Laura Erickson's For The Birds

Nighthawks are not recovering their former numbers, but their massive decline seems to have at least leveled off.

Nighthawks have declined enormously between 1966 and 2015. Why?

Laura recounts two experiences--when she saw her first nighthawk, and when she rehabbed her first one--to explain why she loves this species so very much.

Paying attention to nature and the environment is every bit as important as paying attention to the marketplace.

This episode includes important warnings about birdbaths, feeders, and especially peanut butter! (IMPORTANT takeaway--never get peanut butter with xylitol or "birch sugar" as an ingredient.)

Laura's grandson Walter and her backyard Pileated Woodpecker are both three years old!

This August will have a blue moon, making this what Laura calls National Blue Jay Awareness Month. It's a good time to think about how Blue Jay adults look their scruffiest and most bedraggled in August, before they start looking their old selves again.

Laura plans to reduce her carbon footprint and have a lot of fun on a new e-bike.

Laura loves a truly wild little piece of central Florida protected and maintained by The Nature Conservancy.

Wild Florida's main attractions for visitors are alligators, sloths, and a "wild animal safari," but Laura was impressed with the wild birds she saw, and especially with the knowledge of an airboat captain who pointed out lots of cool things including her lifer Gray-headed Swamphens.