George Fell was born in 1916 in Elgin, Illinois, not far from where I grew up and now live. He spent his coming of age years in my hometown of Rockford, Illinois and spent a great deal of time outdoors. (Back when Rockford was still relatively wild!) His love of plants grew from his own father, psychiatrist Dr. Egbert Fell, who spent a great deal of time collecting and cultivating plants.

While not the best of students, George was completely dedicated to causes he cared about, the most being protecting natural areas.

Fell moved to Washington D.C. and co-founded The Nature Conservancy, an organization that has become a worldwide juggernaut at conserving and protecting land. From its modest beginnings (a few hundred dollars in the bank), the accelerated growth of The Nature Conservancy could not have been possible without George’s efforts.

However, his tenure did not last. Only a few years after startup, George was ousted by the board for his differing opinions on how the organization should operate. Interestingly enough, you will find no mention of Fell on The Nature Conservancy’s website, one of the reasons Fell is not as well known as he should be.

As someone with no political clout, limited contacts and low experience in scientific fields, Fell was a dynamo at pushing to get things done. He partnered and pushed his ideas through, hardly flinching when faced with dissenting opinions. His obsession with natural areas (versus creating more “recreation areas”) coupled with his directness rubbed some powerful players the wrong way. But without Fell being a “force of nature” many preserved areas would have been lost.

After being ousted from The Nature Conservancy, Fell returned to Rockford, and along with his wife Barbara, set out to continue his long-term conservation goals. He founded the Natural Land Institute in 1958 as a way to purchase and protect lands. This organization is still operating and has many wonderful public and private lands under its care.

While setting up NLI, Fell was also working with the Illinois government to create the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act. The Act was designed to provide a way for the state to preserve and protect land outside of adding more state park recreational areas. The goal was to conserve the remaining, best landscapes no matter how big or more often, small.

After several years and alterations, the Act passed and has helped preserve areas throughout Illinois not as the typical recreational state parks.

Along with the Natural Land Institute, Fell also co-founded the Natural Areas Association, another conservation organization still going strong. This group of like-minded individuals wanted to nationalize the programs and processes Fell started in Illinois to protect more land. Many states took up the challenge, using Fell’s template to start their own programs.

In 1987 the Natural Areas Association began the George B. Fell Awards to honor those outstanding people committed to conservation. Within the boundaries of Castle Rock State Park, part of the Illinois State Park System, is the George Fell Nature Preserve. This was one of the first areas Fell pushed to be protected, which eventually grew into the state park.

The Natural Land Institute has over a dozen properties under their care, including Carl & Myrna Nygren Wetland Preserve, a prime birding spot open to the public. This is the place I once saw migrating Whooping Cranes. Several of these properties are not open to the public, but members can get permission to visit.

Fell’s legacy is wide yet often overlooked and under-appreciated. Force of Nature is an apt title to encapsulate the dedicated, non-stop hard work of George B. Fell. The biography goes into great detail of how this single-minded approach to conservation came at the right time to spearhead a movement that continues to this day.

Sadly, even with all the land directly and indirectly protected because of Fell, it is a small fraction of what once was. Even land set aside as parks and preserves face dangers, large and small. The movement may have grown, but we need a large majority of citizens to want and fight for the protection of natural areas.

“We are living at the time of man’s final conquest over the wilderness. What we have saved, and what we may save in the next few years, will be all the true wild nature that will remain to pass on from generation to generation in the years ahead. There will never be another chance.” – George B. Fell

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Photo courtesy of Glendale Communications Group

I’ve used Field Notes for several years now for keeping track of many things including bird lists, travel logs, and many other thoughts I would rather not forget.

This edition is perfect for birders as it features the sublime artwork of Rex Brasher, an artist much often overlooked and forgotten. Born in 1869, Brasher had a life goal of seeing and painting every bird in North America in their natural habitats.

Currently, the Rex Brasher Association is trying to preserve Brasher’s Connecticut property, curate his artwork and create a world-class museum.

Partnering with Field Notes, the association is now getting a much-needed burst in publicity. And you can own a piece of Brasher’s amazing artwork in the form of functional, useful notebooks.

Image courtesy of Glendale Communications Group

The notebooks are sold in packs of three with 48 ruled pages. There are two packs to chose from:

Pack A features: Screech Owls (Rocky Mountain and Mexican), Blue Jay and Brewer’s Sparrow
Pack B features: Pine Grosbeak, Baltimore Oriole and Sulphurbelly Flycatcher

And you never know, there may be additional editions with more bird species added in the future.

Field Notes offers a ton of amazing, limited edition series. Start a subscription and you receive quarterly editions as they are released.

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The former Oak Club Golf Course is 103 acres but feels much larger. With several miles of paths, some former golf cart roads, the oddly shaped preserve provides a nice range of habitats. Most noticeable, at least in early August when I first visited, is the prairie restoration. Huge swaths of beautiful wildflowers spread out like a blanket, a mix of yellows, purples and reds that contrast sharply against the former golf greens.

Interesting, the morning I visited I was unsuccessful of finding a single butterfly, although there were quite a few bees visiting the blooms. I tried to hike the majority of the trails, and traversed the other two main habitats: oak savanna and riparian.

The Kishwaukee River and some wetland areas provide a nice contrast from the heat of the prairie, and there are several large trees sprinkled here and there. The oak savanna habitat is part of the ongoing conservation project and I found a few newly planted Bur Oaks amongst the restoration.

This variety of habitat provided quite a nice list of birds (over twenty species) including a tree full of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a Baltimore Oriole, and a Gray Catbird. Later on I spotted an Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Bluebird, and Eastern Phoebe.

Around practically every corner was another beautiful view and a handful of active birds. It was a smorgasbord of sights, sounds, and smells that made me feel like I was in the middle of nowhere, despite nearby “golf course houses”.

Perhaps my favorite prairie plant, the Rattlesnake Master (below) took me awhile to find but thankfully my perseverance paid off.

The trails connect to another DeKalb County Forest Preserve, Knute Olson Jr. This former gravel quarry is a 26 acre mix of floodplain forest and an upland forest. It provides an additional opportunity to find more birds, and further hiking. This preserve has direct access to the Kishwaukee River.

All the trails are wide and easy to travel. A few are rather steep, providing for some energetic hiking. The leftover hilly former golf tees provide excellent panoramic views.

My future plans are to visit Riverwood Forest Preserve often. It is only around 10 minutes from home and it has the potential to provide a lot of interesting sightings. I already am looking forward to returning.

For those outside of the area, there is no fee, ample parking, and the preserve is open sunrise to sunset.

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By choosing a leap year, 2016, Arjan traveled to six continents and some 40 countries, spending around $65,000 on flights, guides, lodging, food, etc. He had several sponsors, including his highly supportive parents. Of course, Dwarshuis is extremely lucky to have such an opportunity. The pool of people that could even attempt such a feat is tiny.

The memoir flips back and forth from Arjan’s 2016 big year record and previous trips he had taken all over the globe. It makes sense that a well-traveled birder would pursue a global record, but it comes across pretty nonchalant when referring to the last time I was in…fill in the blank. We are not taking about a retired, well-known birder like Kenn Kaufman here. Arjan is only 29!

Dwarshuis does blend some natural history and environmental thoughts with his travel accounts. However, the book reads more like blog posts bound together. Often times I felt like sections were lacking, especially areas in South America where he sees dozens of new species. A day of exciting birding would end and abruptly, usually after finding the ultra-rare, unlikely-to-be-found bird. Then off to the next location.

Over time, the blog post style gets a bit redundant.There are so many times where a section starts by explaining how extremely rare and unlikely it is they will find a certain bird. Then, a few paragraphs later, check!, the bird is spotted.

This type of birding, often referred disparagingly as “twitching”, has never appealed to me. And Arjan even admits occasionally that the whirlwind experience does not allow for fully enjoying the places he is traveling in. What stood out to me were the excellent, native guides that took Dwarshuis to remote locales. These guides offer up true reasons for usually poor countries to protect their ecosystems. I would have loved to have heard even more backstories of these fascinating and diverse people.

The amount of dedication and energy required to travel, hike and bird this intensely for an entire year is remarkable. Of that tiny amount of people with the means and time to undertake such an adventure, most would not have the determination to see it through. Dwarshuis breaks the world record and then some! (Not a spoiler as the subtitle and back cover make this declaration.)

