Meet a Birder: UW-Madison graduate Zachary Pickett, originally from upstate New York, shares how being in Wisconsin rekindled a love of nature and birds.
Let's talk about Sandhill Cranes.
Gentians, hidden gems of color
Fall in Wisconsin is a burst of colors, brightening and fading, with shades and textures unimaginable. Driving down the road, a fall scene plays outside the window; the prairie morphs from orange to yellow to brown and into red. Patches of color blend together, all warm, all losing their chloroplasts, anticipating a lack of sunlight in the coming winter.
The Thing with Feathers
Emily Dickinson's famous line—"Hope is the thing with feathers"—finds its way into many bird essays. But the news about the official extinction of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (and other species) reminds us that despair also can cloak itself in feathers.
Ivory-billed Woodpecker at nest, taken by Dr. James Tanner, at the Singer Tract in 1935. Photo: Science History Images/Alamy. See National Audubon’s article for more info and photos.
