Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

A pair of Eastern Phoebes once again occupied the nest tucked under the eave of our cabin on Lake Superior. The nest is at least twenty years old, and may be much older. I’m assuming the same pair, or children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren etc. are in residence....

Book Review: “Owls of the Eastern Ice”

Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl by Jonathan C. Slaght (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2020) Blakiston’s fish owls are huge, the “size of a fire hydrant” according to researcher Jon Slaght. Living in Russia’s Far East, Siberian...

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)

There is an elfin quality to the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Minnesota’s smallest bird. Their nests have been compared to large thimbles, their eggs are the size of peas, they use strands of spider silk to hold the nest together and thistle down to line it. It sounds...

A Blue Bird Day in Chisago County

Wild River Audubon member Gloria Peterson has monitored bluebird trails in Chisago County for 17 years. She recently dropped by for an interview, dressed for the occasion in a peach colored t-shirt sporting a bluebird pair. We took the opportunity to ask questions. Q:...

Cooper’s Hawk

A Cooper’s Hawk had been hanging around our yard all spring. We’d see the bird glide across the driveway as we pulled in, or startle from a tree. But I felt a little thrill of terror when this past weekend my son-in-law pointed out a hawk’s nest high in an adjacent...