Laura Erickson's For the Birds

Laura FINALLY got chickadees to eat out of her hand!

Laura seems to be a procrastinator when it comes to gift-giving. (Date confirmed)

Lots of exciting and unusual birds showed up on Duluth’s Christmas Bird Count.

Laura talks about the history of the Christmas Bird Count and has information about this year’s count. Date confirmed.

When birds make eye contact or approach us intentionally, it can feel like genuine magic.

If even the tiniest chickadee or nuthatch, naked as a jaybird, can face the worst of winter head on without complaints, exuberantly celebrating life even at the time when their own lives are most at risk, we bundled up humans inside our warm homes should be able to find one or two things to cheer about too. (Date confirmed)

Laura talks about some birds that have dropped from the sky. Some recovered completely, like the Common Goldeneye that fell out of the sky after a heavy snowstorm in Duluth and ended up in Laura’s bathtub for a couple of days. Others didn’t fare so well. Date confirmed.

The Ultralight Whooping Cranes are closing in on Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. Date confirmed

Great news from Fiji!

What birds are most often seen on holiday greeting cards?

Laura’s already planning her 2004 New Years resolutions, to help birds.

Not many birds gather with their family members on Thanksgiving, but some do.

Laura’s seeing big changes as autumn turns into winter. What should we be seeing this winter?

Why does it take cranes so much longer to follow an Ultralight to Florida in fall than to make the return trip in spring?

If our government can make preemptive strikes on human beings simply to prevent something bad that might happen in the murky future, why can’t they do something to help when something bad actually is happening to the natural world? (Date confirmed)

A Pine Warbler showed up at Laura’s feeder yesterday.

A chickadee missing its tail has been visiting Laura’s feeder; now the tail is growing back.

The Vietnam Memorial’s marble is as cold and black as the hearts and lies of the people who sent young men and women to die. But the wall is also as cold and black as the night sky, a place you can look to when you’re feeling loss; if you don’t find peace and quiet, you at least feel closer somehow to God and nature and other things bigger than yourself. And you have the feeling that even with the birds singing overhead, or maybe because of them, if you whisper very softly, the person you’ve lost will hear you and know that someone still notices that he’s gone.

Laura misses the days when Red-headed Woodpeckers were common.

For the first time since Laura moved to Peabody Street, a Red Squirrel has been visiting her yard.

November can usually be dark and depressing, but this year Laura feels much more cheerful than normal.

How do we distinguish between the birds and other wildlife that belong in an area and those that don’t? It’s not always easy.

How are people protecting beach habitat in southern Florida today, compared with when Laura visited Miami Beach in 1968?

Fall robins are every bit as fascinating as spring robins.

Why are we suddenly taking more steps backward than forward in environmental protections?

What can we do about cats killing birds?

Controlling rats on Anacapa Island off California is helping seabirds and more.

Laura’s been hearing from people about their Blue Jays’ food preferences. Her neighbor sets out acorns, and Laura’s jays head over there before coming back to Laura’s yard for peanuts.

Fifteen Whooping Cranes following an Ultralight aircraft began a journey yesterday that will take them from Wisconsin to Florida.

Laura was heartbroken when the Florida Marlins gobbled up her beloved Cubbies.

You’re invited to the next meeting of the Guilt-Free, Gilt Free Book Club!

This was repeated on October 9, 2003–don’t know when it first aired. (Listed as 2003 on Dell for 06-06-04)

Today’s the day the Whooping Cranes could be taking off from Wisconsin, following an ultralight plane to Florida.

Blue Jays add a special color to the autumn palette, and sparkling activity as well. How can we make their visits as pleasant for them as they are for us?

Sad as it is when a bird dies, some other birds and other animals manage to come out ahead.

Optimism grounded in expectations is not optimism at all: after all, there really isn’t a pony at the bottom of most piles of manure. Chickadee optimism is steeped not in expectations but in faith that life itself is good.

Laura explains how she offers mealworms at her feeder.

A huge warbler migration led to a huge warbler massacre in Duluth yesterday. (Verified date)

This is listed for September 24, 2003 on my Dell computer calendar file.

One of Laura’s friends on BirdChat recounts the story of a cockatoo using a tool as a weapon.

The record-breaking number of hawks flying through on Monday got all the press, but plenty of redstarts were on the move, too.

