Laura Erickson's For the Birds

One surprising cause of mortality for owls is fences.

People have known for millennia how toxic lead is, but hunters are still defending its use. Why?

Laura’s treasured friend and neighbor died earlier this year. Mary Tonkin performed the role of Jamie Honker, the top sled bird racer in North America, in one of Laura’s April Fools programs, so Laura repeats that program in honor of her.

Laura has a permanetly stained pair of socks that she treasures. What do they remind her of?

Laura talks about House Finches–their natural history and how to distinguish them from Purple Finches

When Laura sent Dave Barry a tapeworm that came from a nighthawk, he put it into his annual holiday gift guide.

In 1993, Laura began a correspondence with Dave Barry, much about tapeworms.

When some of Laura’s friends discovered serious damage to their home from a Barred Owl, Dave Barry had a suggestion about dealing with the insurance adjustors.

What’s the best way to choose a field guide? Laura recommends heading to a library or bookstore, thumbing through the ones that look most appealing, and looking up a few familiar birds in your favorites. The book that shows those birds the way you see them is probably the best choice for you.

Migration isn’t over even during winter.

In anticipation of the 25th anniversary of For the Birds, Laura talks about her very brief correspondences with Garry Trudeau, Charles Schulz, and Roger Tory Peterson.

In 1986 when Laura started producing For the Birds, she was wrongly pessimistic about the disappearance of California Condors, and wrongly optimistic about the disappearance of DDT from the environment.

What happened to this once-abundant bird?

Bad news is weighing on Laura Erickson on her 59th birthday.

There’s a lot to be said for turning 59.

The exact same week that the EPA declared “National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week” was when they denied a petition to ban lead fishing sinkers that frequently kill loons, swans, cranes and other wildlife.

Laura talks about human uses for lead throughout history, and how our understanding of its toxicity have grown over time, despite the EPA’s ruling that it doesn’t pose a danger to wildlife.

Bald Eagles are one of the things we can count on in October, no matter what the weather.

Unprecedented storms can be hard on birds.

Laura talks about the Fox Sparrows visiting her mother-in-law’s feeders in Port Wing, Wisconsin, along with a bit of interesting history about the species.

The Ides of October is the right day to get out and look for jaegers.

In 2010, Laura spent time with a Snow Bunting in Port Wing, Wisconsin

Laura talks about basic rules to make bird feeding fun for you and healthy for birds.

“Survival of the fittest” doesn’t only refer to battles to the death.

Lots to celebrate despite the news!

Beautiful birds and beautiful colors mark this perfect autumn.

Laura talks about how she organizes thousands of photos, using Adobe Lightroom.

Laura talks about how she learned photography using film cameras and made the transition to digital.

Laura talks about a lovely bird visiting feeders in late September and early October, and about some of its history.

The oil was not magically raptured up, but the damage from the oil spill is still being hidden from public view.

Laura spent a perfect day at Hawk Ridge.

“It’s scary growing so fond of these birds, who face so much danger, and who most assuredly do not return my affection. But every now and then one peeks at me through the window. Life is beautiful, and my Blue Jays are smart and wary and wonderful, just as they should be.”

Laura explains why she keeps her feeders out after Labor Day.

Minnesota Power will be installing flight diverters to protect flying cranes on their power lines along a 44-mile stretch between the Bison Wind project near New Salem, North Dakota, and a transmission center near Center, North Dakota.

Laura’s window, looking out onto Russ’s cherry trees and several other nice trees, is filled with action right now.

Why are so many Northern Gannets being oiled in the Gulf? Don’t ask the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representative.

The Arrowhead chapter of Wild Ones, a national non-profit that promotes sustainable landscaping using native plant communities to provide habitat for birds, butterflies and other wildlife, will be putting on a Habitat Here festival at Hartley Nature Center in Duluth. The festival will feature garden tours, information about invasive species, a native plant sale, kids’ activities, and a talk by Ron Bowen, the president and founder of Prairie Restorations, speaking about “native landscaping at home.” Laura will also be giving a presentation, focused specifically on enhancing habitat for chickadees.

Laura talks with physical oceanographer Paul McKay about the causes of land loss in Louisiana’s Mississippi Delta.

Laura talks with physical oceanographer about the importance of blue crabs to the Gulf ecosystem.

Laura and physical oceanographer Paul McKay talk about how oil acts on sand and water.

How many birds have been oiled in the BP oil spill? The official number is a vast misrepresentation of reality.

Using dispersants may have made some of the effects of the oil spill even more dangerous even as they were less visible.

Lisa Johnson interviews Laura from the Gulf.

What are Laura’s first impressions of the Gulf disaster, now that she can see it first hand?

Laura is in New Orleans, and Lisa Johnson interviews her live.

Laura’s on her way to the Gulf.

How safe are the dispersants being poured into the Gulf?

Reports that the gushing oil well has been capped are good news. But it’s too early to be breathing a sigh of relief.

Laura’s is headed to the Gulf to document what she can. She’s hoping against hope to prove that we Americans have not become apathetic and helpless under corporate rule the way the Soviet people became under their totalitarian regime, and that with sound information, people are willing to rise to this occasion and save our imperiled natural world as we did in the 70s.

Laura talks about various causes for declining numbers of birds, and how hard it is to quantify what has been lost.

Laura talks about wood ticks and the birds and mammals that host them.

A great many of our loons winter in the Gulf of Mexico, where oil is still gushing.

Sleek fruit-eating waxwings are surprisingly interested in sharing when it comes to food, and even nesting materials.

Brown Pelicans are one of the greatest successes of the Endangered Species Act.

Laura retraced some of her steps from her first year of birding, when she went to Savannah, Georgia.

“To passively allow the light in a pelican’s eyes to be extinguished when a person has the expertise and passion to help it goes against the grain of our very humanity. And without that, we ourselves are not worth saving.”

If corporations are held to be people, why aren’t they punished like people when they kill human beings and wildlife?

We will never know how many birds and other animals were killed in this disaster, and that’s just the way BP wants it.

Scientists know a lot about how long it takes for birds to die. In the Gulf right now, these slow deaths are not merciful.

The oil hemorrhaging from the Deepwater Horizon rig was a predictable disaster

How did Laura learn bird sounds, and what tips does she have for beginners?

When Laura was a child, she thought warblers were the angels of canaries that had died saving the lives of miners. She knows better now, or does she?

Laura’s back from Ithaca, and Lisa talks to her in the studio.

Tree Swallows are literally gutsy birds–their relatively long intestines allow to digest more kinds of food than other swallows, so they can feed on berries if it gets too cold for insects, but harsh springs still take a toll.

Are Chickadee Ghost Pirates terrorizing northlanders? Duluth’s Mayor Don Ness categorically denies it, but the evidence is mounting.

To our undiscerning human eyes, chickadees seem to be black and white and gray, but they are far more colorful to other chickadees, who can see ultraviolet light.

When the New York Times wellness blog discussed a Dutch study that indicated that the biggest happiness associated with a vacation comes from the planning and that happiness from the vacation didn’t last long after the trip, it didn’t ring true–at least not for birding vacations.

How do you tell the first robin of spring from the last robin of winter?

Laura got a splendid lifer in Florida: a Masked Duck

Laura spent time with one of the most beautiful birds in the world.

Why are ravens black? Various cultures have answered that question in different ways.

Yuck! Laura just discovered how many waterbirds have leeches invading their eyes nasal passages.

Laura talks about teams named for birds, and how appropriate or inappropriate those names might be.

Black-headed Grosbeaks do not belong in Duluth, but one showed up at the feeder of Pat Thomas and turned out to be as cooperative as it was beautiful.