Smiling Cicadas

During July in Minnesota, sunny days are filled with the songs of cicadas. The adult males sing loudly to find a mate and begin this fascinating life cycle anew.

Minnesota cicadas are Dog Day Cicadas. Unlike their more famous relatives down south who emerge en masse every 13 to 17 years, Dog Day Cicadas transition from egg to nymph to adult in about a year.  When they first emerge as adults, they are the most vibrant and electric green. As their new exoskeletons harden, they turn dark and metallic.

Raising Monarch Butterflies

At our house, we're crazy for monarchs. We started raising them when my daughter was a toddler in a basic bug cage and have since upgraded to a large aquarium. This season, they are everywhere in the garden and we bring as many as we can find into our home to give them a a little extra help during their big transition.

An afternoon at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

In March, we winter-gray Minnesotans must seek out bold, bright colors and the promise of spring. The flower show at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum was the perfect place to take a break from the snow.

University of Minnesota Raptor Center

The residents of the Raptor Center are fascinating. As you walk around the facility you can feel their eyes on you, silently sizing you up as prey.

Science fun fact: Turkey vultures have developed highly acidic stomachs to kill the bacteria in carrion.

This snowy owl skull is all eyes and all beak. Check out those huge, perfectly round eye sockets.

Red-tailed hawks are incredibly adaptable and commonly seen on top of freeway lights hunting for prey. I've almost driven off the road to watch one mid-attack.

Cheetahs are fast, but not faster than a diving peregrine falcon which can reach speeds of 240 mph.

This beautiful bald eagle is one of the teaching ambassadors at the Raptor Center. The center is legally required to send all their bald eagle feathers to the National Eagle Repository in Colorado. The the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established the repository in the early 1970s to support cultural traditions of Native American nations.