The stated goal of raising awareness of endangered birds and habitat conservation may be lost as this book largely appeals to elite, world birders. Unfortunately, the rarity of many of these species is what draws so many to want to check them off their list before it is too late.

Arjan, largely because of The (Big) Year That Flew By, has made a name of himself in the world of promoting bird conservation. He is the ambassador of the prestigious IUCN NL Land Acquisition Fund. His record as of printing is 6,852 bird species (seen and heard) in a single calendar year. The number could possibly grow (or shrink) as taxonomic changes occur and split or lump species.

Birdfreak.com received a copy of the book from the publisher, Chelsea Green, to review on our website.

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The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century covers the bizarre museum “heist” by American flutist, Edwin Rist. At the time of his crime, Rist was only 20 years old and a superstar among the fly-tying community. The what you may ask?

Most people can picture what fly-tying is but not really understand it. It is a holdover from the Victorian era where fishermen would create elaborate ties to use for fly-fishing, usually trout or salmon. For those in the community, it is an intense hobby that appears to be in the realm of obsession. At least from Johnson’s writing, there are practically zero casual tiers.

Johnson takes several chapters explaining how he became interested in Edwin Rist’s crime and the history of fly-tying. Johnson was fly-fishing with a guide that casually mentioned the heist and from there it snowballed into the murky depths of the world of fly-fishing.

I have to admit I glazed over much of the details pertaining to the art of tying. Even after looking at pictures of tied flies, it doesn’t really spark me in terms of artistic value. The feathers used are much more beautiful on a living bird than some arts and crafts arrangement on a hook.

But as any good true crime story, The Feather Thief isn’t so much about what was stolen but the characters involved. Of course, stealing centuries old bird skins (entire preserved birds) from a museum is pretty unique. And as a birder, the thought of killing birds for their feathers is historically disgusting yet continues still today.

Johnson covers the ornithological history of bird collecting for science, a mostly noble endeavor. He also discusses the plume trade that nearly sent several amazing birds into the pit of extinction, most notably egrets.

Edwin Rist is a multi-talented man. At a young age he became interested in fly-tying and soon became one of the best. He was well-known and respected in the fly-tying community. He is also a flutist and the reason he was in England was to attend a prestigious school there. His hyper-focus on these two pursuits immediately had me suspecting he was on the Autism Spectrum. More on this later.

Rist plans for several months to break into the Natural History Museum at Tring. He even gains access to the bird collections under false pretense prior to his heist. Under the guise of researching for a book, he is left alone with all the cabinets of the most sought-after birds in the fly-tying community.

On the night of his break-in, Rist already knows where to go and what drawers to empty. He simply breaks a window with a rock after dropping his glass cutter, goes in and methodically takes as much as he can stuff in his suitcase. Then he leaves and makes a 45 minute walk to the train station which takes him back to his apartment.

It takes the museum a long time to even realize they were broken into and even longer to figure out what was stolen. Only by chance do they finally discover that entire collections of specific birds have been swiped.

Eventually, because of Rist’s arrogance and some happenstance, he is caught by the police. He was literally selling feathers of the birds he stole on eBay and making posts in a fly-tying forum. Once caught, he admits to to the theft and this actually puts a damper on any further investigation into what feathers he sold to whom.

At his trial, the defense has Rist evaluated (by a relative of the actor Sacha Baron Cohen) and it is determined Edwin has Asperger’s. This determination leads to a favorable ruling for Rist; basically a slap on the wrist. He has to pay fines but receives no jail time.

This is where the obsession of the author goes into overdrive. He tracks down various people in the tying community and eventually lands an interview with Edwin. This interrogation lasts for hours and the author basically comes away discouraged and disbelieving that Rist has Autism. (Which I disagree with.)

Kirk Wallace Johnson continues to follow any and all leads regarding the missing bird skins, traveling to Norway to visit the presumed accomplice of Rist. The obsessiveness of Johnson is ratcheted up more. He spends countless hours in the hopes of returning the skins to the Tring. And I’m not sure why. The museum admits that they are essentially worthless without their tags, and especially worthless if not a full skin.

Overall, The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century was a great read, devoid of the usual brutality of most true crime stories. There is no bloodshed and it involves long dead birds. The fly-tying community comes off as being less than ethical, with many members seemingly participating in the black market trade of bird feathers. The issues of environmental ethics are on full display and well discussed throughout the book.

I feel like Edwin Rist most likely has Autism Spectrum Disorder. But whether he should have essentially gotten away with his crime is up for debate. Regardless, the collection and sale of wild animals and their parts is disgusting. International laws, the Endangered Species Act, etc. do not seem to do enough to discourage this horrible mindset. But alas, it falls into that sinful trap commonly known as greed.

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The format of the book has species information on the left page and color plates on the opposing side. There are 301 color plates and each is packed with birds, most drawn in similar poses to each other. This provides an amazing level of comparison as well as glorious eye candy.

A book this big is definitely not a “field” guide. Nor is the text all that thorough. Species information is condensed but has a lot in a small space: size, behavior, voice, habitat, and distribution are all included.

But this book is all about the artwork and it is definitely worth it. This is one of those books that you didn’t really know you needed but you do. It is a superb reference book and an inspiration to do some world birding. The size (and cost) are a bit daunting. I even had to adjust one of the shelves on my new bookcase for it to fit.

Birdfreak.com received a copy of The Complete Birds of the World: Every Species Illustrated by the publisher, Princeton University Press, to review here.

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Illinois, nicknamed the Prairie State, was once covered with prairies. Now hardly any remain.

Bell Bowl Prairie is minuscule in size but represents a wildly diverse landscape, home to numerous state threatened or endangered animals and plants. Birds such as Black-billed Cuckoo and Loggerhead Shrike nest there. This is the only spot in Illinois I’ve seen Blue Grosbeaks. This prairie remnant holds some of the most striking and unique prairie plants including Large-Flowered Beard Tongue, Leadplant, Prairie Gentian and more.

Many important insects call Bell Bowl Prairie home, including the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee. The bee is listed as a critically endangered species under the US Endangered Species Act and endangered in Illinois. Saving the prairie will help protect this and many other insects, pollinators we desperately need.

Sadly, the Endangered Species Act is not nearly enough.

Currently, Save Bell Bowl Prairie is working to get as many people as possible to contact elected politicians to protect this land. It is a time for concerned citizens to step up and convince these politicians to do the right thing.

Who to contact, even if you do not live in Illinois

Deputy Governor Christian Mitchell: Christian.mitchell@illinois.gov
Deputy Governor Andy Manar: Andy.Manar@illinois.gov
@GovPritzker on Instagram
@JBPritzker and @IDOT_Illinois on Twitter

Rockford Mayor Thomas McNamara: thomas.mcnamara@rockfordil.gov
@CityOfRockfordIllinois on Instagram
@CityOfRockford and @tmcrkdf on Twitter

Illinois Senators Durbin and Duckworth
@DickDurban, @SenatorDurbin, @SenDuckworth on Twitter

You can not put a price tag on protecting Bell Bowl Prairie. The economic gain from bulldozing it over is next to nothing compared with the thousands of years it took for the prairie to become what it is. If we callously destroy everything beautiful around us and hold up “growth” as the only thing worthy of striving for we will eventually be left with nothing truly of value.

We should not even be at this point, begging to protect a tiny scrap of land. We should be investing billions of dollars into expanding ecosystems and restoring land to make Illinois the Prairie State once again. Will you help? Don’t wait and act now!

See: Planting Prairies at Airports Could Make Flying Safer

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Milman does a wonderful job of detailing the importance insects have on our environment. From food production to recycling dead matter, these tiny creatures are constantly at work making our world livable. Bugs are most often despised, but in reality, if we did not have a world of insects we would be in major trouble.

Insect decline directly impacts bird populations. Even birds traditionally associated with eating seeds, feed their young insects. Of all the typical reasons for declining numbers of birds, insects are rarely mentioned other than general “habitat degradation/destruction”. As a birder, this adds another degree of seriousness to this looming disaster.

