Thrilled to have a creative collaboration with England-based architectural glass sculptor Martin Donlin. At Martin’s invitation I was commissioned to write a poem, “Mirroring the Light,” which he drew upon for imagery in his design of a sculpture for the new Hennepin County Medical Center specialty clinic in Minneapolis.
As 2016 Spring Artist in Residence, Laurie wrote ‘Open Grown’ and other poetry inspired by landscapes of Belwin Conservancy in Afton, MN.
A reading of collected poems from the Belwin Residency will be held at the Chilkoot Café in Stillwater on Sunday evening, September 25, 2016. Free and open to the public.
Following the Wings
An audio documentary about Minnesota’s migratory birds and the researchers who track them, produced for KFAI radio’s 10,000 Fresh Voices series. Listen on the radio or streaming live on KFAI’s website on June 10, 7:30 p.m. (90.3 Mpls, 106.7 St. Paul, www.kfai.org), or listen on-line anytime at:
https://soundcloud.com/minneculture/following-the-wings
About the program:
Evolution in tracking technology is accelerating the pace of research into bird migration, providing unprecedented detail on issues such as the timing of migration, migratory routes, and habitat selection on breeding and wintering grounds. For the first time in history, miniaturized devices such as geo-locators allow tracking of individual songbirds over long distances, while larger birds can be tracked in nearly real time with precise locational fixes using GPS satellite technology. Following the Wings (28 min.) features researchers leading Minnesota-based migration studies, and explores conservation efforts happening at the local and international level.
Interviews focus on wintering golden eagles in the Driftless Area of SE MN with Mark Martell (Audubon MN); international migration of golden-winged warblers with David Anderson and Gunnar Kramer (U.S. Geological Survey and University of MN); studies of common loons with Kevin Kenow (U.S. Geological Survey), patterns in migratory birds’ use of airspace with Anna Peterson (Western State Colorado University, formerly U of MN) and international partnerships for conservation of neo-tropical migrants with Guido Saborio (Osa Conservation Area, Costa Rica).
Where are they now?
Follow the movements of marked loons and golden eagles using satellite telemetry in these ongoing research studies:
http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/migratory_birds/loons/main.html
http://mn.audubon.org/golden-eagle-conservation
Referenced published research
Martell, M. and Mehus, S. A Wintering Population of Golden Eagles in Southwestern Wisconsin and Southeastern Minnesota. http://mn.audubon.org/sites/default/files/documents/golden_eagle_passengerpigeon_2010.pdf
Peterson, S.M., G.R. Kramer, H.M. Streby, J.A. Lehman, D.A. Buehler, and D.E. Andersen. 2015. Geolocators on golden-winged warblers do not affect migratory ecology. Condor: Ornithological Applications.
Anna C. Peterson, Gerald J. Niemi, and Douglas H. Johnson 2015. Patterns in diurnal airspace use by migratory landbirds along an ecological barrier. Ecological Applications 25:673–684. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/14-0277.1
See also
American Bird Conservancy http://www.abcbirds.org/
Osa Conservation http://www.osaconservation.org/
Sister Parks Partnership, National Parks in the Midwestern US and Costa Rica http://www.ticotimes.net/2013/06/05/u-s-and-costa-rica-sign-sister-parks-arrangement
Credits/Sources
Audio of bird songs used with permission of the Macaulay Library of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Audio from the 2015 Migratory Bird Festival, Puerto Jimenez, courtesy Nina Koch and Patty Mueller. Special thanks to all the interviewed researchers for advising on content, as well as Nancy Sartor, Todd Melby, Noel Clark, and Rico Morales and Dale Connelly at KFAI and Rich Baker, Minnesota DNR.
Listen, comment, share the link
Please take a moment to comment on this story or share it with others at:
https://soundcloud.com/minneculture/following-the-wings
And on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/MinneCulture/posts/1429514564024968
I enjoyed having a conversation with Messenger editor Suzanne Lindgren about my recent appointment to the DNR Commissioner’s Advisory Committee. See her feature article, below.
http://www.presspubs.com/messenger/news/article_56ff387c-b6c6-11e4-975b-534d51a07ed1.html
I had a great experience as spring 2013 artist in residence at the Bell Museum of Natural History. Here are a few of the projects that I completed over the months of the residency, posted on the Bell’s website. I think of Anticipating Rhythm (video below) as a poem without words. It’s a celebration of rhythm and pattern in nature, featuring the tapdance sounds of the group Rhythmic Circus, along with a crazy mix of natural sounds, including toads, bellbirds, woodpeckers, ravens, cranes, wind, waves and more. The still photos were taken by the young photographers of Northwest Passage’s “In a New Light” program, a mental health facility for youth and families. It’s been accepted as one of seven videos to be featured at a conference of the American Musicological Society in Pittsburgh in November 2013, as part of the project directed by Mark Pedelty, Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the U of M and Institute on the Environment U of MN Fellow. Also posted is an audio file of a poem inspired by the fabulous dioramas at the museum. Hope you enjoy them! Many thanks to the good folks at the Bell. (By the way, if you haven’t seen the amazing on-line tour of the Bell Museum’s dioramas, check this out)
Image from Bell Museum
