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Cable Natural History Museum

Connecting People to Northwoods Nature

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6:53

412 – Is the Sun Setting on Evening Grosbeaks?

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2026/02/05

Evening grosbeaks are colorful members of the finch family. These bright birds travel widely toward the best food sources in movements known as “irruptions.” In 2016, the evening grosbeak was cited as the steepest declining landbird in the continental United States and Canada. Together, networks of scientists and legions of bird-lovers are working to make sure that the Sun isn’t setting on evening grosbeaks.The post 412 – Is the Sun Setting on Evening Grosbeaks? first appeared on Cable Natural

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4:16

411 – Stories in the Hemlocks

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2026/01/29

As my boots crunched and sunk into the snow, the trees were shedding bits of snow that littered their branches, dispatched by the wind. In my attempts to avoid getting showered by falling snow, I found myself walking among scattered giants. Standing next to the old eastern hemlock, staring up at the towering trunk, I began to feel very small as I imagined what this tree has lived through and the things that they have seen. How many generations of songbirds have nested in their branches, or found

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6:25

410 – How Do We Know the Moon

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2026/01/22

“‘I know the moon,’ said the fox” My colleague read this title line aloud from a children’s book recently, as part of a staff training. At first, I was just as enchanted with the story as she was. The fox goes on to describe how the Moon is like a rabbit that he can chase across the night. The moth disagrees with the fox, though, as does the owl, the mouse, and the bullfrog. The animals start bickering about who’s right. They decide to visit A Man of Science, and each Being hopes that he will

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6:35

409 – Why Woodpeckers Don’t Get Concussions

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2026/01/15

The idea that a woodpecker's tongue provides cushioning for their brain as it wraps around their skull has come into question. The newest calculations, made with the most accurate modern technology, refute the idea that a woodpecker's brain is cushioned at all!Of course, any of these conclusions might be proven wrong or incomplete as scientists discover new information in the future. The beauty of science is that it requires us to be able to change our minds in light of new evidence. One thing that

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5:50

408 – Cute Bits of Camouflage

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2026/01/08

Brown creepers are cute little bits of camouflage with white bellies. This one moved upward in staccato motions, a bit to the side, around to the back, back to the front, and up some more. Pausing, the bird used their thin, downward-curving bill to explore a bark furrow. Perhaps they had spotted an overwintering insect larvae or antifreeze-protected spider for their lunch. Near the limit of my view out the window, the creeper suddenly launched off the tree and fluttered downward toward another tree

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3:36

407 – My Friend the Muskrat

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2026/01/01

As snow continues to blanket the ground, and the plummeting temperatures cause the air to bite at exposed skin, I can’t help but reminisce on warm summer day adventures. One adventure in particular had me exploring local wetlands, those special places where water and land blend together to create exquisite, diverse ecosystems. One wetland gifted me with a memory I won’t soon forget, and reminded me just how beautiful even the simplest experiences in nature are.The post 407 – My Friend the Muskrat

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6:36

406 – Mulling over Mullein

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/12/25

This is the season for lists highlighting our most-listened-to or best-of-whatevers at the end of the year, so I decided to dig into the stats on my Natural Connections blog. To my surprise, the most-read article in 2025 was one I wrote in February of 2016 about a plant called mullein. In August 2025 it spiked in popularity, far above my normal readership. I have no idea why. I recently told someone the story of finding the chickadee-cached seed in the mullein stalk, but I’d forgotten about the rest

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5:43

405 – The Bohemian Bird

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/12/18

Bohemian waxwings are known for their ability to find a tree full of berries in the middle of nowhere, descend on it en masse, strip every edible fruit from the twigs, and then disappear to their next meal. That’s exactly what they did as I watched.The post 405 – The Bohemian Bird first appeared on Cable Natural History Museum.

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5:36

404 – Wintertime Porcupine

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/12/11

Heading north on Highway 63, the beautiful scenery never fails to keep me entertained as I drive through the picturesque nature of the Northwoods. While my thoughts wandered, a large dark spot high in a distant tree caught my eye. At first, I thought it might be a squirrel drey–a large nest of twigs and leaves built high in a tree. But as I got closer, I realized that it was a porcupine! Once my excitement calmed down, curiosity began to take its place. I began to wonder why exactly this porcupine

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5:34

403 – The Subnivean Zone Returns

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/12/04

As winter’s first snowflakes drifted through the dark, some landed on top of dead plants, fallen leaves, twigs, and other detritus of the forest floor. In many places, snow never fully reached the ground. That was surely true for the protected hideaway of my thermometer. By dawn, it was buried under six inches and counting. Despite falling temperatures, the relative warmth of the cold rain and the residual heat of summer were still radiating from the soil. At sunrise, when I checked the weather

