Laura Erickson's For the Birds

KAXE listener Florence Diane Stay asked Laura whether feeding jelly is okay for birds. Laura says no scientific studies have looked at this, but based on a lot of anecdotes, jelly seems perfectly fine to offer birds as long as it’s offered in small quantities. No scientific studies have investigated whether jelly with high fructose corn syrup is worse for birds than that made with sugar—Laura only buys jelly made with sugar.

A year-old American Redstart is trying to attract a mate to his little territory in Laura’s backyard.

Laura spent a happy day watching and photographing Piping Plover chicks and thinking about what warmth is all about. You can see photos of the chicks and their mother and father, along with a transcript, on her blog.

When she was in Maine, Laura lucked into seeing and photographing a rare hybrid warbler, a cross between a Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warbler, but not one of the typical hybrids.

Laura spent three weeks on a road trip. Now she’s home, trying to process all her photos and, more importantly, her memories.

If Laura had to be stuck indoors during a rainstorm in Maine, she found the right place.

Laura is missing migration in Duluth right now, but found a pretty interesting bird in Freeport, Maine.

Laura Is missing the cold, but keeping track of the birds showing up in north country.

Laura has been missing the snow in northern Minnesota. She spent last weekend at the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival.

One of Laura’s favorite possessions, the SongFinder device that helps her hear high-frequency sounds, has been discontinued.

Laura wonders what we are prepared to do in the face of mountains of evidence that climate change is destroying the natural world.

Laura celebrates every May 11 as Warbler Day.

When she was in Florida, Laura spent some quality time with Anhingas.

Laura saw lots of baby birds down in Florida. (Photos of everything she mentions are on today’s blogpost.)

Laura and Russ had some tricky interactions with Black Vultures in a parking lot in the Everglades, leaving Laura with a tangible souvenir.

Laura reviews Kenn Kaufman’s new book and talks about the famous Magee Marsh of northwestern Ohio.

Turtles eat ducklings, but when Laura got a video of a turtle attacking baby ducks in Florida, she saw a happy ending, at least for the baby duck.

Laura made a new friend who loves Blue Jays.

Laura went to Oulu, Wisconsin, last week to see a Sharp-tailed Grouse lek.

Laura wrote to Dr. Daniel Klem regarding plans for a proposed glass building in Duluth.

Are robins capable of artistic expression?

Laura spent a few days in the tiniest state in the union and was impressed with all its birds.

On Monday, Laura took a walk on the Western Waterfront Trail to see a big match between Winter and Spring.

Laura went to the Sax-Zim Bog on Saturday, where winter is starting to lose the battle against spring.

Caroline Van Hemert talks to Laura about her book, *The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds.

Laura loved the vivid descriptions of birds in Caroline Van Hemert’s The Sun Is a Compass. In our final excerpt from Laura’s telephone conversation with her, Caroline tells of her encounter with baby geese along the Arctic Ocean.

On her 4,000-mile journey in Alaska, Caroline Van Hemert met up with an exceptionally rare species and also some vulnerable hawk chicks.

Planning for a wilderness adventure in Alaska is far more complicated than going on a birding road trip.

Today, The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds is being released by Little, Brown Sparks. Laura interviewed author Caroline Van Hemert by phone at the KUMD studio last week. In this segment, Caroline reads a bit from the Prologue and tells us exactly where she and her husband traveled on this epic adventure.

Laura fell truly, madly, deeply in love with a book coming out this week. This is her review of The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds, to be released tomorrow by Little, Brown Spark tomorrow.

Duluth’s biggest healthcare provider, the one Laura has used for decades, is planning to build a tall glass tower to give them a state-of-the-art new facility. Laura hopes they use glass that is both fritted and with reduced light transmission, to protect birds.

Cathy Zimmerman wrote to Laura about her Best Bird Ever–a Common Bobwhite that turned up way, way north of where it belonged.

Birds are in the news, including Wisconsin’s prairie chickens, more acknowledgments that animals are smarter than we thought, and an intriguing play between an Osprey and a Bald Eagle above the outfield of a Jacksonville University baseball game.

An unusually pale chickadee is visiting Gayle Friday’s feeders.

What is a gynandromorph, and why is this suddenly in the news?

Some of Laura’s most treasured childhood memories involve House Sparrows.

Laura celebrates March 2 every year as Chickadee Day.

Laura’s lifer Snowy Owl was far more than a tick on a life list.

Robins are more complicated than most people realize.

Laura unearthed a transcript from 2004 with a fun story about a Great Horned Owl, a murder of crows, and one spunky Blue Jay.

Laura’s suddenly hungry for hummingbirds.

Laura reminds us of the tragic 2001 case of a dove being hit by a Randy Johnson pitch and the final settlement, just last week, between the dove’s children and the Diamondbacks.

Today Laura talks about a beloved bird who died last month, and a wonderful chick who hatched this month.

Today, February 15, marks the start of this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count. Laura explains how you can take part in this fun and rewarding annual tradition.

Laura celebrates Valentine’s Day this year thinking about Van Morrison and her very own brown-eyed owl.

Today Laura remembers Dr. Tom Cade, founder of The Peregrine Fund, who passed away last week at the age of 91.

Laura got to see a bird of the Pacific Northwest last weekend, just a few miles from her backyard in Duluth.

Laura gives some practical tips if you plan to come bird in northern Minnesota.

On Sunday, Laura had her best Superb Owl Sunday of them all.

Laura has a longstanding tradition of searching for owls on the day other people are watching flying pigskins. But only three times has she spent the day owling with her husband. How did the first two go?

Why is silence so hard to come by?

Laura unearthed this transcript from a program from the 90s, and decided it was worth a second look.

A turtle falling from the sky? Laura hears from a listener that came upon this exact situation.

People find Laura’s webpage, blog, and Flickr photos via Google and even Wikipedia. Last week her blog was quoted in a Pennsylvania news story when some middle school children discovered what appears to be twin chicks after hatching eggs for a classroom project.

KAXE listener Stephen Lorentz writes of watching a crow playing catch in the sky.

Laura spent a morning birding alone at Anzalduas Park in Texas, on the Rio Grande River along the Mexican border. She did indeed encounter a serious danger.

A Barred Owl flying into a truck in Upstate New York made the news this week. Laura was interviewed for a news story.

Sometimes, when nothing seems to be going right, one little bird can save the day.

Does our first bird of the year portend anything?

Jobs we do out of passion include some of the most important jobs of all, protecting birds as well as people.