Wild Things on Tuesdays

We've got a host of wild things this Tuesday to listen to on 91.7 KAXE including John Latimer, Harry Hutchins, Bill Berg and  Marty Jacobson.  John gets Phenology reports from schools including Roosevelt Elementary in Virginia and Hill City Elementary.  Harry talks gray jays for A Talk on the Wild Side at 7:45 and Bill Berg is in to talk wildlife winter survival at 8:10.  Marty Jacobson sits in for Bobbi Kleffman on All Things Equine to talk about horse safety with kids.

What WILD THINGS are you seeing out there?  Send us an email or comment here!  Here's a recent phenology note we received from Aitkin:

While I was in the basement Sat. morning putting duct tape on my gloves before going out to cut some wood,  there came a scream from the kitchen where my wife had been baking “ there’s a bat in here”  she was no longer in the kitchen !! But there was indeed a bat in the kitchen and it was soon caught and placed outside where it froze.

 We have a story and a half home with full basement, fairly warm and cozy for us, but about once a year we have a bat appear that unnerves the Mrs. They must come from the attic but why this time of year?

A Talk on the Climate Side

By Harry Hutchins.

I am sitting here eating Habanera hot salsa. Some say the climate isn’t changing--just like my tongue isn’t reacting much to this mild salsa.  I’ll try the hot stuff.  It was on sale.  Shouldn’t bother me, eh?  Heck I lived Arizona for 3 years and once spent a month in the land of Hot food – Sichuan, China.  Holy cow that was a quick change!!!!  I felt that hot habanera this time!

We humans don’t like quick change.  And we deny it until that truck is just a few feet away from hitting us.  Reminds me of many of us in the United States. This is the way we are reacting to climate change.  The trouble is, we better not wait till it gets to close because like the truck or the hot sauce, it is going to seem to happen quickly when it does.

So if 2007 ornithologists told you they saw Cedar waxwings in a fruit tree in Grand Rapids yesterday, I bet you’d believe them, right?  So why not believe 2007 climate scientist who are the top experts in their field?  Why is some science OK and other science observations are incorrect from our point of view.  Science takes no stance.  Policy does.  What more evidence do you need?

I believe Jeff Masters who has a 30 plus years climatology background and a PhD in that field when he tells us there are no written records of these kinds of extreme events that have happened in the past few years.  13” of rain in Tennessee? Or Dr. Heidi Cullen another climatologist who not only researches the science behind climate change, but interprets and communicates it very well. And you should believe it too.  The weather may very well change as quickly as different salsas and create a widely oscillating climate.  That is called climate change.  Europe in a deep cold and snow.  Hey, that was a prediction by climate scientist too.

What kind of world do we want?
What do you want?  That’s what David Suzuki asked in his latest book The Legacy: An Elder's Vision for Our Sustainable Future to the people of Canada, his home country.  Do you want clean water to drink and to catch non toxic fish?  Do you want carcinogenic chemicals in your food or in the air you breath?  Do you want to be able to walk a Lake Michigan Beach without cutting your toes upon non native zebra muscles? What he was saying is let us get together with our politicians and find all those things we agree upon.  We have a good idea now from the science what makes a healthy planet.  Set some targets and make policy to get to those targets. Let’s not wait any longer.

Harry Hutchins Dec. 22, 2010

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Harry Hutchins is a Forestry Ecologist at Itasca Community College and teaches in the Forestry Program and co-hosts A Talk on the Wild Side on 91.7 KAXE Tuesday mornings at 8:45. Click here to listen to "The Wild Weather of 2010," a piece by Living on Earth that talks with Jeff Masters, Dr. Heidi Cullen and other scientists about the weather extremes in the last year.

Start SEEING Bicycles

by Jennifer Poenix

There are people who ride their bikes to work every day. Not me, but some people.

If you regularly listen to "A Talk on the Wild Side" on Tuesday mornings, you know that natural resources professor Harry Hutchins often rides his bike to KAXE and then on to his job at Itasca Community College.

This morning, Harry told of trying to turn left off Highway 38 at a four-way stop. I know that four-way stop. It's crazy busy every weekday morning, partially due to traffic going to the Grand Rapids High School. A driver nearly hit Harry.

Bicyclists seem to be more common than they used to be, which I see as a great thing. More power to folks who opt to use their own selves rather than gas powered vehicles to get around. However, the roads can be a dangerous place. Drivers aren't being quite as cautious as they could be.

Here are some great guidelines for sharing the road with bicyclists.

The main thing to remember, especially now that summer is here, is to be aware of bicycles on the road.

Coincidentally, the topic for this Saturday's "Between You and Me" is bicycling. Let us know where you ride, how safe you feel, and any other ideas about bicycling you have to share. Our guest hosts are Michael Goldberg and Gail Otteson. The show airs from 10am-noon this Saturday.

Winter Bird Calls with John and Harry

John Latimer talked with Harry Hutchins about winter bird calls in our area during A Talk on the Wild Side. You can click here to listen to the entire conversation, or we have it broken into pieces below if you want to hear a certain bird. We also suggest if you're interested in either of the owls you listen to both pieces - the conversation sort of bleeds together from one to the other. If you'd like to download the bird calls and try playing them in your yard as Harry suggest, simply "right click" on the file you want and "Save link as," then choose where to save the file and click "save." You can get more nature and phenology news at The Phenology Page on KAXE.org.

Pine Grosbeak
John and Harry Discussion

Pine Grosbeak Call



Crossbill
John and Harry Discussion

Crossbill Call




Waxwing
John and Harry Discussion

Waxwing Call




Great Horned Owl
John and Harry Discussion

Great Horned Owl Call




Barred Owl
John and Harry Discussion

Barred Owl Call




Full Conversation - if you would like to hear all of this as one full piece.

Thomas Friedman and Swans

Harry Hutchins, co-host for "A Talk on the Wild Side" on KAXE's Morning Show (Tuesdays 7:40am) mentioned a book that he is reading and will talk about with John Latimer on next week's show. The book is Thomas Friedman's "Hot Flat and Crowded".

Harry said, " When I read "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman I thought there's a lot more to this than just worrying about when the internet came around and how all the economies are all the same...and how we can all rise up to some great level...sure enough he came up with "Hot, Flat and Crowded". I'd highly suggest it for people who are looking at global climate change or looking at effects on biodiversity."


Have you read it? Let us know what YOU thought of it.... Check out Thomas Friedman's website - he's doing a really interesting thing, he's asking for input on updates on his book!

John and Harry also said that they'll have a conversation/listening session next week about the differences between the songs of the trumpeter and tundra swans. Won't be long before the tundra swans are here!

Harry's Christmas Present

John and Harry got great phenological Christmas presents this year... in fact, they sounded like little boys getting train sets they were so excited!

John loved his "Life Histories of Northern American Woodpeckers" by Arthur Cleveland Bent and Harry's favorite gift from his son was "Trees and Shrubs on Minnesota" by Welby R. Smith.