Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)

In 1936, Dr. T. S. Roberts and his assistant, Walter Breckenridge, were driving on the road between Minneapolis and Madison, Wisconsin, heading to the American Ornithologists Union annual meeting in Pittsburgh, when they beheld a magnificent sight. A large flock of...

How to Clean a Bird Feeder

The days grow cooler, the nights are longer and folks begin to think about refilling their bird feeders that they might have let sit empty during the summer. Before you fill you feeders with fresh seed from Wild River Audubon’s birdseed sale, though, take a few...

Eastern Bluebirds in Wild River State Park

Last spring thousands of bluebirds were lost when they encountered wet, freezing weather while migrating north through the central states. As the monitor of the bluebird trail in Wild River State Park, I wondered how many of “my” bluebirds would return to the park’s...

Checkerboard County Park Bird Walk

Beginning in May, Wild River Audubon has held bird walks every other month.  Our third walk of the year took place on Saturday, August 21 at Checkerboard County Park.  This 79-acre park is located on the east edge of North Branch and just west of the North Branch of...

The American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)

I was sitting on our back porch the fourth week in August, idly passing time and wondering what was in the surrounding woods. Unthinkingly, I began pishing, and was startled to immediately call in two immature American Redstarts that seemed to be traveling together. A...

A Dickcissel Year

Early one  morning  in June, I was cycling along Chisago County Road 20 and passed a pasture of singing grassland birds. I  heard bobolinks, savannah sparrows, a single eastern meadowlark and, I couldn’t believe my ears, a dozen chortling dickcissels. I sometimes...