Category Archives: life

Why can’t humans affect the climate?

Posted on 9 June 2017 by

If you have insights on this please help me understand.  As noted this week, discussions of anthropogenic climate change have peaked since President Trump’s decision to renege on US commitments to the Paris Climate Accord.   One of the primary … Continue reading →

Posted in birds/nature, deforestation, editorial, Endangered Species Act, environment, evolution, life, skepticism and science, weather, wildlife, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Battle of the Predators – Cooper’s Hawk versus Barred Owl

Posted on 7 June 2017 by

Who would win in a fight between a Cooper’s Hawk and a Barred Owl?  Hold that thought.  Now imagine it’s two owls versus one hawk.  Okay, proceed. Two nights ago, I had just finished some mowing when I heard a … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, bird evolution, birds/nature, environment, life | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Elm Sawfly – something I learned today

Posted on 6 June 2017 by

Last night I found this really cool caterpillar in the woods: Cool, right?  So I did some research to try to identify it.  Nothing.  That caterpillar showed up nowhere in online guides to caterpillar identification. ‘Cause it’s not a caterpillar. … Continue reading →

Posted in animal behavior, birds/nature, environment, evolution, insect, life, Links, wildlife | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Why prairies matter and lawns don’t

Posted on 5 June 2017 by

Originally posted on The Roaming Ecologist:
Prairies – those critically endangered and complex ecosystems understood by few and misunderstood and destroyed by millions of people. Lawns – those myopically obsessive (and evil) urban, suburban, and increasingly rural monoculture eyesores that…

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Hummingbird rescue!

Posted on 21 May 2017 by

Originally posted on The Waterthrush Blog:
I get a lot of weird calls from time to time. For some reason, I’m preceived as some kind of “A-Team” for whatever bird problem you might have. On those occasions when I invent…

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Gretchen Newberry – migration through the Prairie Potholes

Posted on 16 May 2017 by

I mentioned migrating cranes in a previous post, but for sheer numbers alone, nothing beats the migrating geese, ducks, and shorebirds that pass through the Prairie Pothole Region. Check out this video I took in March. I’ve been helping out … Continue reading →

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Can we estimate populations from camera trap surveys?

Posted on 10 May 2017 by

Below is a press release about the Methods paper ‘Distance sampling with camera traps‘ taken from the Max Planck Society. Camera traps are a useful means for researchers to observe the behaviour of animal populations in the wild or to … Continue reading →

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