Life of Bluebirds

“Life of Bluebirds” by Chuck Kartak is a 2 minute video available on the Wild River Audubon YouTube channel. Chuck,retired state park ranger and now an avid wildlife photographer, photographed these bluebirds at a friend’s home near North Branch,...

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

We had two inches of fresh snow last night and the landscape is wintry as I write this, so it is hard to believe that in just three weeks it is likely we will hear the first Red-winged Blackbirds in local marshes. T.S. Roberts records the earliest arrival in...

Protecting Our Birds from Lead Poisoning

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to view a short movie filmed by the University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center. The film showed a mature Bald Eagle writhing in the throes of a painful death from lead poisoning. Dr. Pat Redig, the director of the Center at the...

My Sax Zim Bog Experience

I biked along Sax Zim Bog on Highway 7 in 2005 during a 500 mile four day adventure race with son Zack and two buddies, but didn’t start making winter trips to the bog in search of owls until about six years ago. Since then I’ve made three trips a year and have found...

45th Christmas Bird Count is History

Despite the pandemic, Wild River Audubon’s 45th annual Christmas Bird Count went off without a hitch. On December 19, 2020, 38 participants fanned out in our count circle of fifteen-miles diameter, centered at County Roads 12 and 20, or counted at their backyard...

White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucopters)

Hiking along the Temperance River on the North Shore in early November, I was looking for birds. Our list that weekend was miserably low. A yellowish-streaky bird with white wing bars flitted past me and landed in a nearby spruce. At last, I thought. A Goldfinch. But...