St. Paul Flood: Before and During photos

I saved some images off the city of St. Paul's web cams last week before the crest of the river. The river was already high at that point so some of the differences don't seem that dramatic. Also, the city has done a lot to prevent flooding in situations like this so some of what we see here is that the levees are doing their jobs.

Upper Landing Before and During Flood:
These two don't look all that different. Look though in the second photo and you can see that there is less of the levee visible.



Union Pacific Bridge - Wide Angle Before and During Flood:

The sun really messes with this camera but you can see in the second photos that the bridge supports are barely out of the water.



Union Pacific Bridge - Close-Up Before and During Flood:

Check out the bridge supports on the right hand side of the trail lift bridge. They are completely under water in the second photo.


Raspberry Island West Before and During Flood:

The most dramatic difference on the West side of Raspberry island can be seen at the building. In the first photo the sidewalk and path to the water are visible. In the second photo, the water is up to the building.



Raspberry Island East - Before and During Flood:

The sun makes this one a little hard to see but a good chunk of the east side of the island disappears under the water in the second photo.



Lambert's Landing - Before and During Flooding

Here we can see why they close the road along the river as water has covered it in the second photo. Technically the water hasn't topped the levee. I think this is a low spot and the water is probably coming up from a drain that leads to the river.


Harriet Island - Before and During Flood:
This is the most dramatic difference. Harriet Island has a lower levee than the rest of St. Paul and it is the first to flood. It is also designed to flood though so the building isn't ruined.


Harriet Island Park - During Flood
For some reason I didn't get a pre-flood shot of this one but you can see the extent of the flooding in the photo below. The building in the photos above is visible in the lower right of the image. While the park itself has flooded, you can see the water did not even come close to the tall snow covered levee in the background that protects local businesses.


~Kirk

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"Play Again" Movie Screening at Bell Museum

The Minnesota Naturalists' Association in association with the Bell Museum of Natural history is showing the film Play Again on April 14th at 7:00 PM. The event is free but donations are greatly appreciated.



~Kirk

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Monday Phenology: March 28, 2011

Sunrise this morning was at 7:01 AM so we're almost back to having sunrise before 7:00. Daylight Saving Time messed us up in that regard. The last time sunrise seemed this early was back on February 23. Sunset tonight will be at 7:35 PM. We get 12 hours, thirty-three minutes and forty nine seconds of daylight today in St. Paul. Your mileage may vary depending on your latitude. Let's recap last week.

Monday
I hiked down to the lakes at work and there was still ice covering them. You could see slushy spots though. I saw my first Bluebirds at the lake shore. Both a male and female were present and they were checking out an old wood duck box. On Monday I also got a report of the first Turkey Vulture in the Metro on the previous Saturday (3/19).

Tuesday
Common redpolls showed up at feeders in the rain. This was quite a treat on such a dreary day. The winter finch forecast had not been good for redpolls and I didn't see any all winter. On Tuesday I received a late report of both American Woodcocks and Killdeer at a private residence in Hugo back on March 19th! Those were the first reports I's seen of these birds in the metro. Unfortunately, the weather to come was awful and it was a hard week on early migrants. The wind was incredible all day and into the night. It even knocked down the 2000 foot tall TV antenna for WEAU in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. In spite of the awful weather, Kevin in Hastings reported the following species on Lake Rebecca. Canada Goose, Mallard , Northern Shoveler , Canvasback , Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup,Greater/Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron,American Coot,Ring-billed Gull, and Herring Gull.

Wednesday
It snowed all night and through much of the day Wednesday. Accumulation varied widely in a north south pattern. North of the Twin Cities there was over 12 inches of fresh snow. I measured 7 in northern Washington county but only about two inches at home in St. Paul. The biting cold and snow can be hard on early migrants but I did hear that at least on Wednesday morning there were still woodcock poking around and people in the state are even hearing them peenting and seeing them do the sky dance in spite of the cold and snow. I still don't like their odds. I also saw the first report of Fox Sparrows in the metro (in the Lino Lakes area.) They were reported further south over the weekend.

