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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 2d

As the sunlight begins to dim, black bears are finding their ways to their dens. 🐻

During the late summer and early fall, black bears eat up to 20,000 calories per day to prepare for a long slumber, packing on fat that fuels their bodies through the winter.

#PhenologyFriday #FatBearWeek

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 3d

What's spookier than a ghost story? The struggles faced by bats worldwide due to climate change, habitat loss, and disease.

Join us TONIGHT at 7pm CDT for a chat with Dr. Winifred Frick of Bat Conservation International 🦇.

Register here: https://ow.ly/qURA50X8Hbp

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 4d

“The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant, 'What good is it?'” ― Aldo Leopold, Round River, A Sand County Almanac

#WednesdayWisdom #AldoLeopold #SandCountyAlmanac

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 6d

📢 Great Midwest #CraneFest is coming up fast! Nov. 15-16 in #Baraboo, #Wisconsin. 📢

Don't miss this celebration of #conservation, community, and #cranes with the International Crane Foundation!

Mark your calendars and get your tickets at bit.ly/gmcranefest

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 7d

The latest #LandEthic in Action story is all about community. First, we share how a group of Wisconsinites came together to protect a threatened watershed; then we ask Paula Whyman more about her growing relationship to the land.

Check out the story here ➡️ https://ow.ly/Jpe950X5PHO

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 9d

#GoldenHour is beginning for the tamarack!

The tamarack is one of a small handful of deciduous conifers whose needles change color and drop in the #fall. Its signature #autumn hue inspired the title of Aldo Leopold's October essay, "Smoky Gold." 🌲💛

#PhenologyFriday

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 10d

Bats are unsung ecosystem heroes―yet, sadly, they're often misunderstood.

How can telling new stories about these invisible mammals rewrite their destiny as they face threats from habitat loss, disease, and climate change?

Find out on Oct. 9th ➡️

events.zoom.us/ev/Ajo2ltwte...

@batcon.org

The Invisible Mammal: Protecting Bats for People and the Planet

events.zoom.us

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 11d

"We need joy as we need air. We need love as we need water. We need each other as we need the Earth we share." —Maya Angelou

#WednesdayWisdom #Earth #MayaAngelou

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 11d

#Phenology is all about paying attention to the land and getting curious about what's happening with the #wildlife, #flora, and #fauna throughout the year!

Are you ready to discover something new in #nature's cycles? Then get your #calendar today at aldoleopold.org/store.

Photo of a wood duck, with a bright red beak, red eye ring, green head, and striking white lines across its brown plumage. The duck is gliding across water, which reflects some red and yellow from distant fall foliage. Text over the image reads: "The wonders of wildlife await... Buy the 2026 Phenology Calendar today."

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 15d

We've got a need… a need to collect seeds!

Particularly Canada wild rye―a native grass that will help re-establish areas where we'll be working to remove invasive brush. 🌾

Thanks to our many volunteers for helping gather seeds with us!! 🤲🫘

#StewardshipSaturday #Volunteers

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 16d

Why do trees change colors in #fall? 🍂

As daylight decreases, broad-leaved trees stop producing #chlorophyll, which makes leaves green. This allows other pigments―like carotenoids and anthocyanins―to show in the leaves, revealing yellow, orange, and red hues.

#PhenologyFriday

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 18d

“There is a time in late #September when the leaves are still green, and the days are still warm, but somehow you know that it is all about to end, as if #summer was holding its breath, and when it let it out again, it would be #autumn.” ―author Sharyn McCrumb.

#WednesdayWisdom #Fall

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 23d

While we mostly associate Canada #Geese with #migration, you may look out your window in January and still see some lingering. Why is that? Well, there are two distinct populations: migratory, which flies south for the winter, and residential, which stays here year round.

#PhenologyFriday

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 25d

Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess' idea of #DeepEcology argues that environmental protection must come not from moral obligation but a broadened sense of self, allowing one to act instinctively to preserve the natural world.

#WednesdayWisdom

Aerial view of fall trees along a riverbank at sunset. Text overlay reads: "Care flows naturally if the self is widened and deepened so that protection of free nature is felt and conceived of as protection of our very selves." Quote by Arne Naess, a Norwegian philosopher who coined the idea of deep ecology.

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · 25d

We love red-headed woodpeckers!! ❤️🤍🖤

Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · Sep 11

Yes! Sort of... This essay is only included in the mass-market paperback edition of Sand County Almanac that includes essays from Round River. A very popular version of the book back in the '70s from a separate publisher. The Oxford edition, which is considered standard, doesn't include it.

