Jason E. Andersen

Blog

Welcome to a world of limitless possibilities, where the journey is as exhilarating as the destination, and where every moment is an opportunity to make your mark on the canvas of existence. The only limit is the extent of your imagination.

  • Milkweeds make Monarchs

    Bonus fun fact: If you don’t know by now, I really like monarchs and I’m concerned about their well-being. Did you know it takes about 28.5 milkweed stems to produce one adult monarch that will be part of the fall migration? That means we need an additional 1.8 billion (billion with a ‘b’) milkweeds in…

  • Winter sky spectacles

    Bonus fun fact: Sun Dogs, Halos, and Sun Pillars are one of the coolest things about winter. (See what I did there?) If you don’t already know, these are atmospheric phenomena caused by light reflecting off of ice crystals in the atmosphere. This reflected light creates optical effects in the sky. What effect you get…

  • Plight of the Monarch

    Bonus fun fact: During late summer, monarch butterflies migrate out of the Midwest to their wintering grounds in the mountains of central Mexico. High in the mountains (above 7,500 feet elevation) the overwintering butterflies cluster together to stay warm. These clusters can be so dense that the mass of butterflies weighs down tree branches, sometimes…

  • Woodpecker tales

    Bonus fun fact: You can tell a lot about a bird by the shape of it’s tail. Below is a picture that I received in an email asking for help identifying a bird (see picture below!). If you know birds, you can tell that is a very obvious woodpecker tail in the picture. It’s fanned…

  • Getting cold feet?

    Bonus fun fact: Have you ever wondered how birds can stand in freezing cold water without getting frostbite? Birds (and also some fish, marine mammals, and humans to a lesser extent) have what is essentially heat exchangers in their extremities. The blood vessels responsible for transporting blood to and from the extremity are very close together,…

  • Clasping paws

    Bonus fun fact: Did you know that sea otters hold paws while they sleep? Because they snooze out to sea, they clasp paws so they don’t drift away from each other and get separated. It’s like a little adorable furry raft! (No, really. Groups of floating otters are called ‘rafts’.) Speaking of furry, sea otters…

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