin to my Monday Miscellany. Is this something readers would enjoy participating in? Or should I stick to the information-sharing style that I’ve built the blog this far upon?
I have been meaning to update and reorganize my blogroll for ages, too. If you have me listed on your blogroll, but you don’t appear on mine, please leave me a comment! I already have some of my readers on a list of need-to-adds, but it can be hard to discover everybody.
Finally, a very big, heartfelt THANK-YOU to all my readers, past and present, for your patronage! You’re the reason I keep sitting down at the keyboard in the evening, because it gets a little lonely if you’re just blogging to yourself.
seabrookeleckie.com 
The increasing popularity of your blog does not surprise me. It is consistently well-written and one of the best at being both entertaining and informative. It is definitely on my blogroll.
Thanks, Marvin. I enjoy popping over to yours when I can. Your recent skippers on garlic chives post answered a question I had about some unidentified plants growing in our adopted garden, also covered with butterflies and insects.
You have been on my blog roll since the beginning. Keeping up with comments and commenting on the blogs of commenters is VERY time consuming and impossible to do consistently if you have another job. Keep up the good work. You research your material well and always have topics of interest.
Thanks, Ruth. It’s true it can be a full-time job, if you let it! And I would love to, but I haven’t worked out how to earn money by doing so yet…
Seabrooke, You have a great blog, like most people I like the knowledge I pick up and even help figuring out a little mystery that someone might have help trying to decode. You definitely hit upon the right combination of content to gain and most importantly keep a readership interested. It’s a challenge as I’ve been finding out.
Thanks, Kirk. It can be a bit of a challenge. I found that I most enjoyed writing what I most enjoyed reading (even if it was a bit more work to do the research), and it’s worked out well in terms of attracting readers.
I like the style you have, you don’t need to change it in my opinion. Your posts are informative, entertaining, well-written, and a good length. Your photography is excellent too, and your subjects are nicely varied.
Most important, to me is that your posts are consistently good, never ‘space-fillers’. I subscribe to a lot of blogs, but quickly unsubscribe from those that post too often or without thought for their reader. Yours fits the bill nicely for me, keep up the good work!
Thanks, Tony. I do try to put at least a little bit of effort into even my shorter posts. I just can’t seem to bring myself to just post a photo without writing something to go with it – a writer at heart, I guess!
I’m not sure how I found your blog Seabrooke, but I wish I knew, for it would be nice to thank the person/blog who pointed me in the direction of the Marvelous in nature.
You have, consistently, written extremely well, about a wide breadth of subjects. And you have, in my opinion, one of the best Natural History blogs that exist. Keep at it.
Thanks, Clare. I love reading your blog, too – such great scenery and observations, same country but totally different world!
I love what you do. It’s always informative, visually captivating, and exceptionally educational and insightful. And to be honest, I can live a northern lifestyle vicariously through what you do since I live way the heck down here in Texas. (The differences in your natural world compared to mine always fascinate me.)
I found your blog by following a moth-related link. It was from a blog I already followed (though I don’t remember which one). Once I got here, I was hooked.
Thanks, Jason. It is nice to be able to travel the world through another person’s eyes. There’s so many fascinating places that I have yet to get to – Texas being one of them!
I visited your blog out of curiosity due to the title. I’ll keep returning for the great writing, photos an illustrations. Judging from the above comments, you have no need to fear being a lonely blogger!
Thanks, Adrian – it’s nice to have that community of readers to share one’s observations with!
Seab, I thought I’d lost you after lj, so I’m thrilled that you’re still eloquently feeding brains! Alas, when Matt and I started seetrail, we had no particular goal, no pressures and no readers. Now we’re staring at maps and guessing which sitemeter visitors we actually know (they’re pretty easy), but the spindalis news has garnered half of FL’s birders and it’s a mess. Yet we still have -no- comments.
I’d certainly enjoy an excuse to speak up more often (so you can feel the love), so feel free to add polls and things. Generally not commenting is still “yay, another post!” …though there are some blogs that I dropped (eg, grrlscientist) because the posts were impersonal, repetitive, and a dozen per day. So keep up the good work, you cover a great variety of natural interests that certainly don’t get repetitive!
