https://www.facebook.com/100208598579718/

Nature Enthusiations

Home
United States
Bloomington, MN
Nature Enthusiations

Our goal is to help people of all ages and backgrounds discover and share their connection to and interest in the natural world.

Nature Enthusiations LLC aspires to share our enthusiasm, appreciation, & respect for the natural world with people of all ages & backgrounds; through nature programs, educational resources, animal & nature-inspired creations, & more! Nature Enthusiations LLC aspires to share our enthusiasm, appreciation, & respect for the natural world through nature programs, educational resources, and animal- and nature-inspired creations. We love making connections with people and finding common ground in a way that helps everyone (ourselves included!) continue to learn about and understand the importance of the amazing wildlife we strive to protect. We believe sharing the incredible stories of and experiences in nature in a positive, interactive, and collaborative manner is imperative to environmental education and stewardship.

09/05/2026

We've been asked if we're offering monarch tagging this year, & unfortunately we just don't have time. We hope to find time to offer it again next fall as a pop-up program.

However, Leah was given the amazing opportunity to work with connections from & to tag monarchs in a brand new way- radio tags!

sticker tags have been helpful for many years & are accessible to individuals & will continue to be an important part of monarch research & conservation. uses super lightweight radio trackers, Motus towers, & bluetooth technology found in everyday devices to get a more detailed picture of monarch migration.

Yesterday, Leah helped catch wild monarchs, which were then weighed, sexed, tested for OE, & measured for wing length & condition. Seven of the healthiest, largest individuals were chosen to be fitted with fancy new 'backpacks' designed not to interfere with their flight. Leah glued a tiny solar-powered radio transmitter to a heavyweight female monarch (weighing in at a whopping .8 grams), let her rest & replenish her fuel, then released her back into the wild with the others affixed with their new conservation-styled accessories.

Each monarch's information was added to the Project Monarch portal, & now every time these monarch fly near a Motus tracking tower or other bluetooth device, their presence is detected & shared within the project. The photo shows the monarch Leah tagged just before she flew into the air & out of sight. She was already detected 87 times in the last 24 hours(!), & appears to be currently staying within the park boundary where she was tagged.

Though these bluetooth-enabled trackers are quite expensive so not accessible to most people, anyone can download the Project Monarch app for free & search for tagged monarchs in North America. (Leah's butterfly's 'name' is LEAH-TRPD-MN26-005 if you want to help keep an eye on her in the app.) But the coolest thing is that anyone who has a bluetooth device is helping track every monarch (& likely other small animals) just by having their bluetooth turned on... your cell phone could help detect a monarch up to 200m away!!

What an incredible experience & we wish these monarchs luck in their hopefully long journey ahead!

08/16/2026

Cheery bluebird chatter has been such a welcome sound over the airplanes & highway noises in our neighborhood. Bluebirds are one species we can proudly say we've positively impacted- bluebird population recovery has abounded now that 'bluebird trails' of artificial nest boxes have been established and monitored to supplement natural woodpecker-excavated snags & prevent invasive house sparrows from taking over.

We've monitored bluebird trails for over 20 years but experienced a first at our own 'trail' this year- a third clutch! These four partially feathered baby birds will soon join the eleven that already fledged this year; some of those fledglings still occasionally stop by for visits & seem very curious about the small nestbox inhabitants.

We even heard a bluebird duet last night as we finished some new earrings for the Butterfly Days market next weekend, & couldn't help but smile. The calling are likely related to the bluebird pictured in our market items... or may even be the same male! What a joy to experience & be able to share such a beautiful conservation success story.

07/16/2026

Walking down the frozen muddy path amidst leaves and snow, the person in front of me suddenly noticed something & knelt down to investigate. Curious, other members of our group also crouched down to look. In front of us was a slight impression, vaguely resembling little toe beans from a canine. The print wasn't clear, but it appeared to point into the woods along the walking path. There, we discovered more prints, leading into a track that eventually morphed into a wide, smooth slide... the final confirmation of what I was hoping for... a river otter!

