by Sue Leaf | Nov 2, 2019 | Birds
In an Autumn when bad news abounds for bird lovers, let us rejoice in the comeback of the sandhill crane, a good-news story if there ever was one. In the mid-1800s, when settlers began moving into Minnesota in large numbers, the large, gangly birds were reasonably...
by Sue Leaf | Nov 2, 2019 | Birds, Environment
On September 19, 2019, Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, published an article reporting that North America has lost three billion birds, approximately 30 percent, since the 1970s (find the article at this link). The study...
by Sue Leaf | Sep 1, 2019 | Birds
The Tree Swallow with its snowy breast and iridescent green back feathers is one bird I welcome with joy each spring. This year I had for the first time in several years a pair of tree swallows nesting in my purple martin gourds in my yard. Several years back, there...
by Sue Leaf | Jul 1, 2019 | Birds
During the long days of mid-summer in East Central Minnesota, the ditches of our county roads are inhabited by an assemblage of notable singers, often hidden but distinctly heard. Sedge Wrens, Common Yellowthroats, Dickcissels, Savannah Sparrows all sing from the...
by Sue Leaf | Apr 28, 2019 | Birds
If asked to name a bird that we considered “our” bird, most Minnesotans would claim the Common Loon, the state bird. But the bright and unassuming Golden-winged Warbler would be a better choice. Over half of the global population of Golden-wings nest in the state, and...
by Sue Leaf | Mar 28, 2019 | Birds
The industrious Brown Creeper, seldom seen, always welcome. Last month during the Great Backyard Bird Count run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, I was gratified to have a Brown Creeper appear on the sugar maple outside my kitchen window on count day. It was nice of...
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