Laura Erickson's For the Birds

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

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.