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Amazing Dinosaurs

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...

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Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds

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...

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Dark Meat or Light Meat

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...

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Books Make Great Gifts for Kids

When it comes to buying gifts for kids, it’s easy to overlook the obvious. We’re distracted by catalogs, commercials, fancy store displays, and the repeated cries of “I want that.” Who can blame us for filling the bottom of the tree with toys? But there’s...

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The Start of the Elk Rut

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...

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waterfalls

Visiting Winnewissa Falls with Lisa Crayford

Join Lisa Crayford, author of Waterfalls of Minnesota, on a journey to Winnewissa Falls. Winnewissa Falls is situated amid the pipestone quarries at Pipestone National Monument. The falls, along with the surrounding quarries, are considered sacred by many American Indians. Our journey to Winnewissa Falls began on a rainy Saturday morning in June. With umbrellas...

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Halloween and Scary Bats

We are excited to share Stan Tekiela’s first blog post on our website today. Stan will be contributing regularly for your reading pleasure. So, without further ado, here is his post about scary bats—just in time for Halloween! At the end of October, we tend to contemplate scary animals....

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