Thursday
Hello Sun! Elizabeth in Hugo reported Song Sparrows, American Tree Sparrows, Pine Siskins and Purple Finches at her feeders as well as a Tree Swallow flying over Plaistad Lake in northern Washington County. There are slow but growing reports of song sparrows around the state. The forecast called for only a high of 28° but the actual temperature in the shade at work was close to 40. By the sunny afternoon there was sap running of out the trees in the sugar bush and I found the first of the year Straight-toothed Sallow (Eupsilia vinulenta) moth feeding on maple sap.

Friday
Another beautiful sunny day. Hearing reports of grackles in Dakota county but nothing widespread yet. Bill in Rochester reported a kettle of Turkey Vultures heading north.

Saturday and Sunday
Flooding is the word of the day this weekend. On Saturday evening water on the Mississippi River started to run onto Harriet Island in St. Paul. The good news is that the cold weather has been locking up a lot of the moisture and the predicted crests are being lowered on many rivers. In St. Paul, the predicted crest is down something like three feet. I saw reports of the first Eastern Phoebe, Swamp Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird and Brown-headed Cowbirds on Sunday. They were along the Minnesota River in Carver County.

The Week Ahead

Flooding will be a big story this week as rivers continue to climb. The Mississippi in St. Paul should crest at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, March 30. Reports of birds will increase this coming week. The birds use the rivers as flyways so those living along the rivers tend to see species a week or two ahead of everyone else. Birds make forays from the river to check conditions inland and start to stick around more as the like what they see. Especially watch for Fox Sparrows and Phoebes this week.

Each day this week will be warmer than the one before it and spring should really feel like it is making a comeback after that snowstorm. April will bring a taste of 50 degree weather by the weekend. Speaking of April, it will be Global Astronomy Month. As a little teaser, look to the East-Southeast this week. In the evenings, Saturn is there for your viewing pleasure. With steady hands and a pair of binoculars you can just barely make out the rings. In the mornings before sunrise, Venus hangs out with the crescent moon all week also in the East Southeast.

~Kirk

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Awesome Peregrine Falcon Video

This video has been making the rounds online. It is from a BBC show about Peregrine Falcons and includes some excellent footage of the birds hunting. Here in Minnesota, many of the falcons have returned to their roosting sites a few weeks back. The success of the Peregrine Falcon is a wonderful conservation story and an example of how humans can work to save, not extinguish species.

~Kirk

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More St. Paul Mississippi River Flood Cams

The City of St. Paul just activated their flood cams. There are seven cameras and the city website scrolls though them every 15 seconds. These will be the camera's to watch when the flood waters rise.

You can view the live images on the City of St. Paul's website. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

In order, the camera's scroll though these locations.

1. Harriet Island
2. Raspberry Island East
3. Raspberry Island West
4. Robert Street & Union Pacific Bridges (close shot)
5. Robert Street & Union Pacific Bridges (wide shot)
6. Lambert's landing
7. Upper Landing

~Kirk

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Latest Flood Forecast for St. Paul (3/22/11)

Yesterday the latest flood forecast came out and boy was it specific. It was updated again today with even higher numbers given the rain we're getting though interestingly the prediction shows a slightly later surge of water than they thought yesterday.

According to the graph, the Mississippi in St. Paul will officially reach flood stage at 7:00 PM on Thursday evening. This is a height of 14 feet. It will hit moderate flood stage less than 12 hours later at 7:00 pm Thursday. At 1:00 am Saturday it will have risen to 17 feet which is considered major flood stage. The highest value on the forecast thus far is 21.3 feet on Monday. We'll see what the rain and snow this week does to those numbers. They could still go up.

~Kirk

For forecasts on other rivers see the Twin Cities Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service website.

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Monday Phenology: March 21, 2011

Happy Spring! The vernal equinox arrived this weekend and this is the day many people use to mark the first day of spring. Technically speaking, we're half way between the winter solstice and the summer solstice. The equinox is the day with equal amounts of day and night. You'd figure that means 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night but let's look at the numbers.