Yesterday, September 15, the two-millionth raptor was counted at Hawk Ridge on a record-smashing day. Fully 102,329 raptors were counted!

Laura recounts a sweet story she found on the internet about hummingbirds and family.

Laura and Photon took a long walk in Port Wing when the birds way outnumbered the people.

Why is Hawk Ridge such a happenin’ place, for people and for hawks?

Russ gave Laura a fairly expensive gift that may allow her to do what any bird can do for free.

Fall migration is on an entirely different time scale than spring migration. Why are spring migrants rushing in potentially dangerous conditions? And why are fall migrants so much more leisurely?

Not matter what kind of person you are, there’s a bird to match.

Laura isn’t making progress in getting the Black-capped Chickadee named Minnesota’s Emergency Auxiliary Backup State Bird, but they do deserve the designation.

Labor Day always seems a sad occasion for Laura.

Laura’s daughter is in the middle of a great adventure, making Laura think of hummingbirds.

The beautiful but ephemeral spectacle of warbler migration is upon us. Laura explains how to enjoy it.

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but that which we call a Rock Dove will be corrected by an ornithologist to Rock Pigeon now.

This week Mars is as close to earth as it has ever been or will be within our lifetimes, right when migration is reaching a peak. (Date confirmed)

Laura keeps her eyes skyward when driving between Tomah and Necedah, in hopes of spotting a Whooping Crane. (Date confirmed)

Laura found a novel way to control wasps at her hummingbird feeder. Date verified.

Laura spotted a rat under her feeder. (Date verified)

A Mourning Dove hunt will begin in Wisconsin in two weeks. Date confirmed.

Laura’s daughter and two friends are riding bikes around Lake Superior right now, showing a kind of migratory restlessness just like the birds coursing above. (Date confirmed)

How would a human car trip to Chicago or bike ride around Lake Superior compare to bird migration? Date confirmed.

Some people are making disturbing claims that DDT should be back in use. (Date verified)

We start with “one, two, buckle my shoe,” and then some of us progress to birds. (Date verified)

Laura and Photon took a lovely walk in Port Wing

Rerun, but not sure which date (Listed on August 2002 calendar file from old computer, no time mentioned, not listed as a rerun)

Laura wrestles with the ethics of playing bird songs to draw them in. Date confirmed

The cherry tree in Laura’s backyard is a happenin’ place.

I don’t know if this one is new or not–from Calendar in old Dell.

Birds featured in many of the winners of this year’s Bulwer-Lytton Fiction contest. (Date confirmed)

Laura and her friend Janet had a rewarding time looking at shorebirds. (Date confirmed)

How can people live in a world teeming with birds without noticing them? Laura went 23 years before she ever saw a chickadee! (Date confirmed)

Laura visited her son in Florida in the heat of July when most sensible birds were far north of there.

A lot of birds visit Laura’s feeder for mealworms, giving her lots to see and wonder about.

All we need to do is open our windows to notice summer magic. (Date confirmed)

I think this was a new one. From calendar on old Dell.

Kim Kelly had a surprising interaction with a hummingbird.

Laura quotes from Bill from Ohio who has been looking into the decline of Common Nighthawks. (Date confirmed)

With owling, as with so many things, you need to enjoy the process and take your chances with the results.

Some of the birds that were hard for Laura to find in her yard in the 80s and 90s are much more common now; others are disappearing. 4:49

Laura reminisces about how she added several hawks and owls to her yard list.

Laura reminisces about building her “yard list” of all the birds she’s seen in her little corner of Peabody Street.

Laura has had more than the usual number of encounters with Scarlet Tanagers this spring, and has heard from lots of people about them, too. 4:35

Laura and Russ had a few adventures, some better than others, on their journey to bring Katie home from college for the summer.

If you can’t banish squirrels from your bird feeders, you might as well enjoy them.

Laura talks about discovering sparrows, focusing on her favorite one of all. This one might have been recorded earlier and today’s a rerun.

Spring migration is so welcome to birders for many birds, but especially warblers.

(Listed on April 2003 calendar file from old computer, no time mentioned, not listed as a rerun)

Should Minnesota and Wisconsin start allowing Mourning Dove hunting?

