Laura Erickson's For The Birds

Along with Duluth's spring blizzard came redpolls! (In the background throughout, the sound is a recording of the redpolls at Laura's feeder made this past Saturday, March 30.)

New for the traveling birder!

A post-mortem established that Flaco, the famous Eurasian Eagle-Owl whom a vandal released from the Central Park Zoo, was carrying lethal amounts of three anti-coagulants, a pigeon herpesvirus, and even a toxic metabolite of the pesticide DDT. Is anyone actually "free" if they have no alternative but to eat poisoned food?

Laura waxes poetic about a poet.

It's hard watching children, or a Pileated Woodpecker, move on to independence.

The second half of Laura's trip to Hawaii was just as wonderful as the first.

Laura's trip to Hawaii kept getting better.

Laura's trip to Hawaii was wonderful, every single day.

The only constant is change, for better and for worse.

What drew Laura and her husband Russ to Duluth in 1981?

How can it be spring before winter even arrives?

Flaco the Eurasian Eagle-Owl whose enclosure in the Central Park Zoo was vandalized, leading to his escape on February 2, 2023, died Friday.

Laura headed back to Prentice Park in Ashland on Wednesday and this time saw (and got VERY bad photos) of the Fieldfare.

On Tuesday, Laura suddenly noticed a chickadee with a badly overgrown, crossed bill at her feeder.

Last week, an incredibly rare vagrant from Eurasia turned up in Ashland, Wisconsin, sending Laura and Erik Bruhnke on a wild goose chase.

Preparing for a trip can start the fun weeks before I leave. (The accompanying photo is a Nene [Hawaiian Goose] taken by Russ while we were in Hawaii in 2000.)

Laura's annual celebration of Superb Owl Sunday was short on birds but did involve her first sighting of Girl Scout Cookies for 2024.

Laura's was having severe dizzy spells, but they're gone now that a physical therapist showed her "the Epley maneuver." Bird ears have the same structures as ours only with an even more sophisticated design. Do they ever get those dizzy spells?

Mild weather may seem good for birds, but several issues complicate it.

In the 38 years since Laura started producing For the Birds, many bad things have not gotten better.