Sunrise this morning was at 7:14 am and sunset will be at 7:26 pm. That's 12 hours, 11 minutes and 43 seconds for the length of the day. On the actual solstice, yesterday, the length of the day was 12 hours, 8 minutes and 35 seconds. Huh? If the day is more than 12 hours long then how is it the solstice? The answer is that we get some bonus sunlight. The earth's atmosphere acts as a lens that bends light allowing the image of the sun to appear slightly before it actually rises above the horizon and linger a few minutes at the end of the day after it has actually set. It may just be a trick of optics but I'll take the extra 8 minutes.

Here's what happened last week.

On Monday I got word that Penelope in Northfield spotted a Lesser scaup on the Cannon River. There were also reports of Peregrine Falcons returning to both Winona and Lock & Dam #1 in the Twin Cities.

Tuesday the maple sap really starting to run. I heard Sandhill Cranes again and Canada Geese flying overhead all day. Many area lakes had Canada Geese standing on the ice. We also had the first real rain of the season in the afternoon. Trees put out maybe a gallon of sap on average on Tuesday.

Wednesday started with thick fog in the morning with as little as 100 foot visibility in some spots. Smelled another skunk, the second of the season. A Barred Owl showed up near the nature center building but didn't come quite close enough for good photos. Wednesday I saw my first house fly of the year. I got word in the afternoon that naturalists at Belwin Outdoor Science (a.k.a. Valley Branch ELC) in Afton reported hearing the first Eastern Bluebird call of the season. There was also a report of a bluebird in northern Washington County but when I went for a hike I didn't see any.

Thursday was a morning when it really felt like spring was breaking the hold on winter. There were geese on many frozen lakes. Long strings of 40+ geese were migrating north in the morning light. The first of the year Great Blue Heron appeared in a lake next to the nature center. Later in the afternoon I saw a lone red-winged blackbird, my first of the season.

Friday was another nice day as was Saturday. I worked on Saturday teaching maple syrup programs. The sap wasn't running in the morning but by the afternoon when things warmed up the trees were gushing sap. I saw the first chipmunk of the season out and about and on my way home I snapped photos of the first Northern Harrier of the season. Word also came in that folks down at the Birds and Beers gathering in Winona saw a migrating Eastern Meadowlark fly overhead and there were Hooded Mergansers, Common Mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks and White Pelicans on the river. Tundra Swans were migrating overhead as well.

Sunday I helped put up a new Woodduck nesting box at my parent's lake. Woodducks are just starting to come into the state and are already looking for territory and next sites. The ground is thawed out enough to dig holes so if you were thinking about putting up a next box do it now! While putting up the box I saw two more Great Blue Herons. I thought I might have seen an Osprey near Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie but didn't get a good enough look to say for sure.

This week:
This next week should be interesting. We've started to see new birds arriving here and there. Some of them are the advance guard, the early birds if you will. We should see more of the same this week. More geese, more cranes, more blackbirds, more bluebirds, more woodducks, more herons etc. Today will be beautiful but we're headed into more cold for the rest of the week including a good chance for snow on Tuesday/Wednesday. It will be interesting to see if the snow deters the birds. I'm thinking it won't have much effect in the twin cities as the real heavy snow (up to a foot) will be to the north. The big story this week will be flooding. Rivers across the state are rising and with more melting plus rain coming this week conditions will worsen. A new forecast came out this week which finally pegged down Friday, March 25th as the official day the Mississippi will enter flood stage in St. Paul. I'll have a more detailed breakdown of the flood forecast in St. Paul tomorrow.

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St. Paul Flood Cam is Online

I hinted a few weeks back that the Mississippi River Flood Cam at the Science Museum of Minnesota was up and running but that the link had not been made public yet.

The 2011, A Front Road Seat for the Flood page is now online as part of the Science Museum's "Science Buzz" website.

