Laura got a lot of information about that banded female Pileated Woodpecker visiting her yard this week, along with photos!

Some things are no laughing matter. A reader of Laura Erickson's blog, which serves as a transcript to this radio program/podcast, took legitimate offense at the post titled, "Detaining Migrants Here in Duluth."

The band on the Pileated Woodpecker who just showed up in Laura's yard is at least 15 or 20 years old, but that doesn't mean the woodpecker is!

The licensed government agents detaining avian migrants deal with them much more kindly than do those detaining human beings. (This one may make some listeners angry.)

Russ wanted to make absolutely certain that Laura saw Whooping Cranes on their trip to Texas. Sure enough!

Laura went on her first planned birding trip, the itinerary including the best birding hotspots of the area, in 1978,

Childhood dreams sometimes do come true.

This summer, for the first time in almost half a century, a pair of Piping Plovers nested along Wisconsin Point in Superior. This was both parents' first nesting attempt and the nest failed, but this proves the value of recent habitat improvement at the Wisconsin Point Bird Sanctuary. The photo is of these nesting birds, taken by Mikayla Erickson of the St. Louis River Alliance.

True botflies don't bother birds in Canada or the northern states, but that doesn't mean Laura hasn't been thinking about them lately.

Why should you clean out your bird house after the baby birds leave?