June 22-28 is the 2nd Annual National Pollinator Week, an event sponsored by the Pollinator Partnership. The fact that so many of the world’s pollinators are in deep trouble is finally starting to make the news. There are, of course,…
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A friend sent me this: Scott’s Bird Seed Voluntary Recall Major manufacturer of wild bird seed and animal food products, The Scotts Company LLC announced a voluntary recall of certain varieties of Morning Song, Scotts, Country Pride and various private…
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In the upper Midwest, nearly 1000 Canvasbacks and Redheads have been found dead along Lake St. Clair (often referred to as “the sixth Great Lake”). This is a conservative number, considering how many may have died out in the lake…
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I’ve long intended on writing something about mountaintop removal mining, ever since reading Erik Reece’s article in Harper’s in 2005 (Ted Williams also wrote a great article in Audubon). This coal-extraction method is unbelievably environmentally devastating in many ways. The…
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The latest issue of the Ibis, the journal of the British Ornithologists’ Union, had several excellent papers. One was an overview of the impacts that deer browse has on habitat quality and subsequently bird life. I’d like to highlight some…
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Our newest yard bird (#133) was a very sleepy Northern Saw-whet Owl, roosting in one of our cedar trees, right outside our kitchen window. Although it wasn’t deeply concealed, we never would have noticed it if my husband hadn’t seen…
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Real or fake? Every year, folks try to decide whether to get a live Christmas tree, or put up an artificial tree. This topic has been fairly well covered on several green blogs, so I will offer an overview and…
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The overpopulation of certain species, whether native or not, can cause problems. When these species are appealing to the public, their control becomes an even bigger challenge. Previously, I discussed these issues in regards to White-tailed Deer and Mute Swans….
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In August, I described my summer “project,” to learn more about the flies, bees, and wasps in my yard. I posted a series of some of the photos I took of the cool Diptera (flies) I was able to identify….
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Four-legged friend or foe? Dog walking displaces native birds from natural areas. P. B. Banks and J. V. Bryant. 2007. Biology Letters. Early online, DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0374. This paper has received a lot of press as it is on a perennially hot-button…
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