Be sure to check out the Flood Cam with live updates on the river height. The official page shows a shot taken every hour starting on March 15th but if you want to see ice-out on the river there is an alternative page that shows one shot of the river every day at noon. This alternative page starts earlier in the season on February 4th.

~Kirk

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First of the Year Northern Harrier (w/photos)

On my drive home from work today something caught my eye flying low over a farm field. Luckily, I had my camera with me and there the road all to myself. I pulled over and started shooting photos out the open window. I was delighted to see this first of the year Northern Harrier. He was very actively hunting for rodents in the field. Please click for the larger images. This is a stunning raptor and the little photos don't do it justice.


The distinctive field mark of the Northern Harrier is the large white band at the base of the tail. You also get a sense of how low to the ground they hunt from this photo. Much of the time he was ten feet or less off the ground.


Northern Harriers used to be known as Marsh Hawks but many people feel they are not true hawks (even though they are in the family Accipitridae.) It takes more than that to be a hawk. Kites and Eagles are Accipitridae but we don't call them hawks either.


He's flying in a very head-down posture as he looks for food. You can also see clearly in this photo below (as well as the first one) that this is a male Harrier. The underwing is essentially white with black wing-tips. The female is more streaked brown. You can also see in other photos like the one above that the overall effect of the upper wing is gray. In most raptors, there is little to no sexual dimorphism, i.e. the males and females look alike. This is not true for harriers.

It is typical for many species that the males return north before the females so they can secure breeding territory .


This isn't the best photo but he's just gone in for the kill. He wasn't successful. He came up with only a handful of thatch.
I watched him for just a few minutes but he made many repeated dives to the ground in search of food. Makes you realize how many mice and voles are really out there.


~Kirk

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Updated Flood Prediction for St. Paul

I've been expecting an updated chart out of the Advanced hydrologic Prediction Service but there haven't been any new charts since February 28th. Since that's still newer than my last update let's dive into the data.

The chance of flooding is clearly up. There's now about a 98% chance of the river cresting in St. Paul at or around 20 feet. That would be in the purple "major flooding" zone. What is particularly interesting about this year's predictions is that all probabilities are in the purple zone. In other words, St. Paul is headed into the major flood stage one way or the other.

Portions of Lilydale park go under water at 14 feet, Harriet Island starts to go under at 17.5 feet and portions of Warner Road are under water at 18 feet. It looks like all of those things are a certainty this year. There's a 50% chance of reaching 25 feet and only about a 4% chance of the waters topping the 31 foot levees in St. Paul.

When will it come though?

There's a graph for that too.

Here's how to read the graph. Everything in gray is pretty much a certainty (greater than 90% probability) Blue is 50 to 90% probability so still very good. Red is the outside probabilities of 10-50%.

Using this info we can see the blue line jumps into the flood zone the week of March 28th though there's a slight chance of seeing flood stage the week before that. Moderate flooding becomes nearly a certainty the first week of April. According to this graph (which is almost three weeks old.) The highest probability of major flooding comes the second week of April.

We're getting a lot of snow melt though so we'll see if an updated forecast pushes that crest earlier. One thing to keep in mind is that St. Paul crests a lot later than other locations upstream.

If you want to be sure to get the latest updates and predictions be sure to sign up to receive Twin Cities Naturalist in your email inbox.

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See a real Ivory-billed Woodpecker this Thursday, Guaranteed.

I can guarantee you a sighting of a real Ivory-billed Woodpecker this Thursday, March 17th.

Here's the catch. It's dead.

The Bell Museum of Natural History will bring their Ivory-billed Woodpecker out of the collection vault and put it on public display this Thursday for the showing of the film Ghost Bird which is part of the Sustainability Film Series at the Museum's theater.

Thursday is the local premiere of the film which is a documentary about the possible re-discovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

From the Bell website:
"A Sustainability Film Series local premiere, Ghost Bird is a moving documentary about an elusive giant bird, a small town in Arkansas hoping to reverse its misfortunes, and the tireless odyssey of the bird-watchers and scientists searching for the Holy Grail of birding: the Ivory-billed woodpecker. The film is as much a story about the power of hope as a parable about the forces that drive a species to extinction."

