In less than a week it will be October, the month when Doug Tallamy's book, The Nature of Oaks, begins. In the prologue, Tallamy writes, "Oaks support more forms of life and more fascinating interactions than any other tree genus in North America". Why start the book in October? Because, he says, "it was October when I decided to write this book." In 1945, an 80 year old black oak was struck by lightning and fell on Aldo Leopold's land located in the state's sand counties region on the south...

When hiking on the bluffs around La Crosse, it is not uncommon to come across something that seems out of place. When this occurs, I sometimes think , “Who ordered that?". Finding something odd is often followed by doing an internet search which uncovers more about that peculiar sight than if it had been something "familiar". Like the saying goes, "Confusion is the sweat of learning". Without being puzzled, like when we know the name of something and dismiss it as if we know it thoroughly,...

Join Friends of the Blufflands on its Second Saturday Hike called "Birds and Blooms" on August 8th at 8:00 am. The hike will be led by Eileen Kirsch, retired from the USGS Upper Midwest Science Center as a bird expert, and Mike O'Brien, board member of Friends of the Blufflands and plant id'er extrordinaire! The hike will begin at the lower Hixon parking lot and proceed on Hickory Trail to Savanna Trail, with an option to proceed to the top of Lookout Prairie. On the way, Eileen will identify...