Strolling and paddling, kestrel banding and monarch tagging, teaching together, being together, and even an owl rescue: here are some of our favorite moments from this amazing year.
Cover image by Nathan Flick/Creative Commons
'Tis the season to be birdy
Years ago when I was a grad student, I made a silly t-shirt using iron-on letters. It read ‘Ornithophile’ to celebrate my love of birds. Whenever I wore it, I enjoyed the confused looks I got almost as much as the looks of recognition from fellow bird enthusiasts—like you!
Silly shirts aside, where the rubber meets the road for birds is how folks like you—the bird enthusiasts, habitat protectors, youth educators, citizen scientists, nature advocates—make a difference for birds. When you donate to Madison Audubon to protect and celebrate Wisconsin’s birds, it goes a LONG way.
Photo by Monica Hall
Seeing, Hearing, Not Seeing, Not Knowing, Knowing
Following my own advice to get out, even if it's only around the neighborhood, I've had some great sights, sounds, and a couple of mysteries.
Philly and Peggy, our two faithful and beloved dogs, led me to one mystery. Two or three times a week, they must go outside at about 3 AM. Several times in the last month, as I've waited for them on the back porch, I've heard a whirring sound that occurs at intervals of several seconds. It does not sound mechanical but has a birdish quality. Not at all the hoot of an owl, which I heard earlier in the fall. I've never heard it at any other time in the day or evening.
Photo by Karen FCC