Thursday, March 17, 7 p.m.
Bell Museum Auditorium
Cost: Free to University of Minnesota students with ID
$5 Bell Museum and The Film Society members, non-university students
$8 general public

Immediately following the film there will be a three member panel discussion.

Jim Fitzpatrick, director of Carpenter St. Croix Nature Center and brother of John Fitzpatrick the director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Jim claims to have seen the woodpecker in Arkansas in 2005.

Carrol Henderson with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Non-Game Wildlife Program will bring his perspective on habitat and birds.

Ann Kessen, the president of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union will round out the panel guests.

~Kirk

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Monday Phenology: March 14, 2011

Sunrise this morning was at 7:29 AM which seems like a step backwards because of Daylight Saving Time. The good news is that the sun now seems to stay up an hour later in the evening. I'm not a big fan. For one, it means I'm putting my kid to bed when the sun is still up which he finds confusing. Secondly, it means evening astronomy programs have to occur so late in the evening that kids have trouble staying up late enough for it to really get dark. I get the idea behind it, that we have more evening light, but by the time summer comes around we have more sunlight than we know what to do with it. Because of Daylight Saving Time, sunset on the summer solstice will be at 9:03 PM and it won't actually get dark until close to 11:36 PM.

Sunset today will be at 7:16 PM and the length of the daylight will be 11 hours, 46 minutes and 28 seconds long. Be sure to make use of those 28 seconds. Every day this week we add 3 minutes and 9 seconds of daylight.

If you missed the planet Mercury last month you still have time to catch it this week. This is one case where daylight saving time may actually help as you'll be home from work "earlier" relative to reality. Mercury is just 2° north of bright Jupiter in the evening sky on the 15th. Look about 45 minutes after sunset. Since we're back to getting up before the sun, look for Venus in the morning sky as well. She's that bright looking "star" in the southeast every morning.

This past week was full of interesting phenology. On Monday, our director spotted a migrating Broad-winged hawk near Scandia, MN. Naturalist Paul Smithson reported a flock of American Tree Sparrows as well. Tuesday we spent some of the day outside getting the sugar bush ready to tap for maple syruping. The buds were swelling on the trees and we heard a lone Canada Goose honking as it flew overhead. We also heard a red-tailed hawk call. Later in the day, I heard the first of the year red-shouldered hawk calling and poked my head outside just in time to see it fly over the building. I'm assuming this is the male from a pair that have nested here for years. Maple syruping is partly so much fun because of all the signs of spring you notice.

Wednesday morning I finally brought my camera along to take photos of all the horned larks along the roads on the way to work. Luckily, we missed the brunt of the big snow storm that day. Some people are probably disappointed that it hurts our chance of a record breaking winter snow total but I, for one, am done shoveling. I'm also not a big fan of hauling maple sap though deep snow.

Thursday morning there was sap in the Maple Syrup bags which means the sap run actually started late on Wednesday. I also received news on Thursday that someone spotted the first Red-winged Blackbird in the Twin Cities. Thursday was also when we discovered a Great Horned Owl had visited the deer carcass we have in the prairie. We caught photos of it carrying of the deer's leg.

Friday, Naturalist Kathy Feste heard the first Sandhill Cranes of the year flying over the nature center. This is earlier than expected. I wasn't thinking we'd hear them for another week. They returned to northern Washington county on March 20th in 2006, 2007, and 2008. This year seems colder than other years so I actually thought they might be a little delayed. Perhaps these were just early birds and we'll start to see larger numbers by the end of the week. I saw my first American Kestrel of the year on Friday as well while driving through Stillwater.

Saturday was colder than I expected and my ears nearly got frostbitten when I went out to the sugar bush with a group of kids. I stupidly didn't wear a hat and it was only about 20° F outside. The little bit of sap in the bags (maybe a half gallon) was all frozen solid and none of the five trees we tapped were running.