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · Sep 11

TONIGHT! Join us for a conversation with @paulawhyman.bsky.social about the ups and downs of restoring a native landscape!

Thurs. 9/11 @ 7pm CDT on Zoom: events.zoom.us/ev/AtMcU8TLZ...

Registration also grants you access to the replay!

#Stewardship #Restoration #Conservation #FreeEvent

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · Sep 10

"If, then, we can live without goose music, we may as well do away with stars, or sunsets, or Iliads. But the point is that we would be fools to do away with any of them." —Aldo Leopold

#WednesdayWisdom #Migration #Nature #AldoLeopold

A tan rectangle graphic with a red border. Along the bottom right, within the border, is a line of silhouetted birds in flight. Text at the top reads: "If, then, we can live without goose music, we may as well do away with stars, or sunsets, or Iliads. But the point is that we would be fools to do away with any of them." At the bottom right, in smaller text, the quote is attributed to Aldo Leopold.

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · Sep 4

Join us next week on #LandEthicLive for an inspiring talk with Paula about stewardship, restoration, and self-discovery! 💚 The program is free, virtual, and recorded for later access.

#Stewardship #BadNaturalist #Conservation #FreeEvent

Paula Whyman @paulawhyman.bsky.social · Sep 3

Next week, I'll be talking with the Aldo Leopold Foundation's Jennifer Sterling as part of the Land Ethic Live series. This is such a great organization, advancing Leopold's foundational conservation ideals. I hope you'll check it out!
🌿

A Bad Naturalist: Learning to Steward the Land

events.zoom.us

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · Sep 3

In 1971, after witnessing a disastrous oil spill, Dr. John Francis decided to give up motor vehicles and instead began a 22-year-long journey, walking through the U.S., the Caribbean, South America, and even Antarctica, earning him the nickname #PlanetWalker.

#WednesdayWisdom

An old, sepia-toned photograph of a bearded black man in a bucket hat with a large metal-framed backpack and a banjo walking down a railroad track with mountains out of focus in the background. Text to the right reads: "As you walk, look around, assess where you are, reflect on where you have been, and dream of where you are going. Every moment of the present contains the seeds of opportunity for change. Your life is an adventure. Live it fully." Quote by Dr. John Francis, a.k.a. Planetwalker.

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · Aug 29

Every year, millions of #Monarchbutterflies migrate 3,000 miles south between late August & mid-November to spend the winter in a warmer climate. 🦋

Did you know the #Monarch is the only #butterfly known to complete a two-way #migration?

#PhenologyFriday #pollinators

Blue background with a large orange and black patterned monarch butterfly coming off the right side of the image. Text over the top reads: The great monarch migration begins!

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · Aug 22

The common #nighthawk, neither night-flyer nor hawk, is often seen zipping through the summer skies at dawn and dusk in pursuit of its flying insect prey. They're just about ready to head south on one of the longest #migration routes of any North American bird.

#PhenologyFriday

A common nighthawk mid-flight, with its wings extended downward in front, against a green background. Its feathers are mottled brown and white, with white stripes toward the edges of the wings and the end of the tail.

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · Aug 20

While acknowledging the complicated relationship Black people have to the land due to the atrocities that occurred on it, futurist and poet Naima Penniman believes that living and learning from "Mamma Nature" is key to a thriving Black community.

#WednesdayWisdom

Photo of a black woman with hair twists and wearing a green jacket, bent over in a garden, harvesting. Text overlay reads: "Our relationship to land is bigger than the trauma that took place on it. Our histories and futures extend beyond the grip of oppression that transpired within them. We are finding our way back to our rightful relationship with the Earth that we belong to." Quote by Naima Penniman from the poem/essay Concentric Memory.

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · Aug 15

Bottle Gentian is beginning to bloom!

The flowers of this native perennial can only be pollinated by bumblebees, which are strong enough to pry the bottle-shaped flowers open and crawl inside. This symbiotic relationship benefits both the plant and the bees!

#PhenologyFriday #NativePlants

A photo of purple-blue flowers with petals closed. Text reads: bottle gentian is beginning to bloom!

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Aldo Leopold Foundation @aldoleopoldfdn.bsky.social · Aug 8

New England Aster is beginning to bloom! This is a perennial late-season wildflower native to Wisconsin. Did you know that a single "flower" of this plant is actually made up of 100-150 individual flowers?

#PhenologyFriday #Flowers #NativePlants

A photo of purple, daisy-like aster flowers. Text over the top reads: New England Aster is beginning to bloom!

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