Bird & Nature Blog

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Greed and birds are a bad mix

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In the last days of the Trump administration, the Department of Interior ended some protection of migratory birds. The rollback consisted of removing penalties for actions that killed or injured birds but were perpetrated without the intention of killing birds. One past example of such an act was popularly cited: the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster which released millions of gallons of oil and destroyed hundreds of thousands of birds (and many other creatures). One that resonated with me would be a person or company who deliberately used a banned pesticide. Even if that poison killed many birds, the perpetrator would not be liable under the Trump Administration's revised regulations because the intent was to kill some sort of pest, not birds. This loss of protection changed the interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that has protected migratory birds for decades.

Photo by Monica Hall

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A Birder's Online Toolbox

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We’re entering into our second week of extremely cold, frigid temperatures—making outdoor birding a challenge. I’ve been focusing on some window-birding from my apartment for the Great Backyard Bird Count, but I’ve also been using this indoor time to explore more of my favorite online birding resources and brush up on my identification skills. Spring migration is just around the corner, after all. (That’s what I keep telling myself to get through these negative temps!)

This week’s Entryway to Birding blog is going to share some of my favorite free resources that I use to give my birding skills an edge. When the pandemic hit and I wasn’t able to go on field trips and learn from our area’s expert birders, I turned online to find free resources that could help me navigate the complex world of bird identification. This post is somewhat of a mish-mash of resources, but I hope you can find something useful in here to add to your own birding toolbox.

Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt

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Good news for Cerulean Warblers and us

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Please, please, please use this link to read how the MVC and an incredibly generous anonymous donor saved 108 acres of Crawford County habitat important to migrating Cerulean Warblers and other songbirds. And this land will be open for us to watch those lovely birds and the other cool flora and fauna the land supports.

Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren

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Valentine's Day was for the birds (and maybe still is)

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The origin of Valentine's Day is a delightful mess. Probably it starts with the Lupercalia, a Roman pagan feast of late winter or early spring. You can probably guess of what—indeed, fertility. In some accounts, young Roman men would chase and try to hit young Roman women with strips of bloody goat hides, the goats having been sacrificed at the start of the festivities. Allegedly the women didn't mind because the strike of a goat hide would ensure their fertility.

And hundreds of years later here we are. In our backyards we indeed hear some birds with their mating calls and we have the chance to renew or perhaps find love. Hey, it beats frostbite.

Photo by Indiana Ivy Nature Photographer

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Tips for Tricky Bird IDs: Backyard Bird Edition!

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Guess what’s coming up this Friday, February 12th? It’s the return of the Great Backyard Bird Count, a community science project designed to collect data about the presence of birds in winter. And oh boy, the count is right on time—we are entering into a very cold, very frigid week that will make getting outside a challenge. What better way to hunker down at home than with a blanket, a warm beverage, and your trusty binoculars?

This week’s Entryway to Birding blog pulls up a chair to the window and takes a look at what birds you might find near your home—whether you’re looking into a backyard or an apartment complex parking lot. Learn about the most common visitors you might see in south-central Wisconsin this winter and get some identification tips for some especially tricky backyard birds!

Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt