"For the Birds" began airing on KUMD in Duluth, MN, in May, 1986, and is the longest continually-running radio program about birds in the U.S. Hundreds more episodes are available for free at http://www.lauraerickson.com/radio/.
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Humans aren't the only creatures who have a need to nurture and help others. (This program's transcript is the second half of the linked blogpost.)
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More evidence that Laura's fifth grade teacher was the very best. (The transcript for this program is the first half of the linked blogpost.)
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Reports of BB's demise were premature. When that happens to human beings, it can sometimes change history.
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The banded Pileated Woodpecker who has been visiting Laura's yard for the past four years disappeared after a Cooper's Hawk was hunting in the vicinity. Laura expected the worst. But spoiler alert: he turned up again on Friday the thirteenth. While he was here, Laura recorded a video of him, which is the drumming sound at the beginning and ending o…
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Laura remembers her fifth grade teacher, who taught her, via Rodgers and Hammerstein's original stage musical *The Sound of Music*, that real heroes stand up against cruel regimes even when there is no way to stop it.
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How do birds fare during frigid weather?
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General facts about albatrosses and good news about a very special one.
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Laura remembers three Thanksgivings of the past, and how a Pileated Woodpecker keeps those memories alive.
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In Retrospect: The BP oil spill. Part 5b--Complicity
9:23
9:23
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9:23
Every environmental organization down in the Gulf during the BP oil disaster had to abide by a 5-year moratorium on ALL of their eye-witness information except as BP allowed. National Audubon did way more than honor BP's rules--they publicly parroted all of BP's false claims minimizing how bad the disaster was.…
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In Retrospect: The BP oil spill. Part 5--Staying alive to fight another day
5:52
5:52
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5:52
At the time of the BP oil spill, Laura thought some important organizations were complying with BP more than they should have. Now, as she explains, she realizes that most of them weren't cowardly.
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In Retrospect: The BP oil spill, Part 4
5:02
5:02
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5:02
Who can we trust after a major disaster?
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In retrospect: The BP Oil Spill, Part 3
6:00
6:00
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6:00
Laura visited one of the four rehab centers allowed to treat birds oiled in the Deepwater Horizon spill.
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In retrospect: The BP Oil Spill, Part 2
6:55
6:55
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6:55
Laura talks about the extremely low-tech and ineffective way BP tried to protect beaches and islands after the spill, and the even worse way they approached cleanup. There are many photos and a video on the accompanying blog post at (https://lauraerickson.substack.com/p/getting-away-with-murder-part-2)…
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As Laura faces her 73rd birthday in what feels like a hopeless time, she looks to chickadees. (This program was reworked from the "For the Birds" program from October 12, 2010.)
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In retrospect: The BP Oil Spill, Part 1
5:22
5:22
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5:22
The BP oil spill was when Laura learned just how much power a corporation has over individuals; well-meaning and well-respected organizations and institutions; and our government.
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Billionaires and corporations have too much power over us, birds, and the environment we need and share.
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You're not getting older, you're getting better--oh, wait--you ARE getting older
5:11
5:11
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5:11
Birding may keep us young, but not literally.
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Clean energy should be making us less, not more, reliant on huge transmission lines.
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Power transmission lines can be very harmful for birds and human beings.
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Going to a Scientific Meeting in 2024
5:45
5:45
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5:45
Laura recently returned from the American Ornithological Society's annual meeting. Some things have changed, and some remain the same.
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Going to Scientific Meetings in Past Decades
5:50
5:50
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5:50
Laura's has attended a few professional ornithological meetings through the years.
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Emergency Responders: Blue Jay Style
6:24
6:24
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6:24
Blue Jays help protect each other from Sharp-shinned Hawks.
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More cases of errors and mistaken identity, and one case of vindication
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When Laura makes a mistake, she appreciates people who let her know about it, but notes that there are good ways and bad ways of doing so.
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Stokes Guide to Finches: Hawaiian Honeycreepers
4:32
4:32
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4:32
Laura talked to Lillian Stokes and Matt Young about their decision to include the finches of Hawaii (called the Hawaiian Honeycreepers) in their new book.
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Stokes Guide to Finches: Evening Grosbeaks
5:13
5:13
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5:13
Matt Young is doing important work with his Finch Research Network to help one of Laura's favorite birds of all, the Evening Grosbeak. He and Lillian Stokes talked about this splendid bird and their new book.
