Bird & Nature Blog

Lucky Madison Audubon

Lucky Madison Audubon

Please use this link to read the Wisconsin State Journal's recent "Know Your Madisonian" column featuring Madison Audubon's very own Matt Reetz. Matt is our current Executive Director. The column tells you lots about Matt and you can infer that Madison Audubon is lucky to have him.

You'd be right. Madison Audubon has made lots of progress on all fronts since Matt became ED: education, conservation, land acquisition and management, financial stability, protection of birds and other wildlife.

Photo courtesy of Wisconsin State Journal

Migratory Birds & Birdathon

Migratory Birds & Birdathon

It's Birdathon season! Madison Audubon's 2021 Birdathon teams: All About Aves and the Reckless Wrens

Happy World Migratory Bird Day! On this day, all around the globe, people are celebrating migratory birds. How many colorful migrants have you seen today? To celebrate the amazing migratory birds we love, and raise funds and awareness for their well-being, we are happy to announce two Madison Audubon Great Wisconsin Birdathon teams!

Photo: Kelly Colgan Azar

Helping the Hummingbirds

Helping the Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are on their way back to Wisconsin! If you're humming with excitement, you're not alone! Hummingbirds are a beloved species regardless of where you live, and for the Wisconsinites waiting for their return each spring, nothing is more exciting than seeing the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the year.

If you love hummers and put out a hummingbird feeder, these are your Top 5 To-Do (and Don’t-Do) List to keep these little beauties happy and healthy in your yard.

Photo by Monica Hall

The Earth Day Eight

Happy Earth Day! In 1970, Wisconsin's own Gaylord Nelson helped launch the first Earth Day with the intent to make a lasting progress toward protecting the planet and its inhabitants.

Change that is authentic. Meaningful. Big-time. With heart and soul.

That's what all of us are working toward too! If you're looking for ways you can meaningfully celebrate the Earth today and beyond, we have eight great ideas for you below.

Photo by Monica Hall

Earth Day and Mirth Day

Earth Day is many things to many people but it has been and always will be a political event. While Gaylord Nelson and others created the day to celebrate the natural beauty and vitality of Earth and the steps then undertaken to protect it, another purpose was to mobilize the political will to take more decisive action to protect our environment and natural resources.

With the changed climate severely damaging our earth a bit more every day, we encounter lots of earnest advice to change our ways—for example, stopping or severely reducing our use of fossil fuels, meat, air travel, automobiles. I won't argue with those admonitions but joy is sometimes better motivation than duty.

Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren