Ever sit in your backyard and wonder what you are hearing? Birds spend much of their life out of sight of other birds, and as a result, the people who wonder what they’re hearing. I found this graphic to be very helpful with some common bird calls.
Summer is here, but next winter when spring is imminent and you’re feeling wistful about the upcoming migration, you can track the progress thanks to the U.S. Geological Survey and National Phenology Network.
In high school, I read Jane Goodall’s In the Shadow of Man, a memoir of life in the field and the family of chimpanzees she came to know. I fell in love with her story, and it stuck with me for years when I chose my major as an undergraduate, anthropology. There weren’t many stories of women field biologists in my daily life growing up, and that’s why I like this Mighty Girl article profiling women in conservation.
Me on a South Dakota beach along the Missouri River. Art by Anna Magruder
Here in Wisconsin, it’s planting season. The risk of overnight freezing is finally over. Right now, I am waiting for my purple coneflower and showy milkweed seeds to germinate. It might take a full years to see the results. In the meantime, I found this graphic to be inspirational in that I can see what pollinators might show up as result.
Animals that make their living at night are often struggling to adapt to our lighting. But, there’s a solution! Check out this story on a town in the Netherlands that has installed bat-friendly lighting.
Me holding a nighthawk chick on a South Dakota roof
Looking for a speaker for your birding group in the Midwest? I am available to give talks on nighthawks and birding tips, free of charge! Here’s a write-up in Winona, Minnesota’s newspaper on a talk I gave recently. Feel free to contact me at gretchen.newberrry@yahoo.com.
So often, we live our lives on land peering into the water, but rarely do we see the underwater world from the animal’s perspective. But, check this out!
“The” microbiome? Well, we are just starting to understand that there are many biomes on the micro level. Check out this article.
Thinking about creating a butterfly garden? Here’s a handy graphic to help you identify plants and their lepidoptera obligates, meaning plants that butterfly species require. Feel free to match the two species that are native to your region.
Have an aversion toward rodents? Well, here’s this story of rats who have been trained to scout out bombs.