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5:26

402 – The Bright Red Warning of Barberry

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/11/27

The arching stems, decorative berries, and warmly hued, persistent fall foliage of barberry, plus the complete lack of deer browse on their twigs, are why they were brought to the U.S. as an ornamental plant in 1875. That was fine, until in the 1980s they started to spread out and displace native plants. Now Japanese barberry is considered invasive in 17 states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. A barberry thicket also provides a safe, fox-resistant haven for mice, and a shady, humid home

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5:32

401 – Southward Migration

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/11/20

The shallow water in Northwoods marshes and bays began to crackle with a skim of ice recently, gently reminding everyone that winter is on the way. Ice-up is a firm deadline for many beings who migrate to travel at least a little bit farther south. I got caught up in the flurry of activity and soon found myself in the Mississippi River Flyway swooping around the hills and corners of the Great River Road with other Northerners heading south.The post 401 – Southward Migration first appeared on Cable

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6:20

400 – Dowsing for Witch-hazel

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/11/13

Beside the trail stood a spreading shrub with a few rays of sunlight illuminating tiny yellow flowers that looked just like sunbursts themselves. Witch-hazel! The flower-dappled shrub twinkled like a reminder of spring. While they do bloom near Halloween, witch-hazel’s name is probably a misspelling of old English words wicke or wych that meant “lively” and “to bend.” They refer to the use of a forked branch of witch-hazel as a dowsing rod, which purportedly would bend downward to point out a good

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6:43

399 – Watching Cranes at Crex Meadows

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/11/06

“Turn here, they’re heading north!” I directed my fiancé as we navigated the gravel roads of Crex Meadows Wildlife Area near Grantsburg, WI. We’d spotted a line of sandhill cranes flying through the sunset sky, and were following them toward what we hoped would be a spectacular evening of birdwatching.The post 399 – Watching Cranes at Crex Meadows first appeared on Cable Natural History Museum.

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6:04

398 – Fantastic Fungi

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/10/30

The air shimmered as I walked through the forest, the heavy mists encompassing me in a damp blanket. As my shoes trod on soggy leaves, I took in the quiet serenity of the forest. Many of the trees had begun their annual changing of the colors, painting the canopy in shades of yellow, orange, red and green. Their discarded leaves were already beginning to dot the forest floor in late September. But fallen leaves weren’t the only contributors of color on the ground–the fall mushrooms were popping in

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5:42

397 – Butterfly Breezes of Fall

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/10/23

At first, a flutter at the edge of my vision made me think that an autumn leaf had somehow managed to fall half a mile to the middle of the lake. A closer look revealed the dark purple wings of a mourning cloak butterfly. In late September? Weeks later, a flutter at the edge of my vision caught my attention just in time to watch an autumn leaf come to rest on the ground. Small quaking aspen leaves carpeted the trail in a mosaic of yellow and green. They were evidence of yet another way that a

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6:51

396 – Flying Kittens

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/10/16

“Just hold her like this,” Kurt told me. So I carefully nestled my first two fingers into the soft, warm feathers around the neck of this tiny northern saw-whet owl, cradled her soft, warm torso in the palm of my hand, and secured her brown and white wings with my thumb and other fingers. My heart stopped for a moment, but under those soft, warm feathers I could feel her smaller heart racing. Learn more about the volunteer opportunities with Mike and Kurt's saw-whet owl nest box and MOTUS tower

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6:05

395 – Green Frogs Prepare for Winter

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/10/09

Finally, within sight of the next lake, movement near the toe of my boot startled me almost to the point of disaster. Big black eyes with golden rims stared up at me from the slope of a rock. Crooked toes gripped the rough surface, and long hind legs braced for a quick escape. The green frog who had jumped out from underneath my boot perched motionless, as if that made them invisible. The post 395 – Green Frogs Prepare for Winter first appeared on Cable Natural History Museum.

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6:00

394 – The Mystery of Mast Years

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/10/02

Last week I wrote about acorns clattering across my roof. As it turns out, nuts are raining down on many of your roofs, too! Commiserating over the loud, foot-rolling acorns makes me feel like part of an extended community. Are the oaks part of a similar community? And why are they suddenly attacking us with acorns!Oaks are mast species, which means that all the trees in an area will produce a bumper crop of acorns at the same time, but only every two to five years. From mice to owls to chatting

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5:09

393 – A Summer of Loon Discovery

Cable Natural History Museum ·

2025/09/25

The pontoon bobbed in the water as I stepped onto the deck, clutching binoculars and trying to contain my excitement. Since moving to the Northwoods in the middle of winter, I had been waiting for the chance to see a loon, and my chance finally arrived in late May. The sunlight danced across the water as our boat left the dock, and we began our search. It wasn't long before we spotted the silhouette of a loon off in the distance, and headed for a closer look.Two large red oak trees reach the edges

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