The Insect Crisis gets a bit overwrought with the onslaught of insect facts and studies. It would be easy for readers to get lost in the weeds if you weren’t already interested in insects. Even the most interesting chapters, those on bees and monarch butterflies, tended to go a bit long.

One of the bigger issues discussed is the battle of environmentalists and farming. Agriculture uses lots of land to produce food and this will only increase as the world’s population grows. Productive farming is largely the reason that countries like the United States has thrived.

But when small farmers feel under attack, the movement for conservation loses. The real fight is against the massive farming conglomerates that have been ruining family farms for decades. These need to be dealt with and we need to find ways to revert back to more traditional rural lifestyles. Anyone with a modest piece of land, rural or suburban, can improve it for wildlife.

“‘We need to develop a cultural appreciation of wildlife that’s equivalent to art and music.'”

Lincoln Bower, Monarch Butterfly expert

The chapter on pesticide usage is frightening but also an area where regular people could help out immediately. Americans are obsessed with large, manicured lawns with zero weeds and constant cuttings. We have been conditioned to spray to control weeds and also waste a lot of water keeping this mono-culture of grass green. We need to stop that. A much wilder landscape at home would do wonders at increasing insects and the critters dependent on them.

This is how the book mostly concludes. We don’t necessarily need to try and preserve astronomical acreage. Or construct some sort of facility to breed insects. The amount of good we can do right now by simply stopping the harmful stuff we are doing is astounding. Of course, we still need to protect large-scale areas of habitat. But we can also do innovative things such as rooftop gardening in large cities.

The hardest part to accomplishing this is changing people’s attitudes; a cultural shift needs to happen. But culture can take decades to shift.

It will take more than books like The Insect Crisis to bring about this change. It may also require a more positive tone to reach this cultural shift, something environmentalists struggle with. But we owe it to the environment, our environment, to work relentlessly at preventing an insect apocalypse. Otherwise we really are in dire straights.

See Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife With Native Plants for wonderful information on how to make your yard natural and full of wildlife.

The Xerces Society is a wonderful resource for invertebrate conservation.

Monarch Butterfly Fund is another great organization, focused solely on the beloved monarch butterfly.

The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World by Oliver Milman
Published: January 1, 2022
W.W. Norton Company

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This quick read starts out with the basics: “What is an Old Growth Forest?” Maloof details that OG forests have certain characteristics about them, but with specific attributes that can not easily be described. Mostly, these forests have been allowed, for a lengthy time, to act naturally as forests. This means that from top to bottom, the forest is working and changing together. They encompass a wide range of vegetation other than trees and a whole smorgasbord of wildlife: insects, birds, mammals, and more.

Forests as we know them today, even old growth ones, are not all that old in geological terms. Individual trees that are the oldest in a forest are not necessarily the largest. The author describes how to determine (mostly) which trees are the oldest and also goes over some of the oldest known tree species: an Eastern Hemlock that was 555 years old and a Black Gum that was an amazing 679 years old to name a few.

Starting in chapter 4, Nature’s Temples catalogs the various types of wildlife and plants found in forests. These short chapters describe the birds, amphibians, snails, insects, herbaceous plants, mosses, fungi, lichens, worms, mammals, and humans of the forest. In old growth forests, there is always more diversity of all these categories (save humans) but the numbers and types found differ. Maloof includes many studies indicating the variances of old growth forests versus the various stages of forests that have been logged or clear cut.

I really enjoyed the chapters on birds and insects as both work in harmony to provide color and beauty to the natural landscape. The chapter on snails had me raising my eyebrows. Yes, snails are important. But no, hardly anyone is going to get excited about saving a forest because of some minuscule snails.

The author admits that the chapter on fire in the forest is probably the most controversial in the book. Forest fires are difficult to study and their history is complex. Each forest has differing species of trees that make up the forest, not to mention all the other plant and animal life. There is no quick answer for how to use or not use fire to “manage” forests. But like anything involving nature, the complexity is part of the reason to not paint with such a broad brush. And like most things, the management plan tends to lead towards whatever makes the most money.

Final Takeaways

Maloof is an advocate for not only protecting the shrinking remains of old growth forests. She is pushing for the conservation of “second growth” forests as well, in the hopes of letting forests eventually become old growth over time (a long time). Both causes are noble and worthy, but unfortunately, even forests left to recover may never fully become what they once were. (Or they will take a lot, lot longer to do so.)

Overall, Nature’s Temples: A Natural History of Old-Growth Forests is a great overview of what old-growth forests are (or were) and the denizens of these magnificent forests. The text is easy to read and has a conversational style, at times too casual or emotional. (See the snail chapter!) The chapter on humans also started deviating when Maloof started talking about how to measure beauty and descended into (I think) an argument that less beauty leads to more war. That said, I do agree with much of what she says about nature and mental health.

Prior to reading this I wanted old growth forests protected. This book only increases that desire.

Birdfreak.com received a copy of Nature’s Temples: A Natural History of Old-Growth Forests from the publisher, Princeton University Press to review.

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How to Use the Guide

The first section covers a lot of great info specific to these flycatchers but also a lot of general bird identification tools. Topics discussed include topography (the parts of a flycatcher), bill length, tail length, primary projection, wing bar contrast, eye rings, habitat preference, and more! It is a lot to take in, but displayed in a clean, easy to read format. The Field Mark Matrix puts it all together.

The Field Guide

Field Guide to North American Flycatchers: Empidonax and Pewees uses color illustrations to depict the species covered. Illustrated by Andrew Birch, this format provides a “best case scenario” of what these birds will look like in the field. This works well for learning to differentiate the highly similar birds but is only one part of the identification puzzle.

Included in the guide are spectrograms, displaying visually the songs and calls of the various flycatchers. These vocalizations are also described in terms of syllables and mnemonic devices. The author even encourages recording (simply with your smart phone) any songs you hear to play back later for identification.

The guide includes detailed distribution maps, going so far as to break down generally when each species will arrive or pass by during migration. Like any distribution map, there are discrepancies and much of a birds arrival depends on day-to-day conditions. Each species preferred habitat is included to improve likeliness of a positive identification.

The most difficult, i.e. similar, species are given side-by-side comparisons to assist even more. Most notable for me are Willow and Alder Flycatchers. Lastly, Pine and Buff-Bellied Flycatchers (both Empidonax species) get treatment despite limited distribution in the U.S. (only the birding hotspot of southeastern Arizona).

How I’m Going to Use This Guide

This review was posted in the winter when there are no flycatchers around in northern Illinois. Usually, the first flycatcher I see in the early spring is an Eastern Phoebe (not in this field guide). But my plan to use this book is to focus on one or two species most commonly found in my area. These will probably be Acadian and Willow, two Empidonax species that are known to nest around here.

By limiting myself to these two, I hope to seek them out. Once I’m more comfortable with their calls and habits, then I’ll move on to the other species. In the past, I’ve overwhelmed myself trying to remember who says “fitz-brrew” or “freee-BREER-o”. This approach will hopefully simplify the process.

I still expect to be stuck with “flycatcher species” on my checklists, but the fun is in the search. And the Field Guide to North American Flycatchers: Empidonax and Pewees is definitely going to help aide in that search.

We received a copy of Field Guide to North American Flycatchers: Empidonax and Pewees from the publisher, Princeton University Press to review.

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The three most common “shoulder” birds are Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs, and Snow Buntings.

Horned Lark

Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris) are found in northern Illinois year round, but become conspicuous in winter, especially after a snow. These handsome birds have a yellow face with a black mask and adorable black “horns” on their heads. They can be easily overlooked, but a closeup view reveals a quite stunning bird.

Cool Fact: “Horned Larks inhabit an extensive elevation range, from sea level to an altitude of 13,000 feet.”

Lapland Longspur

Lapland Longspurs (Calcarius lapponicus) breed in tundra habitats but migrate in winter to the Midwest (and elsewhere). Lonspurs in breeding plumage are spectacular. During the winter they have much subtler looks.

Cool Fact: “The name “longspur” refers to the unusually long hind claw on this species and others in its genus.”

Snow Bunting

Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) follow a similar template to Lapland Longspurs. They breed in the far north, visit us in the winter, and look duller. However, Snow Buntings do keep some of their bright white plumage, and can be quite stunning when they suddenly fly up when you drive by.

