News Blog

April/May 2012

Dragonflies: Masters of Water and Air – April 12, 2012 | What you Haven’t Heard about Lyme Disease – May 8, 2012 | St. Paul Audubon’s Annual Meeting: May 10 | 2012-2013 Proposed Budget | 2012 Spring Field Trips and Events including Warbler Weekend | Native Plant Expo and Market | Annual Fund Drive Donors | Living Green Expo

Northern Cardinals

Good looks, sweet songs

Cardinals, one of the backyard’s most beautiful birds, are homebodies, sticking around all year long.

A curious trumpeter swan

Swans Trumpet Once Again

Trumpeter swans are back from the brink, but they left one thing behind—the urge to migrate.

February/March 2012

Conservation in Galapagos: With Julia Ponder, D.V.M., Executive Director, The Raptor Center (February 2012) | Uncommon Facts about Common birds: With Stan Tekiela, Naturalist, Wildlife photographer and Writer (March 2012) | The National Audubon Society Strategic Plan | SPAS Speakers’ Bureau | Spring Warbler Weekend | Christmas Bird Count Results | Spring Sandhill Crane Festivities | Annual Fund Drive Reminder | Book Review: Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle

Downy Woodpecker

Birds On Alert

Why Feeder Birds ‘Freeze’ or Scatter. Danger can lurk in the backyard, and birds are always on the alert for signals that put them on the defensive.

House Finches

Finches Spread Like Wildfire

Their beautiful, year-round song led to their appeal as caged birds, but they’ve emerged as the ultimate survivors.

December 2011/January 2012

Birding Areas of the Falkland Islands, with Michael Prokosch, retired research chemist, 3M – December 8, 2011 | Wild Turkeys in the Twin Cities, with Karl Tinsley, U of Minnesota, Conservation Biology Program, PhD Candidate – January 12, 2012 | Forming a New SPAS Speakers’ Bureau | 2011 Annual Fund Drive | Annual MOU Paper Session – Saturday, December 3 | St. Paul Christmas Bird Count – Saturday, December 17 | Great Backyard Bird Count – February 17-20, 2012 | Autumn Reports – Chimney Swift counts and Prairie reclamation | Book Review – 12 Owls by Laura Erickson

black-capped chickadee

Perky and popular

Would chickadees be on most people’s “favorite bird” lists if they were half as bouncy and endearing?

October/November 2011

Are Minnesota Moose Another Victim of Climate Change?, With Mark S. Lenarz, Research Biologist, Minnesota DNR – October 13, 2011 | Purple Martins in Minnesota: bring back our backyard Friends, With Kelly Applegate, Wildlife Biologist and Director, Purple Martin Working Group – November 10, 2011 | The Great Audubon “Fall Classic” Get-together – Saturday, November 12 | Hawks in the Galapagos – Friday, October 21 | Help Restore Two Sites – October 8 and 15