article thumbnail

How Do You Spell “Shitepoke?”

10,000 Birds

My father had stories he’d tell, time and time again, and one of them was from his one-room schoolhouse when he was a farm boy in Iowa. The teacher asked the kids to make a list of all the birds they knew, and they were busy scratching away with their pencils when one boy raised his hand and asked, “Ma’am, how do you spell “shitepoke?”

Iowa 225
article thumbnail

Winging It In Tulsa

10,000 Birds

He was right; a cheerful, enthusiastic group of parka-clad people eventually arrived to watch slides, listen to tales of bird rescue and rehab, and buy some of my books. I packed 643 pounds of toffee – right, Kim? Each summer Seinna, her father, and her mother Christy raise nestling songbirds as subpermittees of WING-IT.

Tulsa 182
article thumbnail

Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East: A Field Guide Review

10,000 Birds

The specific geographic area covered is “east of the western boundaries of Ontario, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana”; the eastern United States and Canada is known for its diversity of odonates. Species accounts are sequential, one running right after the other. More on this later.) This one is 2.5