Cool Fact: “Although breeding and nonbreeding Snow Buntings look quite different, the change from nonbreeding to breeding plumage isn’t caused by growing in a new set of feathers (molt). The change from brownish to pure white happens when males rub their bellies and heads on the snow, wearing down the brown feather tips to reveal immaculate white features below.”

Why Do They Hang Out By The Road?

Mixed flocks of these three wonderful birds can number in the tens to hundreds (sometimes thousands!). When driving down a rural road, they will burst from the ground, flying in all directions (including at your car). This usually occurs after a heavy snow covers the crop fields, pushing the birds to the road edges. Snow plows often leave strips of open ground on the road shoulder, providing foraging grounds for the birds. They also gobble up grit to help with digestion.

So when you are out driving in winter on country roads, slow down and observe these winter road birds up close.

The “Cool Facts” quoted in this post are from Cornell’s All About Birds.

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Birds are one of the most fascinating group of animals. They have a great deal of diversity and live in nearly every habitat on the globe. Many have beautiful coloration, fascinating behavior, and beautiful voices. And of course, most of them fly.

Origin

How Birds Evolve goes way back in time to analyze how, why and when birds split off from dinosaurs. It uses a lot of scientific terms, but still remains fairly readable. The author is a birder, and it felt that the book was geared towards more than casual birders. Futuyma provides a good argument for birders to obtain a deeper understanding of why birds look like they do and behave in certain ways. This doesn’t make birding analytical but instead enhances our ability to find and identify birds. It goes hand in hand with understanding habitats and plant life as ways of seeking specific birds.

Since I started birding, bird taxonomy has been changing (and will continue to change). I was always surprised and a bit confused when there was a “split” or “lump”. The way birds are categorized is constantly changing, and those changes continue to ramp up as science gets better at discovering DNA links. The fact that falcons have been found to be more closely related to parrots is tough to wrap my brain around. It means that birders are always challenged to keep learning. And that’s a good thing.

Lives

Outside of the dinosaur link and taxonomic changes (plus Archaeopteryx) the origin of birds is less interesting to me than their actual behavior. The chapters discussing nesting and bird social lives were especially interesting. Futuyma covers the variations of nestling-raising among birds. These include: female only, male only, both parents, none, or the really odd way: laying an egg in a mound and letting the nestling fend for themself (Malleefowl).

The author also discusses the potential costs of birds forming large groups. They compete for food, have more chances of disease/parasites, and have higher chances of direct conflict, including egg destruction. A huge benefit of course is “safety in numbers”. This is seen in many types of animals beyond birds. Essentially, fly a bit quicker than the guy next to you.

Diversity

The best part of the How Birds Evolve are the final chapters covering diversity. The variance amongst bird species has always been my main fascination of birds. I keep a casual list of species I’ve seen and I desire to see as many as I can. But that is minuscule compared to studying the myriad of bird behaviors that are found a vast array of types of birds.

Being able to watch a swallow hunting insects, a woodpecker hammering away at a tree, a hawk gliding across an open field, and then a warbler gleaning insects from a leaf is what makes birding so amazing. Globally, there are so many interesting birds that the mere idea of their existence is hard to understand. Which leads into the final chapter on the future of birds.

Unfortunately, the outlook of birds is not good. Futuyma drives the point home that birds are declining nearly across the board. Many species are likely to go extinct in the next 50-100 years (although this is a moving target). Habitat loss and degradation are still the main culprits. Climate change of course is covered, but not in the usual apocalyptic way.

There are some successful conservation stories and some definite hope. Once you make it through the doom and gloom, there are some valid points of correcting this problem. Beyond humans changing their ways and putting conservation at the top of our priority, birds may adapt or even evolve to be able to live with us. Some have already done it, so we can never lose hope.

Parting Notes

Overall, this book is geared towards more science-based birders or science-loving non-birders. The amount of technical terms, while explained well, is still heavy. But the book is packed with information about bird evolution and I can see it being an ongoing reference for questions that will continue to arise in my own birding and learning adventures.

Birdfreak.com received a copy of How Birds Evolve: What Science Reveals About Their Origin, Lives & Diversity from the publisher, Princeton University Press to review.

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Aldo Leopold is best known for A Sand County Almanac, but he was a prolific writer with hundreds of individual pieces. With The River of the Mother of God: and Other Essays we see Leopold’s progression of thought. We also see how his writing improves. He changes from being pro-predatory control to wanting to manage habitats for predators. He also understands the importance of hunters, the necessity of government involvement in conservation, and the need for environmental-friendly agriculture. He provides blueprints for differing groups of people to work together in the best interest of the land and all its inhabitants.

Starting with a short essay mostly likely written in 1904 when Aldo was seventeen, this collection goes chronologically to a 1947 essay titled “The Ecological Conscience”. Many of these were pieces that would be at least partially incorporated in A Sand County Almanac. Others stand out simply as gems of conservation-based ideas.

“Helping Others” (1934) chronicles Leopold’s efforts with various farmers and hunters to create a pheasant habitat they can hunt. This co-op merged together several individual landowners property, with costs shared to maintain suitable habitat for wild and raised pheasants. Leopold stating that the “…first theorem of social justice: The Lord helps those who help themselves.”

Other essays center around declining species. In “Threatened Species” (1936) we see Leopold’s concern for keystone predators along with threatened (he never seems to use the term “endangered”) species. He promotes his desire for the many conservation and environmental-minded organizations to work together to protect species. He specifically points out the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker and that action must be taken immediately or they are doomed.

Aldo Leopold spent time in the American Southwest but I like to claim him as a Wisconsinite. The Leopold Center is located in Baraboo, Wisconsin and many of the essays center around his work in Wisconsin. These include not only his farm, but his teaching and work with the University of Wisconsin Arboretum. One particular essay is about a “wildflower digger”, a vandal that stole the last yellow ladyslipper from the Arboretum. Leopold doesn’t hold back is disgust to this degenerate.

Many of Leopold’s essays are timeless. But some included in this collection were timely and specific to a place. In “The Last Stand” (1942), Aldo uses is art of persuasion to convince Michiganders to protect an area of old-growth hardwoods in the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The forest was threatened by wartime cutting and ended up being protected as a state park.

The River of the Mother of God

Leopold has essays about conservation in Mexico as well as South America. The collection’s title, The River of the Mother of God, is based on a river in the Amazonian forest, “a river without beginning and without end”. This essay was rejected by The Yale Review and went unprinted until this publication. Leopold discusses the need for wilderness for wilderness’s sake. It is noble and rings true today. And while I largely agree with his words, it reminds me of many of today’s “adventure environmentalists” (my term, not Leopold’s).

These explorers complain that wild places are being over-visited or at risk of being visited to death by “the masses”. They write beautiful prose and publish astonishing images of places that require great effort and time to visit. These elite environmentalists use expensive equipment and have the luxury of travel time that many can not afford. Then they want to slam the door shut on anyone else that would dare to see it in person.

Leopold doesn’t make this claim, but in many ways he lays the foundation, 100 years ago, for these current adventurers. We can do more harm by worrying that wild places will become too popular. Instead, we should encourage ethical exploration that is more likely to inspire adventurers to want to bring some of that wildness home, to places nearer and likely dearer to them.

That said, National Parks where people drive around from vista to vista in air conditioned vehicles is also not the way to see the natural world. In this regard I am on team Edward Abbey. You need to walk or ride a horse into the wild. You need to get your feet dirty and get down on the ground to actually “see” wilderness.

On the whole, this collection is not as good as A Sand County Almanac. But it scores a lot of points for the variety of ideas and the progression of those ideas. There are some definite gems sprinkled throughout and anyone already familiar with the Almanac will greatly appreciate reading these.

I happened to read this collection while re-reading A Sand County Almanac and it was of great interest to see some of the pieces in The River of the Mother of God: and Other Essays that helped form the former.

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The book covers 189 of the world’s major habitats and is broken up into seven zoogeographic regions: Nearctic, Palearctic, Neotropical, Afrotropical, Indo-Malayan, Australasian, and Antarctic. How a distinct habitat is determined is based on two main points: visual distinctness and wildlife, mostly consisting of mammals and birds.

