wet woods and the muddy Root River

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It's late August and time for the beginning of the autumn avian transect counts on the MCAMMP project (see it here). One of my favorite sites is adjacent to the Root River. These last few days rain has swelled the Root, and made the woods very wet, creating good conditions for the fruiting bodies of fungi (we call many of these mushrooms). Here's a large Boletus - I don't know which species it is. It's about 20 cm in height. There were also some Amanita sp. and other mushroom species present.

Alternative Conservation and Birding News

Alternative Conservation and Birding News

See some recent good news from boreal Canada, regarding years of conservation negotiations, at this site.

Read recent news from the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network here.

Research news from the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology is available at this link.

Watch a new Cornell Lab of Ornithology video here.

Take a look: 350.org

Please take some time to take a look at the website 350.org --- then take some time to think about what it might mean for you. It's worth considering what change can mean, and whether or not we want to be part of it, and have enough courage to be part of it.

THE falls...

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Did you know that Wisconsin has the fourth-tallest waterfall east of the Rockies? If you've never been there, it's worth a side trip when you're in Douglas County, not far south of the city of Superior. Big Manitou Falls, at 165 feet, is THE falls in northwestern Wisconsin. If you're interested in waterfalls, see the Great Lakes Waterfalls website.

What are Leah and Hannah up to?

Leah and Hannah have been traveling this summer - to Chicago (visiting the open-air Calder sculpture, above, and in the Chicago Art Institute), to the high country of Colorado (with dear friend Mikayla, above), to Arches NP and Mesa Verde NP and other southwestern sites (see "The Gossips" and some petroglyphs they photographed), and lastly, Hannah with dad to the North Shore of Lake Superior (at the Split Rock lighthouse overlook, at top). Leah's got us both beat as far as traveling, though - she's in Boston at a conference, now!

North Shore images and remembrances

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My daughter and I had a wonderful array of wildlife on the North Shore of Lake Superior this last week, including many ravens, loons, Merlin, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Red Crossbill, and a still-vocal Philadelphia Vireo in the forest in Cook County (almost to the US/Canada border). Despite being in the right habitat, we were, however, unsuccessful in our search for moose!

We also went to Split Rock lighthouse, the Temperance River gorge (photos above, and a bit of video below), and the Lake Superior shore in a number of locations.

wetlands and prairies, plus Blazing Stars!

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If you've never been to Crex Meadows State Wildlife Area in Burnett County, you're missing some wonderful wetlands and prairies. These Blazing Stars (Liatris, sp.) are in bloom there right now. Among wildlife species seen this weekend were Common Loon families, Greater Yellowlegs, many Sandhill Cranes, and Trumpeter Swans. A very rare Western Tanager was highly unusual, and far out of its geographic range. Along with several other rare species seen in the Midwest recently, this bird is from the west and may be on the move due to drought conditions. To learn more about Crex Meadows, go to this site.

Steve B.'s new site

Steve Betchkal, who is an extraordinary guy, has a new site, focusing on birds and birding: Many More Birds 2 U - be sure to check it out, it's superb.

new issue of the online journal Conservation Letters; wind and birds; other news

A new issue of the online journal Conservation Letters is available here. All of the other issues from this year are linked here.

Read about the "Bird of the Month" (this month it is the Willet) at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, here. A nice collection of Willet photos is on their site here.

A new white paper entitled "Minimizing the Impact of Wind Turbines on Lake Michigan's Wildlife" is available from the Bird Conservation Network, here.