Shout out to Nathaniel on spotting the tufted duck!  See his story in this month’s Badger Birder

There are two more duck watches with the Lake Park Friends: Saturday Feb 12 and Saturday March 12. Meet up at North Point just north of Bradford Beach at 11. WSO is sponsoring a trip to the Buena Vista Grasslands on Feb 12. It is free to members. Edee Daniels, author of Milwaukee River Greenway, leads free guided hikes around SE Wisconsin, sign-up on his website for more details. The Wisconsin Go Hiking Club has numerous hikes of various distances and difficulty through urban and wilder locations.

While the snow piles up it’s a good time to catch up on reading. Below are some books on my to-read stack. Please share your suggestions in the comments.

All the Ruth Galloway mystery novels by Elly Griffiths, Book 1 is The Crossing Places. Helen found this series of England based mysteries with archaeologist Ruth Galloway.

White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows, Bernd Heinrich

Reading Heinrich is like walking beside an expert naturalist.  He observes, notes and wonders at all that he sees.  And it seems nothing escapes his eye.  I have also read and re-read his other essay collections.

Why Fish Don’t Exist, Lulu Miller

Part personal discovery and part taxonomic history. 

The Milwaukee River Greenway: A Wealth of Nature in the Heart of the City, Eddee Daniels

A photo history of the Milwaukee River Greenway. Fabulous and fun!  See his blog A Wealth of Nature for more photos, stories and guided hike opportunities.

On my to-read list:

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our World, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Future, Martin Sheldrake.  The story of mushrooms, lichen, and algae. 

Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, Suzanne Simard

On Animals, Susan Orlean