Each habitat has a colored map, a brief explanation of what it is and where it is found, plus the similar and overlapping habitat types, if any. Then there are several paragraphs about the wildlife that can be found, including any endemic species. Next, there is a section on distribution, basically a more detailed explanation of where in the world this habitat exists. Lastly is the “Where to See” section, a note on specific countries, states, or even wildlife refuges or National Parks.

Beyond the massive scope, full of excellent text, maps and graphs, the wildlife photography makes this book stand out. Nearly all of the 650 or so photographs are taking by Tropical Birding Tours guides and they are stunning. Some of the most sought after birds are showcased and it will surely inspire you to learn more about the habitat type and try and visit it.

Who Is This Book For?

The subtitle says Habitats of the World is for “birders, naturalists and ecologists” and that is true. Birders will especially benefit from this book, even if they are not planning any special birding trips. I enjoyed reading about the habitats that cross my neck of the woods (which only included 3, but some others in bordering states).

But this book is also for anyone interested in conservation. Understanding and enjoying the diverse habitats across the globe gives us inspiration to want to protect all species. We’ve always been in love with neotropical habitats, as these are the places that are inhabited by the beautiful migrating birds that enliven each spring with color and song. To be able to quickly look up and learn about this varied and exciting habitats is what makes Habitats of the World so wonderful.

We highly recommend this book for every birder and conservationist out there.

Birdfreak.com received a review copy of Habitats of the World: A Field Guide for Birders, Naturalists and Ecologists from the publisher, Princeton University Press. (Published in 2021)

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“We partner to grow a restorative economy by rebuilding healthy ecosystems, restoring habitat for plants and wildlife, and reconnecting our border communities to the land through shared learning.”

When the “borderlands” are referred to, we are always talking about the national boundary between the United States and Mexico. This political border only touches four U.S. states: California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The border runs 1,954 miles and is often in the news, discussed in heated political debates. It is also often misunderstood.

Landscapes, wildlife and rivers do not obey borders artificially made by humans. On the contrary, the habitats along the border are seamless no matter which side you are on¹. The borderlands region offers some of the most scenic, diverse, and unique ecosystems found in the United States.

Numerous species of birds, mammals, and other wildlife make appearances on the northern side of the border that are normally only found in Mexico. These rarities cause waves of birders to search them out, although many are found quite regularly if you merely travel further south.

Rebuild, Restore, Reconnect

Borderlands Restoration Network’s vision is inspiring because it is all encompassing. Without the human element and economic foresight, conservation efforts can easily fall flat. Simple dumping money to “conserve wildlife habitat” is not enough. BRN focuses on sustainability with humans.

What Does Borderlands Restoration Network Do?

They provide education and outreach programs, watershed and habitat restoration as well as a really cool native plant program called Borderlands Nursery & Seed. This program produces over 100,000 plants a year to help restore native plants to the area. They also own and manage an amazing wildlife preserve.

Borderlands Wildlife Preserve

At 1,800 acres and growing, the Borderlands Wildlife Preserve is part of the Sonoita Creek Wildlife Corridor. It is owned by Wildlife Corridors, LLC, which is dedicated to providing a public-private partnership with the space. Thus, it is open for hiking with an extensive trail system.

The preserve is nestled in the popular Patagonia-Sonoita, Arizona birding area. This includes the Patagonia Roadside Rest Stop, Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, Paton Center for Hummingbirds and much more. Thankfully, this area once destined to be developed is now protected indefinitely.

Borderlands Restoration Network has an interesting blog and hosts various events. Francesca Claverie, BRN’s Native Plant Program Director was recently featured on Mountain & Prairie Podcast. Definitely worth a listen!

One of the most unique and interesting conservation efforts (which I learned from the above linked podcast) is the Bacanora for Bats project. This is a joint effort of agave spirit producers, specifically the unique liquor known as Bacanora, and conservationists to help preserve native agave plants in an economically sustainable way.

BRN’s work is mostly centered around Arizona’s southern border but its impacts reach well beyond the borderlands.

¹Unless there is a hideous wall in the way

Photos are from a trip taken with my parents in 2004 to this area but not specifically the preserve.

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Note that this book consists of fables or creative non-fiction. Much of it is real, but like all history, the details can often get distorted.

The characters consist of a wide range from murdered abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy, to famed French author Alexis de Tocqueville to an Onodaga chief Ut-ha-wah. There are moving yet sad tales about Nat Turner, Edgar Allen Poe, and a free black man named McIntosh. McIntosh is charged with a bogus crime and sentenced to death, a sickening legacy of that time period.

Birds in the 1830s

Of course I am drawn to the stories about wildlife, especially the birds in the 1830s. John James Audubon makes an appearance, bringing an owl “to life” in his painting. Also highly interesting is the tale of the “Townsend’s Bunting”. Discovered by ornithologist John Kirk Townsend, this bird was collected (shot) and is still preserved as a museum specimen. It is still not 100% identified and to my knowledge, another like it has not been found. Consensus says it is a variation of a Dickcissel (Spiza americana), but regardless, provides an interesting tale.

Setting as a Character

The American forest in the 1830s is something that words, art or even photographs can not adequately convey. No one living in the present can imagine the grandiosity of these landscapes. Sure, some remnants can still be visited, but the wildness and the magnitude of wildlife that inhabited the land is lost forever.

Every human inhabitant during this time period was hardier and faced challenges current Americans do not. Even the primitive fear of what lurked in the woods is largely gone. Thus, the woods that make up the setting for The Forest: A Fable of America in the 1830s act as a main character for the episodes throughout. It connects the entire book into one of cohesion from the chaotic lives of its other characters.

Beautiful Artwork

Included in The Forest are 48 pages of art, illustrations and photographs from depicting this time period. Some of the art consists of creations by the figures from the text. Others show the homes, landscapes, or portraits of these inhabitants. Some notable highlights include Audubon’s Barn Owl painting, a photograph of an animal skin tobacco bag and John Vanderlyn’s The Death of Jane McCrea. These plates are all referenced back to their related stories.

Birdfreak.com received a review copy of The Forest: A Fable of America in the 1830s from the publisher, Princeton University Press. The estimated publication date is March 7, 2023.

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Trees, despite their size and stationary statures, can often be overlooked or at least underappreciated. As a birder, I can identify hundreds of birds by sight and many of these by sound alone. Yet when it comes to trees, I can claim only maybe twenty or more on a reliable basis. I hide in their shade on a hot summer day or hunker behind them during a blustery snowstorm. But many times I’m scouring their branches only to pursue a flitting warbler, cursing the leaves that keep my quarry hidden.

But of course, trees are vital to our ecosystems, their value almost without measure. Clean air, clean water, shelter and food for uncountable animals.

Some of the detailed information is more than a layperson may care to read thoroughly. The pages are textbook-worthy yet still readable, even if some parts are more likely to be skimmed.

Chapter 1 – The Many Forms and Functions of a Tree’s Companions

The diversity of small critters found in trees (and elsewhere) is mind-boggling. Nardi catalogues the many families of arthropod allies: wasps, flies, hornets, true bugs, beetles, mites, lacewings, spiders, etc. The sheer numbers of species of each and the likelihood of further discovers of many many thousands more is intriguing to say the least.

Then we get into the microbial allies. Trees need nitrogen and bacteria carries out nitrogen fixation in a symbiotic relationship. These microbes also “… produce hormones that stimulate tree growth and wound repair.”

Chapter 2 – Out On A Limb: Living on Leaves, Buds and Twigs

Caterpillars make up the most species of leaf feeders. Species wise, there are “157,000 moths and 18,000 butterflies”. Many of these caterpillars have such great camouflage (to look like the tree material or even bird droppings) they are difficult to find. The amount of life moving around and eating among the leaves, buds and twigs is really fascinating and rarely seen (at least by human eyes).

Walkingsticks may be one of the most inconspicuous yet obviously well-adapted insects for twigs. They have nearly perfect camouflage, yet in tropical forests they have more tools up their woody-looking sleeves. These “[flash] bright colors to startle intruders, [have secret] defensive repellents, or [adopt] threatening poses and [swing] legs equipped with sharp, penetrating spines.”

The section on gall makers was the most interesting part of this chapter. There are several families of insects that “make” galls including wasps, sawflies, midges, aphids, and mites. The wild thing is that these insects actually manipulate the tree into making the galls and do not make galls themselves. You’ve probably seen these “tree bumps” countless times and there is still a lot about galls that remain unknown.

