hatching a plan.

Photos: Tim Burris and Matt Suder

An important part of Natural Lands’ mission is to connect people to the outdoors and to each other. Matt Suder and Robin McDaniel certainly found this connection on their first date at Mariton Wildlife Sanctuary in Easton, PA. They’d talked online for many weeks prior to meeting, and decided the preserve was equidistant from their homes.

“We spent hours on the overlook rock, just talking and looking out over the river,” Matt shared. “That day made me realize how important she was and how I needed to devote everything to her.”

Matt commemorated Mariton’s role in their connection story by getting a tattoo of a White-breasted Nuthatch on his left ring finger. The same design of this native songbird is carved into a sign at Mariton’s entrance. Mary and Tony Guerrero—owners of the property before it was a preserve and for whom Mariton is named—loved these small birds, which are easy to spot as they perch upside-down on tree trunks. A close friend of the Guerreros carved the sign that Matt chose as inspiration for his tattoo.

“My feelings for Matt were solidified that day and I knew that my life was changing in the best way possible. Mariton was the perfect backdrop for that experience,” said Robin.