Next Week:

Spring should really start to show itself this week. The forecast calls for above freezing high temps for pretty much every day. We should see a dramatic decrease in the snow pack, perhaps helped along by a little rain on Tuesday and a flirtation with 60° on next Sunday. The freezing and thawing cycle from night to day should really get the maple sap flowing this week. I also heard this week that Wood Ducks are in Iowa already. I keep hearing reports of woodcocks peenting in Michigan but it seems a bit early here still. Keep ears and eyes open for Sandhill Cranes, we know they are in the area. If you haven't seen them already, keep an eye open for large flocks of Turkeys gathering in farm fields getting ready to dance.

What are you seeing? Leave comments in the comments section.

~Kirk

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Great Horned Owl on Motion Camera

Many regular readers will know that we have a motion activated camera on a dead deer out at work. We've seen crows, bald eagles, raccoons, and coyotes each eating their share. When we looked at last night's photos though, we found a wonderful surprise. A Great Horned Owl!

The owl hung around for quite a while (on and off over the course of 5 hours!) so there were lots of photos. I compiled them into a short video.





Here are a few stills. This one is one of my favorites. The owl is really working hard to get a meal.

The shot below is actually then last of the video. Why is it the last one? Look carefully and you can see the owl finally flying away.



It pays to look a little closer though. I enlarged the section with the owl and you can see it is flying off with the deer's leg!


We've heard Great Horned Owls at work but very rarely see them. The deer is situated in some pretty good Great Horned Owl habitat though. Great Horned Owls are a species of the forest edge and the deer is about 10 feet from the edge of the forest.

Special thanks to naturalist Paul Smithson who's been checking on the camera's lately!

~Kirk

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Roadside Horned Larks

I finally brought my camera with me on my daily commute and stopped for a minute to shoot these photos out the car window. Pretty much every day now there is a flock of horned larks on my route to work. I just love those little horns!

The photos turned out a little on the dark side. It was a gray dreary day but spring is coming. These little guys swear it is so.









~Kirk

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Mississippi River FloodCam 2011

I just got word that the Science Buzz team down at the Science Museum of Minnesota once again has their time lapse Flood Camera set up taking daily photos of the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul. (The feed is live but they haven't linked to it yet on their site. I'll share the link once they make it public.) Last year the camera captured the flooding downtown as the waters rose up and covered Harriet Island. While the flooding is still a few weeks away at this point, the camera has already revealed some interesting finds.

Here's the first image taken on February 4th. Snow covers the ground and the river is covered in ice.

Eight days later, on the 12th, the river ice starts to crack and break up.

Blocks of ice move downstream for a few days and then when this photo was taken on noon on the 17th, the river is free of ice.

It will be very interesting to see what happens when the river crests. Come on back for more analysis and river flooding news or subscribe by putting your email in the box at the top right of the page. You'll automatically receive updates via email.

~Kirk

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Monday Phenology: March 7, 2011

Snowy Good Morning!

Here's your phenology roundup for the week. Sunrise this morning was at 6:40 AM and the sun will set at 6:08 PM. We're up to eleven hours, twenty-seven minutes and thirty-five seconds of daylight. We're gaining just a little more than three minutes per day.

As with all of these phenology reports, these times are for St. Paul, MN. The further north or south you go, the length of daylight changes. Today in New Orleans, which is approximately due south of here, there will be eleven hours and forty-three minutes of sunlight. That's sixteen more minutes of sunlight. They also are only gaining a little under two minutes of sunlight each day while we gain more than three.

This last week started out so cold and gray I was wondering why on Earth any of us live here. On Tuesday things warmed up a bit. It was sunny and the cardinals were calling when I left for work in the morning. Reports also started to come in of migrators such as geese moving north in the southern most united states. This is confirmed on radar.

Wednesday we dipped back into the icebox. It was cold but March cold. The sun is higher in the sky and keeps you feeling warmer as long as the wind isn't blowing, which it wasn't on Wednesday.