Chapter 3 – Tapping a Tree’s Circulatory System

Think sap. This section is all about the animals, again mostly insects, that break into tree walls for the rich food source of sap. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus varius) make rows of holes that draw out sap. These beautiful woodpeckers slurp up the sap and gobble down the insects drawn to it. Squirrels and still more insects feast on this food source.

While the woodpecker gets top billing, there are numerous species of insect sapsuckers as well. These include lace bugs and stink bugs.

Chapter 4 – The World Between Bark and Heartwood

This chapter focuses the insects that benefit from feasting on the area beyond the bark (phloem). The trees can be living or dead, and these insects are literally eating wood. Beetles, ants and termites are but a few of the creatures that borrow through the bark, excavating tunnels in the process.

Lichens and mosses that grow on the bark provide their own “forest”, complete with wildly diverse insects. Lichens also provide nest-building materials for hummingbirds, vireos, and various flycatchers. Second-hand tree holes, made by woodpeckers, become home to a host of other animals, especially birds. The Great-Crested Flycatcher add a number of tree-based materials to their nest cavities but also shed snake skins. Science has yet to figure out why.

Chapter 5 – In the Company of Flowers and Fruits

Pollination nation. This section covers the ways trees reproduce through pollination. Insects play a crucial role in tree reproduction, but pollination also occurs simply by pollen blowing in the wind. Bees are most commonly thought of when it comes to pollination, and there are some 3,600 species found in North America. Of course, there are many other pollinators including butterflies, moths, bats, and birds.

Seed dispersal is how trees populate distant areas. Squirrels are pros at moving acorns and other tree nuts. Blue Jays and other members of the Corvid family as well as Acorn Woodpeckers help move a large number of nuts. And of course, these nuts have specific insects associated with them.

Chapter 6 – The World Beneath a Tree

This is the area that is probably least known to me and to science. Definitely for me. The amount of activity that goes on that is indivisible to us is humbling. And what these insects contribute to healthy tree life can not be understated.

The majority of what happens at the bottom of the tree involves the “decomposers”. Composed of many groups of bugs from beetles to millipedes, these eaters of the dead number in the tens of thousands of species. These numbers even include some butterfly caterpillars.

Chapter 7 – Observing Firsthand

This last chapter has some practical DIY ways to observe some of the insects in your own backyard. The author also simply encourages everyone to take the time to make observations. There is a huge assortment of fascinating creatures to be seen. Although if I set up a moth-attracting observation light, my wife might make me sleep outside.

Final Takeaways

While the illustrations are black and white pencil drawings, they are still highly detailed. Also included are six pages of color illustrations depicting fine details of some of the commonly found life forms on a tree. Dubbed LeafScape, BarkScape and RootScape, these artistic renderings feature creatures of the leaves, bark, and underground in the roots.

The Hidden Company That Trees Keep provides a great catalog of the various insect families that reside in trees. This catalog lists the number of known species and highlights some of the facts that make the group interesting. The amount of diversity, even among more commonly acquainted insect types is truly amazing.

There are so many nuggets of knowledge throughout The Hidden Company that any level of naturalist will be be left in awe.

Birdfreak.com received a review copy of The Hidden Company That Trees Keep: Life from Treetops to Root Tips from the publisher, Princeton University Press.

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Historical records of the Passenger Pigeon are hardly believable. Birds that numbered in the billions (yes, with a “B”) quickly dwindled to the final member of the species, Martha. This is a story that many birders are familiar with. But seeing black and white photos of this famous bird makes the whole terrible destruction more real. It actually happened and should never have happened.

Campephilus principalis, the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, gets the most coverage in Lost Animals and rightly so. This is largely due to the incredible work of James Tanner and the numerous photos he obtained. Taken in the 1930s, these photos include a young bird called “Sonny Boy” that Tanner banded (ringed). He returned the bird to its nest and it later fledged. But the photos are intense. The bird is huge and almost cartoonish, with a massive bill that can do some serious damage. Some of the photos have this Lord God bird sitting on Tanner’s head!

Unsubstantiated “sightings” of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers have been alleged since 1944, including a big hullabaloo in 2004-2005. When I heard reports of this, I was instantly skeptical and hopeful at the same time. These reports were from respected members of the birding community and the mere thought of an Ivory-Billed still living felt magical.

Alas, this was not to be. Of all the birds, this is one I always stop and stare at when I see a picture or drawing of. The mere mention of this bird grabs my attention and imagination. How could we let such a bird go extinct? If there was one remaining would we want to find it? Would I want to see it? As rhetorical questions go, these are borderline nonsensical. But it is still a bird that will always remain a “what if” and one that guides me in my efforts as a conservationist.

Lost Animals also includes a handful of Hawaiian birds, a list that is sadly probably going to grow. Island species are often in peril because of their susceptibility to habitat loss and alteration, invasive species and simply their smaller population sizes. Other notable birds, especially for North American birders are the Carolina Parakeet, Eskimo Curlew, Heath Hen, and Bachman’s Warbler to name a few.

The mammals included in Lost Animals include two marine mammals, the Caribbean Monk Seal and Yangtze River Dolphin. Then there are some bizarre animals I’ve never heard of before. Thylacines (Thylacinus cynocephalus) despite a dog-like appearance, were “marsupials related to kangaroos and koalas. They are often called Tasmanian Tigers and their photographic records come largely from zoos. Quagga (Equus quagga quagga) was most likely a subspecies of the still living Plains Zebra.

Finishing out the book are Schomburgk’s Deer (Cervus schomburgki) and Bubal Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus).

Lost Animals – Extinction and the Photographic Record is an important addition to any conservationist’s library. It provides historical and graphical information on species that were lost not that long ago. It provides an ongoing reminder of the work that needs to be done to protect and preserve the wonderful diversity we have on this planet. It is a book even my nine-year old has picked up numerous times, filling him with wonder and questions.

Check out our review of The Travails of Two Woodpeckers for even more about Ivory-billed Woodpeckers and more.

We received a review copy of Lost Animals – Extinction and the Photographic Record from the publisher, Princeton University Press

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What makes the podcast so amazing is Ed’s ability to listen and let people talk. Yes, he asks several questions and often interjects his own experiences or ideas into the conversation. But mostly he encourages his guests to tell their story and explain what their work is and why people should care. It’s a simple, yet great format and clearly works. He has been doing this since 2016 and his guest list is incredible.

The guest list ranges from nationally famous authors to local artists and conservationists. One episode he may interview historian Douglas Brinkley and the next, a novelist based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Yet both will be entertaining and captivating. My favorite episodes are when he interviews an author whose book I’ve recently read or an author I’ve never heard of that I quickly want to read.

In nearly all the episodes, Roberson asks his guests for book recommendations. These range from most inspiring to western-specific titles. Over the many episodes there are many repeats, a sure sign that they are “must read” books. But there are a lot of hidden gems that make their way into the episodes and onto my “to be read” list. I’ve already discovered dozens of interesting new books from the Mountain & Prairie Podcast.

Ed Roberson is a voracious reader. With all his personal reading and guest book recommendations, he has created a bi-monthly newsletter that highlights recommended reads. You’ll most likely want to sign up for this after listening to a single episode (or even before).

He also has a weekly email that puts the spotlight on interesting happenings in the west. Titled “Good News From the West“, this newsletter consists of about a half dozen positive western news. These can include new short films, conservation victories, or upcoming events. With a lot of negativity in the environmental world, “Good News” is a welcome beacon of hope.

If that wasn’t all (and it isn’t), Roberson hosts an annual Strenuous Life Retreat.

“Inspired by Theodore Roosevelt’s life-long commitment to the Strenuous Life, Ed Roberson’s Strenuous Life Retreat is a five-day annual gathering of curious, humble, and motivated individuals who are committed to pushing themselves hard every day, both physically and intellectually.”

Speaking of Theodore Roosevelt, Roberson is definitely a modern-day TR. His passions for the outdoors, conservation and reading mesh well with family and friendship. Although I’ve never met Ed in person, by listening to his podcast he is instantly likeable. As an interviewer, he brings out the best in his guests and really shines a spotlight on some really fascinating people and issues. And he does all this with a hopeful, positive attitude.

