To kick off our second session of the Wee Naturalist program, my elder son and I headed to Russell Woods Forest Preserve on Groundhog’s Day to listen about, you guessed it, woodchucks. We learned that the Delaware Indians called the ground squirrel “wuchak” or “wojak” (didn’t get the spelling) and that they were important to
Author: The Birdfreak Team
Wee Naturalists Program – University of Illinois Extension Office
I recently enrolled my 5-year old in the Wee Naturalist Program for the next four months. This is a recap of our first session, Winter Animals. January thus far has been unseasonably warm so there is zero snow on the ground. Temperatures have been in the 40s and even 50s although we are scheduled for
Continue reading Wee Naturalists Program – University of Illinois Extension Office
Review – Free Range Kids
Published in 2009, Lenore Skenazy’s book Free Range Kids is still highly relevant and recommended. Kids not only spend less time outdoors than they did a generation ago, they also have more fears. The culprits: television, society, and mostly parents. Parenting is always evolving, but with on-demand news, tweets, and Facebook over-sharers, we parents are
Review of Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West
George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938) lived in New York but his heart always belonged to the West. His life and career spanned a pivotal time in history, where the old west meets the new west; the end of the frontier. Michael Punke’s book Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the
Review of Across the Wide Missouri
Written by renown historian Bernard DeVoto, Across the Wide Missouri won the Pulitzer Prize (history) in 1948. This hefty classic centers around the fur trade from 1832 to 1838 and delves deep in to the lives of some of the most famous mountain men and their interactions with Native Americans. DeVoto’s writing style is detailed
Review of PrairyErth by William Least Heat-Moon
When people envision the “west” a lot of images come to mind: mountains, cowboys, large landscapes. Tallgrass prairies are not often on that list. Mention Kansas and people glaze over or remember it as a place to “drive through” or “fly over”. So, for William Least Heat-Moon to construct a 600+ page book centered on
Continue reading Review of PrairyErth by William Least Heat-Moon
Bison Union Company – Modern Frontier Apparel & Coffee
Bison Union Co. is a western brand that sells hats, t-shirts, and an appeal to what makes America great. They also sell coffee which I’ll get to plus some other goods: mugs, patches and even boots to name a few. Their apparel is largely bison themed as you’d expect. Yet many hats feature emblematic animals
Continue reading Bison Union Company – Modern Frontier Apparel & Coffee
Birds and Beans Triple Certified Coffee
Coffee and birding go together like bacon and more bacon. Birds and Beans Coffee is the only brand of coffee that solely sells organic, shade-grown, and Bird Certified® coffee. Bird Friendly® coffee is coffee that comes from family farms in Latin America that provide good, forest-like habitat for birds. Rather than being grown on farms