It’s funny how a regular readership creates a pressure to blog, Heidi – there’s something to be said for blogging for oneself. It’s also funny how if a post doesn’t garner any comments you wonder if it wasn’t interesting, but really there could be many people who’ve read it and enjoyed it, like yourself. :)
Hi,
I’ve had you on my blogroll for a good while but I can’t remember how I came by you. I live in the south Cariboo region of B.C.in a fairly arid part of that region.
I enjoy your blog for it is informative but personal too. I haven’t commented a whole lot because it is nice to have blogs one just reads and doesn’t feel obliged to comment … unless something really hits a bell.
I have 3 blogs, one on our day to day life, walks etc, one on the local plants I have discovered in our region and one on recipes. The recipes are more for our own use when we are not at home. I’ve limited my visitors (not that I’ve ever had many) by taking myself out of google searches.
Thanks, Cis – It’s true that it’s nice to have blogs that one just reads and enjoys. That’s an interesting idea regarding yoru recipe blog – there are times that I would have found that very handy!
I don’t remember how I found your blog. It was probably through a blog carnival or a link from another blog. In any case, I keep reading because it’s one of the better-written nature blogs and you consistently find interesting things to write about.
Thanks, John. I enjoy followng the news and such through your blog, something I’m not really on top of, myself. You’re my most regular Flickr-follower, too, or at least the person who “favourites” the most photos.
I found you through NBN. As you can tell from my web site URL, I focus on things on and about our Brevard County, Florida beach, branching off into shuttle takeoffs and landings and miscellany every once in a while. I envy your remote location and beautiful home. I don’t envy your snow. :)
marge
Yes, the snow can be a bit tiresome after a few months of it, although those first couple of snowfalls in December, leading up to Christmas, are really pretty. I envy your mild winters that keeps the wildlife active – it gets so quiet here in the winter months!
Greetings Seabrooke,
For the better of two months, I’ve silently frequented this blog — absorbing the bulk of your experiences, and admiring the assortment of organisms you come in contact with. Being somewhat pessimistic of supposedly humane, wildlife treatment, it’s refreshing to see someone so passionate about nature. In fact, your devotion is nothing short of motivational. Keep up the fantastic work!
PS: I’d simply adore the opportunity to visit Peru (especially alongside a knowledgeable, fellow “tree-hugger”).
Thanks! I’m a bit of a lurker with most of the blogs I visit, too, so I can relate. Would love to meet some of my readers and get to enjoy Peru at the same time – the blogging community are among the most friendly and personable of folks.
you’ve been on my blogroll for quite a while now… :) i just love the pics you take and quite jealous that you get to see such nice animals………….. keep up the good work.
Thanks, Miss Pegasus! I’m glad you enjoy the blog. Is that you on the horse on your blog header? I’m assuming that’s not you curled into the seashell in your sidebar (you’d need to be impossibly small…)
Hi Seabrooke! I love your blog and I found it through WordPress via the “automatically generated” thing that turns up at the bottom of posts. We write about similar things, and I love your style. You are on my blogroll and I’d love to be on yours. I have just a few regular readers, but maybe that will grow. Meantime, I wouldn’t miss any of your posts for anything. Regards, Diane Tucker, Hillstead Nature Blog
Thanks, Diane! I’ve enjoyed reading your blog posts – we do seem to have a similar approach. I’m just back from a few days away, but I’ll be getting around to updating my blogroll soon, and will be certain to add yours!
Don’t remember how I found my way to your blog, but so glad I did. The quality of your writing, insights, knowledge, and effort is unsurpassed in the blogging world, as far as I am concerned. I live in Brooklyn and keep bees in upstate NY, where I spend as much time as possible. I started my Global Swarming Honeybees blog to share my beekeeping experiences, but soon myself ambling and rambling into other areas of interest–trees, moths, birds, leaves, flowers, Sarah Palin’s stupidity, etc. I too have been thrilled, surprised, and deeply satisfied to find that my efforts reach people all over the world to whom I am connected only through a love of bees and critters, clouds and stars. Thanks for asking these questions, and keep doing what you do. I know it’s a lot of work, but your efforts are appreciated!
Thanks, Gerry. It is nice to discover other people out there who connect to what you’re writing about, isn’t it? I did some beekeeping as part of a summer job one year (the job itself was something else, but I was called in regularly to help with the bees), and while I started out with no particular fear of bees, by the end of the summer I’d developed a bit of a phobia. I appreciate bees and what they do, but I’m happy to leave the tending to other sturdier folk!