Please subscribe to the Mountain & Prairie Podcast right away! We could use a few more Ed Robersons.

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As a river guide, Chris is quite successful and has many wealthy clients. Knowing nothing about running rivers and caring nothing for fishing, the terminology of both I largely glossed over. However, the adventures he has and the experiences he recounts are superbly written and enjoyable. I was worried, given his dual occupations and the title of the book, that he would be overly metaphoric about rivers. Thankfully, there is only a sprinkling of this and it is mostly fresh poetic diction.

The Montanan landscape of mountains and rivers full of wildlife come alive across the pages of The River You Touch. What caught my attention even more was his trials and tribulations at becoming a father and being a provider for his family (his wife Mary and eventually three kids). Dombrowski expresses his fears at fatherhood and worries about raising environmentally aware children. He often laments on his family’s impact on the environment, including his own.

After several failed hunting trips and the gas used in the process, he calculates the money he could have saved by simply procuring store-bought meat. Although not a hunter myself, he does a great job of bringing the reader into the field with him. I truly appreciate ethical hunters but also understand that not everyone can hunt for their food. However, having respect for your food sources, wherever they may be, is vital and attainable. And he shows this respect truly.

He also explains how much better wild game is, including fish. I personally dislike fish and haven’t had a lot of game other than venison jerky (and bison, but that’s mostly store-bought). However, this “better tasting” meat he always seasons with an onslaught of spices and other ingredients, making me feel like some of that natural taste needs to be masked away.

The whole memoir mostly follows a trajectory consisting of the births of his three kids. His wife’s second pregnancy lands her on bed rest for many weeks, a harrowing experience that I can relate with. Not long after this difficult pregnancy, they are surprised to be pregnant yet again. This is where Dombrowski’s writing is at its best. He struggles to come to terms with the financial burden of raising the kids while balancing his demanding seasonal duties as a river guide. And despite being away nearly all day long during his busiest times, he tries to make up for it by spending lots of time outdoors with his kids.

Then out of the blue, he moves his family to Michigan.

While this was largely a financial move, I still struggled to fully understand why he did this. The new job, to teach at a prestigious boarding school in the Upper Peninsula, was the obvious reason. Plus, it was closer to aging family members. But it happens fast in the memoir and he appears to almost instantly regret the decision. He meets some interesting people in Michigan, but the longing to return to Montana is constant and they quickly move back.

The River You Touch – Making a Life On Moving Water is a book that goes beyond being merely well written (which it is). It is alive with wonder at the natural world and our place in it. We belong to the earth and the earth belongs to us. In our short time on it, we should be unafraid to fully be part of the natural world in its abundant offerings.

Listen to Ed Roberson interview Chris Dombrowski on the Mountain & Prairie Podcast. Check out more of Chris Dombrowski’s works on his personal website.

Birdfreak.com received a review copy of The River You Touch – Making a Life On Moving Water from the publisher, Milkweed Editions.

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The first part of the book is an amazing history of science’s best knowledge of pre-Homo Sapiens. Starting in Africa, our long ago ancestors over many generations spread out to nearly every place on the globe. Flores uses the term “biological first contact” to describe how these ancestral migrations would discover new animals and be able to easily kill them. At first. Thus, as these humans reached North America, the large now extinct animals were mostly unafraid of the new visitors. This seems most visible on islands (see the Great Auk).

As the book progresses, Pilgrims arrive on what will become the United States. They are met with “natives” as well as an abundance of wildlife. Flores explains that much of this abundance was relatively new. Disease accidentally brought on from previous explorers had wiped out large numbers of people, letting animal numbers increase dramatically. It is difficult to determine how many of what species could theoretically populate various ecosystems, especially as humans have settled in nearly every locale.

Speaking of humans, there is an ongoing background thread of “overpopulation” in Wild New World. Humans take the blame for Pleistocene extinctions (mostly true, but not for all species) and certainly are to blame for Anthropocene (current/recent) extinctions. But this is where we get into a sticky situation. On one hand, humans are simply another mammal species, a part of natural selection and hardly any different from a coyote. Yet, we somehow then sit outside of this family tree as something greater and responsible for fixing all past mistakes.

America’s Recent Extinctions

Wild New World covers nearly all of America’s recent extinctions and extremely close calls. As heartbreaking as it is to read these accounts, it is Flores at his best. Species like the colorful Carolina Parakeet (which most people probably never even heard of) to the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and Great Auk, and of course, the Passenger Pigeon.

I’ve read about the Passenger Pigeon’s plight dozens of times and it still seems fantastical. From literally billions of birds to absolute zero, it is ridiculous that this bird went extinct. Even more disgusting is that people saw this happen and did nothing to stop it or other extinctions after. Sadly, despite all the knowledge and science, this is still an issue today.

Large animals like bison and predators like wolves, coyotes, grizzly bears, and mountain lions all faced (and still face) extermination. Bison are mostly protected but highly managed and coyotes figured out how to deal with people. (See my favorite Flores’s book, Coyote America.) But so many species of animals endure ongoing threats.

Market hunting of the past destroyed a lot. And Flores does point out that Native Americans contributed to some animal depopulation in this new trade economy. This doesn’t compare to the atrocities of fur trappers and those hunting bison from trains. And has no comparison for the rabid desire to exterminate predators, specifically wolves and coyotes. Overall, people were fooled and foolish by the perceived endless supply of animals and uncaring even when they could see in front of them obvious population declines.

Wild New World introduces many to incredible scientists and naturalists of the past. Common figures like Charles Darwin, Aldo Leopold and Theodore Roosevelt (always) are present. But some that may be lesser known make a grand appearance. Olaus and Adolph Murie were brother scientists that studied predator-prey relationships, starting with coyotes and later wolves. There unbiased results showed that coyotes had minimal effect on elk and other herbivore populations, contrary to popular beliefs. They directly observed and recorded a true balance of nature.

This contrasts greatly with many current scientists that are more interested in knee-jerk reactions to current events in order to score political points. This is most blatant in the pandemic response and climate change*.

The book concludes with some more modern conservationists like Rachel Carson (Silent Spring) as well as the unfortunately controversial release of wolves into places like Yellowstone National Park. If history is our guide, it will take something beyond current political parties to ensure a future full of animal diversity. Clearly not even the left, that often claims to be the party of the environment, has a clear (or viable) idea on what should be done.

Whatever the future holds for animals, including humans, there can be only two ways to go. One, we give up and live in a diminishing, ugly world full of consumerism, division and hate. Or two, we actually come together and start caring for the natural world. This means and end to partisan hate and the obsession of the past regressions. An end to pointless bickering and a move forward with real ideas that blend conservation and capitalism into something that works for animals.

The American Prairie, which is introduced but does not get as much attention as it deserves in Wild New World is already providing a blueprint for real solutions. It might take longer than we want and face difficult obstacles, but this is the sort of big picture conservation that we need more of.

Note: Birdfreak.com received a copy of Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animals and People in America to review.

*In order to avoid any attempts at calling me a “climate denier”, a nonsense term (who denies the climate?), I must state that I believe climate change is real and that humans directly are impacting it. I also believe that much of the science to correct it is terrible and unworkable.

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Through all my years of hiking and exploring I’ve actually never seen a wild beaver. Thus, they hardly cross my mind. Occassionaly, I’d witness a muskrat and for a few seconds wish it into being a beaver. So when I came across Goldfarb’s book I nearly overlooked it. Thankfully, I did not.

Eager is a well-crafted, old school (in all the right ways) natural history book. It tells the history of beavers, but also the story of why beavers are so important. Rarely overburdened with statistics, instead Eager is loaded with first hand accounts of “Beaver Believers”, exactly the sort of quirky people you’d expect to be overtly interested in beavers. But these beaver lovers cover a wide range of people from governmental land managers, conservationists and ranchers.

What this book shows in novel-like storytelling is how incredibly important beavers are to ecosystems. Nearly every part of the country can benefit from a beaver’s natural affinity to build dams. At first impression, they seem like destructive creatures, gnawing down creek-side trees and causing flooding. But what these natural construction workers do is create habitat for countless other animals.

Goldfarb rightly argues that beavers are a keystone species, on footing with more high-profile animals such as wolves. In Yellowstone, the reintroduction of wolves gained headlines. But it was a combination of adding these predators and the work of beavers that truly restored riparian habitat.