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Stokes Guide to Finches: Goldfinches
4:08
4:08
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4:08
When Laura talked with Lillian Stokes and Matt Young about their new book, *The Stokes Guide to Finches,* they talked about one of our most widespread, common finches, the American Goldfinch.
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For the Finches: How Lillian Stokes and Matt Young connected thanks to Red Crossbills
5:40
5:40
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5:40
Laura spent time talking with Lillian Stokes and Matt Young about their new book, *The Stokes Guide to Finches*. Today they explain how they met and decided to produce this book.
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Book Review: The Stokes Guide to Finches
6:05
6:05
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6:05
On September 17, Little Brown will be releasing a great new book, *The Stokes Guide to Finches.* Laura explains why she likes it.
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A plucky little survivor. Except when it isn't.
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The mystery of Blue Jay migration, and the irony of human nature.
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On Labor Day, Laura had a most unexpected visitor at her birdbath.
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Duluth birders, and even many non-birders, have been enjoying a huge nighthawk migration this week.
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Peabody Street Update: The Good News and the Bad News
5:17
5:17
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5:17
There's a lot happening on Peabody Street these days.
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Are this year's numbers normal?
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Laura and Russ drove to Michigan this weekend to celebrate the 100th birthday of one of the most important people in Laura's birding life.
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Crafting Invincible Environmental Protections, Part 5B: Why Vilify Rachel Carson?
6:00
6:00
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6:00
The many forces funded by anti-environmental think tanks and the chemical industry are still vilifying Rachel Carson, accusing her of being responsible for the deaths of millions of children. Why are they so persistent?
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Crafting Invincible Environmental Protections, Part 5 A: The battle on the DDT front
6:15
6:15
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6:15
Human beings won a huge battle when DDT was banned. The powerful anti-environmental forces quickly regrouped to ensure that the success would not be repeated, and did their best to vilify the woman whose book sparked so much of the environmental movement.
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Laura gets a big kick out of her backyard birds who molt in August. Before they can again be as beautiful as possible, they must go through an Ugly Duckling stage. Fortunately, they don't have access to mirrors.
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The bear necessities and other close encounters of the mammalian kind
4:42
4:42
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4:42
Two mammals made a visit to Laura's yard on Sunday night.
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Crafting Invincible Environmental Protections, Part 4: The Empire Strikes Back
5:07
5:07
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5:07
In "Star Wars," even as the Rebel Alliance celebrated defeating the Galactic Empire, Darth Vader and the Emperor were plotting their revenge. In the 1970s, even as environmentalists celebrated, dark forces were plotting how to gut the EPA and destroy the legislation protecting air, water, and wildlife.…
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In the Catbird's Seat: A momentary diversion from more important matters
5:21
5:21
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5:21
Laura has fallen in love with one particular catbird in her yard. Naturally, she's worried about it.
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Crafting Invincible Environmental Protections, Part 3: A New Hope
5:28
5:28
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5:28
Three months after the first Earth Day, Richard Nixon proposed charging the new Environmental Protection Agency with setting goals and standards regarding pesticides, clean air, and clean water, and it was soon given regulatory authority. Laura was as relieved and joyful as Princess Leia at the end of the first Star Wars movie.…
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Crafting Invincible Environmental Protections, Part 2: Pollution—A Way of Life
5:42
5:42
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5:42
Everyday life for most Americans in the 1950s and 60s involved a mind-boggling array of toxic chemicals.
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When a Stranger Knocks (A momentary diversion from more important matters)
5:29
5:29
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5:29
Laura takes a momentary break from an important environmental issue to reminisce about a tragicomedy in the 1990s.
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Crafting Invincible Environmental Protections Part 1: How Bad It Used to Be
5:47
5:47
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5:47
How did the nation come together to start the Environmental Protection Agency and pass the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts?
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When Blue Jays and chipmunks stash away food, some people call them greedy pigs. They're not.
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How can we possibly think we can communicate with non-human life forms from other galaxies when we can't communicate with intelligent carbon-based life forms right here on earth?
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Two weeks ago, I transported a crow from my neighborhood and a fawn with neurological damage from our local Wildwoods rehab facility to Wild & Free in Garrison, Minnesota. Now I'm unsettled wondering how the crow is doing.
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Even with minimal effort, my backyard habitat is pretty nice!
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