Award-winning nature writer Mary Taylor Young spent her childhood summers roaming the Colorado Rockies from her grandparents' cabin in Estes Park. Her love of wild things and the outdoors led to a degree in zoology from Colorada State University and a life devoted to nature and the environment. Her nine books range from Land of Grass and Sky: A Naturalist's Prairie Journey, a story of spiritual growth inspired by the landscape of the High Plains, to the Watchable Birds book series. Mary's Words on Birds column appeared in the Rocky Mountain News from 1993 until 2009. She has published hundreds of articles in periodicals such as Ladies Home Journal, Outside, and Wildlife Conservation. Mary has written extensively for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, Colorado Division of Wildlife and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Many Coloradans know Mary from the quarterly publication Colorado's Wildlife Company. Mary writes from her home in Castle Rock, Colorado, where she lives with her husband, daughter, two dogs, and many wild neighbors.