Beavers are perhaps the most unique animal in terms of conservation. No other animal (to my knowledge) can actually be a tool used for conservation. Yes, predators help keep down numbers of grazing animals. But beavers actually construct dams using natural materials and create habitat. Their ability to alter water flow leads to better water quality, sediment control and more wetlands.

Of course, “using” beavers goes against the norm of land “management”. You can’t predict and can only partially control where or what the beavers will do. And much of their work is gradual. They can build dams fast, but the wetlands they create takes time.

Beavers can cause a lot of problems for humans, most notably when they dam up culverts and cause flooding, often over roadways. But there are several companies now that make “Beaver Deceivers” that are ways to block off culverts (and other areas of concern), preventing beavers from making dams where they would be problematic. These are usually a cost-effective way to avoid calling in the trappers, which usually means death to the offending beaver.

Eager – The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter does a superb job telling the natural history of beavers. As someone with a Disney-level amount of knowledge on beavers, I learned a great deal. I had always pictured rivers to be wide, picturesque flows of winding water. But a natural, beaverful waterway is dynamic, messy, and way better for wildlife. Beaver-assisted conservation may be the best hidden tool in the conservationist toolkit.

Goldfarb has turned me into a Beaver Believer.

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Born in 1864, Chapman lived in a time when ornithology meant collecting wild birds and collecting meant shooting. Before optics, guns were the only real way to study birds. Yes, collectors had a negative impact on birds, but it was unregulated hunting mixed with drastic habitat loss and alteration that led to species-wide declines (not ornithologists).

Chapman’s life is a fascinating travelogue across the United States and South America. He goes on expeditions to Florida and Texas as well as Peru and Columbia among other places. These chapters are the most interesting as we get to witness what Chapman saw when many locales, as well as their birds, were unknown or little known to science.

Living over 80 years, Chapman had a fascinating life, nearly all of which revolved around birds. It is fun to see how he evolves his views on conservation issues, but he was still a man of his time and believed birds would remain plentiful for years to come. Another interesting fact is that Chapman was directly involved in forming part of Theodore Roosevelt’s team to explore the River of Doubt.

Chapman worked for 54 years at the American Museum of Natural History, including many as “The Chief”. His huge number of contributions to the museum remain a great benefit to science. During his extensive career, he published numerous ornithological books as well as Bird-Lore Magazine. He sold Bird-Lore to the Audubon Society, which eventually evolved into Audubon Magazine.

Perhaps the most touching part of Chapman’s storied life was his marriage to Fannie Bates Embury. Fannie accompanied Frank on many of his birding trips and put up with his bird obsession. He even remarked how she was the best field assistant he could ask for.

A Few Things That Could Be Improved

My only real complaint with this book is there were quite a few typos/errors. Several times different ages or dates are given for events previously discussed, as well as different spellings of names.

The other point of contention is not specific to this book, but an ongoing complaint on bird names. Bird common names should always be capitalized. This is especially useful to new or non-birders but benefits anyone not familiar with bird names. There is a huge difference between, say a yellow warbler and a Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia).

Overall, The Man Who Loved Birds is an excellent biography of a great ornithologist, Frank M. Chapman.

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The collection of 20 essays covers many birding trips to various National Wildlife Refuges and other parks, mostly in New Mexico. Kumar seeks out specific birds such as owls, Sandhill Cranes, Bald Eagles, and Long-billed Curlews. However, there are many notable bird sightings in her quests as well as several encounters with Bobcats.

Some of the best essays are when the author has taken up residence in Mi Casita, the cabin built by famed naturalist Aldo Leopold. Located in Carson National Forest (named after Kit Carson), this rustic dwelling provides a perfect headquarters for side trips and hikes around the area. It is here where she has her “close call” with a Bobcat, although the incident is over in a flash.

Many of the essays tackle important environmental and conservation issues. Kumar has excellent observations on localized habitat loss, down to a specific large tree by her house. Small scale habitat loss is easily overlooked when there is so much focus on climate change and deforestation. But witnessing real, close examples of destruction is vital to the big picture. Unfortunately, she could not prevent the tree from being chopped down, but at least there was some hope. In another essay, she laments that even in the National Forest, trees are clear cut without any real good reason.

Speaking of habitat loss, the term has been so greatly overused that it has become somewhat ineffective. It is one of those obvious yet vague phrases that we now gloss over. How does one prevent “habitat loss” somewhere deep in a forest you have never been to? Another reason how local naturalists bringing the attention to local issues will hopefully make a bigger impact over time.

Kumar’s writing is good and she does a great job intermixing famous naturalist of the past: Leopold, Theodore Roosevelt, John James Audubon, as well as many local ornithologists and naturalists she encounters. Many of her outings she includes her husband and two small children which is really appreciated. It is not always easy to bring young ones “in the field” because you spend a lot of time managing their needs (what we call “levels”). But her girls are troopers and seem to be future naturalists.

Overall, Conversations With Birds provides a great starting point for non birders or newer birders. The collection as a whole didn’t feel fully cohesive. Only a couple essays felt like “conversations”; mostly birds sparking further interest and several encounters with Western Tanagers when she was having difficult moments.

There was an ongoing story that an owl was witness to the night of her grandmother’s death. Several times this is referred to. In the end though, it turned out to actually be a rat.

Birdfreak.com received a copy of Conversations With Birds from the publisher, Milkweed Editions, for an honest review.

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Our Wild Calling begins with several accounts of animal encounters. These event are often life-changing and lead to a deeper desire to continue to connect with nature. Louv cites studies showcasing how people are lonelier than ever and that the natural world, specifically connecting with animals, can change that.

As animals, we have an innate ability to communicate with other animals. “Horses have 17 separate facial expressions, second only to humans with 27.” We know how deeply connected we can be to our pets. There has been a recent explosion of knowledge about wild animals and their “thoughts”.

Louv does an excellent job exploring the often taboo subject of anthropomorphism, attributing human emotions or feelings on animal behaviors. We may get it wrong, but we are not that bad at figuring out what an animal is experiencing when we view them. And we also need to accept that when we cross paths with a wild animal, we are not an invader. They belong in their habitat and so do we.

Louv makes this point a lot in Our Wild Calling. He uses examples of coyotes inhabiting large cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago, but also backyard bears, mountain lions, and of course countless numbers of birds and other animals. The more we can understand animals and accept their presence, the better off everyone will be.

As an educator and promoter, Richard Louv excels at showcasing wonderful programs and people that want to connect, especially young ones, to nature. Deep bird language and the work of Jon Young (What the Robin Knows) highlights how we can make use of more than our “five” senses. In fact, we easily have 9, 10 and maybe up to 30 senses.

There is also some discussion on “robo-pets”, artificial intelligence and the like replacing some of the lost nature. I am equivocally against this on nearly all levels. I’ve used recorded bird songs in the past, mostly for identification purposes. But the more we open this Pandora’s box, the further away from nature we will travel. Natural exposure has to be a full immersion with all the randomness of weather, wild encounters, dirt, and yes, even potential danger.

That being said, you don’t need a dangerous encounter with a mountain lion, wolf, shark, etc. Where I live, ticks and their potential of transmitting Lyme’s disease, is about the highest risk possible on a hike (besides other humans). But even this is extremely low and has nearly no impact on my desire to take me kids out to explore with me.

Perceived risks in the wilderness would also be mitigated by exposing kids at school to class animals. Lizards, snakes, rabbits, birds, dogs, etc. should be allowed back into schools. This used to be common, but has been largely litigated out. However, the more kids become comfortable with all types of critters, the more they open their senses up to be aware when they are out in nature. Recently, my family attended a program where we held snakes, lizards, rats, and even a skunk.

Overall Our Wild Calling: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives—and Save Theirs is a useful read, especially for educators (which of course includes parents and other guardians of children, not only teachers). There are many useful anecdotes on how we can guide kids of all ages to bridge the gap between animals and humans.

Environmentalism and more importantly, conservation, will catch on better as we reach students with useful messages. Doom and gloom about extinctions and global warming harms the movement much more than it helps. Instead, and as Richard Louv shows again and again, we can do a great deal on smaller, more local levels. And we can do it now.

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