(Listed on April 2003 calendar file from old computer, no time mentioned, not listed as a rerun)

This shiny black bird with a yellow eye is one of the most conspicuous signs of spring.

The enormous Great Blue Heron weighs less than most newborn babies. Learn more about this majestic bird and why monofilament line is so dangerous for it.

During an ice storm, more and more birds appeared in Laura’s backyard.

Using birds to catch fish is an ancient sport.

(Listed on April 2003 calendar file from old computer, no time mentioned, not listed as a rerun, but may be a rerun from April 2000)

Laura is caring for a Sharp-shinned Hawk for a short time, and musing about what the Sharp-shinned Hawk thinks about the situation.

A troglodyte can lift Laura’s spirits like nothing else.

WXPR listeners Marcia and Bill Beseler had a wonderful summer with a magpie. And this is an animal story with a happy ending.

(Listed on April 2003 calendar file from old computer, no time mentioned, not listed as a rerun)

Two bonded male Middle Eastern Griffon Vultures are successfully rearing chicks together.

Laura gives two thumbs up to Larry Weber’s new book.

(Listed on April 2003 calendar file from old computer, no time mentioned, not listed as a rerun)

(Listed on April 2003 calendar file from old computer, no time mentioned, not listed as a rerun)

Two college girls head up to Grand Marais for spring break in this parody of Where the Boys Are, featuring Karen Keenan as Tuggle, John Keenan as BJ, Russ Erickson as Merritt’s dreamboat, Tom Erickson as the narrator, and the California Ravens.

Lead sinkers are a huge problem, killing many more loons than most people realize.

Are Red-bellied Woodpeckers becoming more common in the north?

Laura celebrates Robert Frost’s birthday by reading three of his poems.

What makes our hearts swell when we hear a bird pouring its heart out in song?

People are asking Laura how birds in Iraq are faring with our invasion, and Saddam Hussein’s destruction of wetlands along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. She’s also thinking of a different war.

How can anyone talk about birds right after her country has invaded another?

How do birds negotiate flying through strange lands during migration? Chickadees are a big help!

What cost would a war in Iraq exact on birds? And why does it matter?

On St. Patrick’s Day, Laura is thinking about the birds of Ireland. There are just about the same number of species there as in Minnesota or Wisconsin, but they’re quite different.

Spring comes in its own sweet–very sweet–time.

At the end of winter, the raucous cries of crows are a welcome sound.

How and when did birds evolve?

AC-8, the last surviving California Condor that had been hatched in the wild, was found dead on February 13. She had been shot to death.

Laura’s tribute to a man who worked tirelessly to help our planet neighborhood be filled with beautiful days.

What can you do to help birds that hit your window, and how can you prevent window strikes? (recast from August 31, 2002)

How do we become real birders?

In January, an important elderly Whooping Crane died.

What bird is the best choice to represent Valentine’s Day? There are several reasons to consider the Sandhill Crane.

Happy news: a Gray Jay caught repeatedly for 17 years is still alive!

Laura remembers seven of humanity’s best and brightest.

Laura’s trip to Florida took her to many fairly natural places, but the rarest wild bird she saw was at a theme park.

Laura found an interesting blend of Florida’s native birds and exotic species at Disney World.

White-breasted Nuthatches remind Laura of children who never notice airplanes or birds in the sky, but are first to discover a shiny penny or interesting caterpillar on the ground.

Laura talks about the many bird names rooted in a biblical etymology

Laura, a non-hunter who dislikes hunting but loves many hunters, both avian and human, thinks there are two sides to the bear-baiting issue.

The silence of winter makes Laura think of owls. The harshness of a Minnesota winter is offset by the loveliness of a Great Gray Owl. She brings Paul Simon into it.

Laura talks about several books: Barbara Kingsolver’s Small Wonder, a new biography of Frederick and Frances Hamerstrom, Gaylord Nelson’s Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise, and Ernest Thompson Seton’s Two Little Savages.

Birds are in the finest plumage of the year right now, thick and bulked out with the most feathers.

California Condors are still dying of lead poisoning, even though it would be straightforward to start protecting wildlife from this scourge.

The bad news: so many pesticides in use led Laura to a New Years Resolution. The good news: chickadees!

Record numbers of Purple Finches and Red-breasted Nuthatches and more!