On Thursday, More snow! Well, only a trace actually. There has been speculation as to whether or not we're on track to meet or break the record for the snowiest winter in Minnesota history. This brings up an interesting point. Come on people, we've gotten a lot of snow but not THAT much. We like to think of ourselves as this winter paradise but we really don't get all that much snow. Sure, we've had a snowy winter but did it really seem record breaking? We need to face the fact that we don't really live in all that snowy a state.

While I taught on Thursday, some of the 5th graders excitedly pointed out the window. I figured they were watching the squirrels at the bird feeders. To my surprise, they were pointing at a coyote. I had the entire class come to the window to watch as a lone coyote walked the length of the bog you can see out the classroom windows. We got a great view, he was maybe 100 feet or so away and didn't seem to notice us.

I taught Environmental Monitoring all day Friday and even though it wasn't sunny out it was a beautiful day.

On Saturday I walked the dog and noted Cardinals singing pretty much all day long.

Sunday evening the snow started again and it kept snowing on and off through this morning. All told in the Twin Cities it only added up to a few inches.

This next week keep your ears and eyes open for more signs of spring. Depending on the weather, the maple trees could start their sap run this week. I know we'll be tapping trees out at work toward the end of the week. There are numerous reports of cooing mourning doves in the state and at least one report of Sandhill Cranes.

What are you seeing?

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MN Breeding Bird Atlas Could Lose Funding!

For the past few years I've been volunteering with the Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas Project. I'm greatly disappointed to hear that the project risks grinding to a halt because the funding may be pulled.

More than $600,000 has already been allocated from the Environmental Trust Fund for this project. That is a substantial investment but $330,000 more is needed to complete the project over the next three years. More than 600 citizens from across the state have already taken part in gathering valuable data that helps researchers and the state make important conservation and planning decisions that effect breeding bird populations.

We are currently lagging behind other states that have already completed their Breeding Bird Atlas projects.

In these tough financial times we must carefully consider the value of each project. This is not a new initiative seeking funding, it is an important citizen science based project that is already underway. Cutting funding now, just two years into a five year project, will waste the money the state has already invested in the program.

Please write to legislators or call urging them to fund the Breeding Bird Atlas with the Environmental Trust Fund (Lottery money).

If you have been involved in the project, please let them know that as well. We need a groundswell of support on this.

Please write:
Representative McNamara (rep.denny.mcnamara@house.mn, 651-296-3135),

Senator Ingebrigtsen (sen.bill.ingebrigtsen@senate.mn, 651-297-8063,

Your State Representative, and your Senator (http://www.gis.leg.mn/OpenLayers/districts/ - this is the link from which you find your own Representative and Senator).

Every message counts. Don't worry about writing a long letter. Those are great but a simple phone call will make a big difference too.

If you've never called before it is very simple. When they answer, simply tell them that you are calling because you want them to pass on a message to let _______ know that you hope they will support funding for the Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas through the Environmental Trust Fund.

That's it! It only takes a minute of your time and the more calls they get the better the chances are of getting funding.

~Kirk

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Nature in your Inbox

Many readers have taken advantage of the free Twin Cities Naturalist email subscription service but some don't even know it exists. If you enter your email address into the box in the upper right hand side of the page you can easily have weekly phenology, interesting nature videos and cool natural history stories sent directly to your inbox. You'll automatically be notified when new content appears here. Be sure to look for the confirmation email. It can often get stuck in spam folders. You need to click the link in that email to confirm your subscription.

You may have also noticed the Twin Cities Naturalist twitter feed now shows up in the left hand column on the site. If you're not following along on twitter you're missing out on half the content. I tweet about phenology, cool nature sighting, share fun links and more. Come join the conversation.

There are two more ways to follow Twin Cities Naturalist. You can follow though Facebook and see stories in your news feed by clicking the "follow this blog" in the Networked Blogs widget to the left. You can also click the "Follow" button at the top of the left hand column to subscribe to Twin Cities Naturalist via iGoogle or Google Reader.

Thanks for reading. Hope to see you back soon.

~Kirk

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