Andy McGlashen

1 month ago | audubon.org | Andy McGlashen

Before retiring from his career as an oil and gas engineer, John Allaire bought a slice of paradise: more than a half-mile of oceanfront in Louisiana’s Cameron Parish, backed by 300-plus acres of marsh where he could gather shrimp and watch bobcats prowl. “This was my little place to be quiet and stargaze and fish and hunt,” he says. Nowadays a constant rumbling disturbs his peace.

Sep 23, 2024 | audubon.org | Andy McGlashen

A bruiser of a thunderstorm roared through my neighborhood recently, tearing down countless tree branches and even some hefty limbs. Along with the mushrooms that sprouted after the soaking rain, the storm’s aftermath brought another sort of emergence: Dozens of brown paper yard waste bags, stuffed with debris, popped up along the curbs. Being cheap and slothful, I didn’t join my neighbors in buying bags, stuffing them with sticks, and paying my city government to come pick them up.

Sep 20, 2024 | audubon.org | Andy McGlashen

Tobe clear, Donna Posont loves Red-winged Blackbirds. She does a killer impression of their song—conk-la-REEEE!—and welcomes their heartening message that, chill be damned, spring is coming. But right now, she really just needs the squawking birds to shut up. The 35 or so people she has gathered around an outdoor wood stove can barely hear Rick Simek, the soft-spoken naturalist demonstrating how maple syrup is made.

Jun 17, 2024 | audubon.org | Andy McGlashen

Ten years ago this August, at 2 a.m. on a Saturday, Toledo, Ohio, residents received an alarming notice from local officials: Do not drink the water. A massive algae bloom in Lake Erie had overwhelmed the city’s water treatment plant and contaminated the public supply with microcystin, a toxin produced by algae that can damage the human liver and kill birds, pets, and livestock.

May 16, 2024 | audubon.org | Andy McGlashen

Close your eyes and imagine a Golden Eagle. What type of landscape surrounds it? Chances are you’re envisioning something out of a John Wayne movie, and that’s fitting—most of these majestic raptors nest and soar among the mountain canyons, red-rock cliffs, and sagebrush seas of western North America. Most, but not all. Casual birders may be surprised to learn that a smaller population of Golden Eagles spends the cold months among the humbler mountains and denser forests of many eastern states.