Few animals in the wilderness elicit such strong emotions in people as wolves. Loved by many who cherish wild places and intact ecosystems, wolves are however loathed by others who regard them as competition for natural resources. Stan Tekiela, the author of The Life of Wolves, Coyotes and...
Read More
Migration Remains a Great Mystery Much of migration remains a great mystery to science. While we can only speculate how it started and why it continues, there are a number of facts we do know. Migration allows an expanded bird population, including hummers, to exploit food resources and breed elsewhere. Nearly all...
Read More
Stan Tekiela, author of Backyard Birds: Welcomed Guests at Our Gardens and Feeders, understands the thrill of bird-watching. The award-winning author and naturalist has been studying and photographing backyard birds for more than 25 years. Backyard bird feeding is a relatively new pastime. It wasn’t until after World War...
Read More
James Kuether, author of These Amazing Dinosaurs: An Illustrated Journey Through the Mesozoic Era, shares with us about the beginning of his love for dinosaurs. I was “that kid.” You know the one. Obsessed with dinosaurs at an early age, my parents would trot me out in front of visiting relatives...
Read More
In this week’s column, Stan Tekiela explains a few things about the skunk. I recently had a lively conversation about skunks with some friends. While explaining a few things about the animal, it occurred to me that skunks are one of those critters that are commonly...
Read More
Discover the Amazing World of Hummingbirds with Stan Tekiela The hummingbird family, known as Trochilidae, includes more than 325 species. Compared with the other bird families, this one is huge! It is the second largest in size after the flycatcher family, which has around 400 species. Hummingbirds are New World birds...
Read More
In their book Grandparents Minnesota Style, Mike Link and Kate Crowley provide opportunities for adults and children to spend more time discovering Minnesota together. The book is designed for today’s grandparent who wants to use the time together with their grandchildren to laugh, have fun,...
Read More
In this week’s column, just in time for Thanksgiving, Stan Tekiela muses about dark meat or light meat. I’m pretty sure that when you and your family gather around the Thanksgiving table this year that you won’t spend all your time talking about birds, migration, and how those relate to the dark...
Read More
In this week’s NatureSmart column, Stan Tekiela talks about yellow-bellied marmots. Yes, I admit it, I am a nut about nature. Not just the big amazing birds and animals, such as eagles and bears, but the small critters too. I realized this (again) on my recent...
Read More
In today’s NatureSmart column, Stan Tekiela shares with us his encounter with a large bull elk. Sounding determined and confident, a large bull elk, most likely weighing 1,200 pounds or more, bellowed and bugled right in front of me. His back was arched, his head was...
Read More