Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

As the non-Winter closes, we should take a moment to ponder how it might have affected and continues to affect our native birds. This winter I noticed  many eagles, both adults and immature, were still seen locally in January and February, 2024 when, in past years,...

The Lethality of Lead

Indoor plumbing was introduced into the United States in the 1830s, initially in wealthy homes, and later, middle-class houses. Many did not have water taps and toilets until at least the 1880s—nonetheless, lead pipes were already identified as a source of lead...

Seeds for Change

Fifty people turned out on a dark January evening to listen to retired middle school teacher Pat Collins speak on the importance of native plants as food sources in the food web. With humans occupying so much of the earth’s surface and modifying it for their own...

Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis

The first bird Tom and I saw for the Christmas Bird Count this year was a bedraggled Red-tailed Hawk, hunched over at the top of a large tree off County 9. It looked miserable in the rain. Its head feathers were wet and ruffled. The Red-tailed Hawk is one of the most...

The Christmas Bird Count

On December 16th, Wild River Audubon will participate in the North American Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for the 47th year. Our CBC is the longest data-collecting endeavor in East-Central Minnesota in the history of the state. And it is not a government program, it is...

The Eurasian Crane, Grus grus

I stepped out the door to the bakery and paused. A faint bugling. Yes, cranes! Overhead! Looked up and saw perhaps twenty birds, flying high and heading south. But this wasn’t Chisago County and those weren’t Sandhill Cranes. I was on the island of Gotland in the...