Did you catch me on Almanac tonight? Confused because you thought I was in Alaska? Life is weird and if someone told me on January 1, 2019, “Hey, you’re gonna get divorced, live through a pandemic, and then live in the remote Alaskan wilderness but be back in 2024,” I’d have thought they were nuts. But here we are. Denali was a great time but I now have a job with the Forest Service that puts me in Minnesota. So what were the things I talked about tonight? The heron rookery at Marshall Terrace Park. You can read some of the history of the rookery here. Birds and Beers My Bird Club If you want ..read more

What, this blog still works? I know, I blew up my life, moved to Alaska and now all of my writing and creativity goes to a national park. There are so many birds that I’ve seen and enjoyed over the years, but in many ways I didn’t truly appreciate them. There was a conversation between two men where one said that the outdoors is so much more enjoyable when you what things are. The other man got very defensive and said that he enjoyed the outdoors just as much as anybody and he didn’t need to know the birds, flowers, or trees. I firmly disagree and the whimbrel is an example of that just being ..read more

Short answer: Yeah, probably. Long answer: Am I going to judge you if you keep your bird feeders filled because it is the one damn thing that got you through the last two years? Nope. If you stop offering seed will the birds starve? Not a healthy bird. They know how to find food from a variety of sources. Will closing down your bird feeders stop the spread of the virus? It will slow the spread, but not stop it. Red-winged blackbird congregate around a bird feeder. Pandemics just don’t seem to stop do they? And now we have HPAI or Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (it’s highly contagious to ot ..read more

Last fall I got an offer to write a book. The money solved a financial problem for me and I agreed to it. I wasn’t sure that the world needed another beginner bird book, but it needed to be written, the process intrigued me, and I’d had a serious case of writer’s block during the pandemic and was finally crawling out of that hole. I like deadlines, they give me focus. But like any writer, there comes a point when you realize you had some ideas for part of the book and no ideas for the other. And first drafts are for vomiting it all out on paper, no matter how messy it is and a good editor will ..read more

Female snowy owl perched on a building at the MSP Airport. How I normally see them every winter. Snowy owls are something I regularly see in Minnesota. The Minneapolis/St Paul Airport gets a few overwintering every year. I’ve always wondered what it was like to see them on their breeding territory up in the Arctic, especially as I’ve followed Project SNOWstorm and all they have learned about snowy owl seasonal movement. When I headed up to the Arctic portion of Alaska last summer with Zugunruhe Tours, I got my wish. Fun fact that I learned about the name of the town formerly known as Barrow ..read more

Snow buntings flying around a remote road in Aitkin County, Minnesota. Snow buntings are a fairly regular appearance in Minnesota in winter. It’s one of the birds I will watch for on the way to the bog or birding in the southern part of the state. They are generally in large flocks, skittish, and far away. You’re basically driving down a country road and a bunch of white birds with patches of beige burst off the side of the road as you pass. Male snow bunting singing on a telephone pole in Utqiaġvik formerly known as Barrow, AK. In the Arctic Circle, snow buntings are everywhere, practically ..read more

Three-toed woodpeckers were regulars outside of my cabin. I paused my bike ride for some grizzly poop on the Park Road. Denali National Park and Preserve is about the size of New Hampshire and has one road known as the Park Road that’s about 92 miles long. Most of it is accessible only by transit or tour bus, foot, or bike. I biked some of it while I worked there last summer. One day while I was biking I found some grizzly bear poop. Whenever I posted a picture of bears or bear poop I would inevitably get texts or comments warning me to be careful of grizzly bears so I began including, “Yes ..read more

Curt always ready with a camera and occasionally a beer. My friends, let us toast Curt Rawn and his desire for human connection, his love of birds, and his love of getting other people to enjoy birds. I started Birds and Beers in Minneapolis on July 17, 2007. The intent was to have it once a month, but my travel schedule didn’t always allow for that. The following spring I was working a bird festival in another state and I noticed pictures showing up on social media for a Birds and Beers…that I didn’t organize. “What the hell,” I thought, “is someone trying to steal my event?” When I came hom ..read more

In February, I was down round the Texas/Mexico border. By May I was in Alaska. This year was so weird and filled with so many delightful surprises. I never imagined I’d find myself driving from the lower 48 states up into Canada to get to Alaska, but that’s what happened. I know many birders do big years and drive all over the country, but that’s not my style. While I was working from Alamo, TX this winter, I found out I was going to work for Denali National Park for the summer. I calculated the long drive I was going to have in front me. I had a co-pilot for the Texas to Minnesota bit, but M ..read more

My former nemesis. If you’ve spent time with me in person then you know that spruce grouse is a big nemesis bird for me. Big. Huge. GINORMOUS.  For those new to birding, a “nemesis bird” is a bird that you try to see and never get. You’re always arriving as someone says, “It just flew off, like, five minutes ago…” Spruce grouse is particularly galling since they breed in Minnesota and yet I still manage to miss them. Now, they are a good four to five hours from where I live so it’s not like I’m missing a bird one to two hours away. I had kind of given up ever searching for them since I w ..read more