By that point, someone else was crouching in the middle of the trail again; this time grabbing a couple small sticks. He carefully prodded & disassembled a small pile of what many would assume was animal s**t, sharing what he was noticing. More people joined, poked at it, discussed what they were seeing, & started separating bones from fur. This was no s**t- this was an owl pellet! Though we did later find the omnivorous leftovers of what was, indeed, raccoon s**t. (Raccoon until proven otherwise?)

This was the first time I remember joining the . A group of incredibly welcoming, ever-curious, knowledgeable, joyful folks who made it their mission to explore the tracks, nibbles, & other signs of wildlife that had walked, bounded, slid, & pooped their way across the same trails we were following. They renewed my interest in animal signs & left me with such inspiration & warmth despite the cold February day; I knew I had found my people.

The Minnesota Wildlife Tracking Project is a volunteer-run 'club' that offers free monthly events for people of any age & experience who want to explore the world of wildlife via the signs they've left behind. Though I unfortunately haven't joined many of the walks since then, I've learned so much & met friendly & interesting people every time I have.

Jonathan Poppele, MWTP founder & author of my favorite track book, was also kind enough to let me use some of his track drawings for the laser-engraved wooden ornaments folks may have seen at our winter markets. It's been great to share his work, & I'm so proud to support MWTP.

I highly recommend checking out their events: https://www.mntracking.org/ & Jonathan's books: https://bookshop.org/lists/nature-guidebooks-by-jonathan-poppele. Thanks, Jon & crew at MWTP, for sharing your knowledge & joy of nature with everyone!

05/20/2026

Just in time for an evening moth program, our first polyphemus moths emerged from cocoons they spun last July! In typical form, males started emerging first & the first female joined them a couple days later.

Similar to red-winged blackbirds in the bird world, males 'arriving' first have a chance to get their house in order, so to speak, before the females join them. In the case of silk moths, males patrol for females so this extra time gives them a chance to strengthen their wings before following their feathery antennae to the up-to 5-mile journey to a pheromone-calling female.

Opposite of red-winged blackbirds, it's female moths who do the calling to attract a male, rather than male birds who call & sing to attract a female.

Though it's difficult to post when/where we're releasing moths for you to join us, since it's so weather-dependent & we obviously don't know when they'll leave their cocoons, we're working on setting up a local mothing program this summer. We were lucky the first males emerged right before the moth program at so participants could see, ask questions, and help release them into the woods as part of the program. It was so heartwarming to hear the first release volunteer, around 12 years old, gently & caringly explain to the second volunteer, an adult, all the steps we had just shared to ensure the smoothest transition for this moth to the wild. We hope that family continues caring for nature the way they so clearly showed that evening, & we hope you all have a chance to see amazing moths like these!

For more information on s, check out the Bugguide link: https://www.bugguide.net/node/view/427. Or maybe we'll see you at an event or program with some of the moths or caterpillars we're raising!

04/20/2026

The butter butts are back, the butter butts are back!

Leaf buds popping, spring flowers blooming, & insects awakening have all been such wonderful . But what especially stands out to us are all the spring migrators! Waves of waterfowl have made appearances for the last month or more, so now's when we start to see more raptors & songbirds making their way, including the bright & flighty, insect-eating warblers!

Yellow-rumped warblers are typically the first warblers to into each spring. Yellow rumps are easy to spot, with the males' dashing black & yellow vests & the bright yellow patch on the male & female rears that remind some of a pat of butter, giving them both their common name and their extra-charismatic nickname, butter butts. We saw some over the last dew days, but today's walk at our favorite local wildlife refuge revealed hundreds of these adorable birds including the two pictured. Such a joy.

If you're interested in seeing which bird friends are migrating through your area, we strongly recommend checking out Birdcast.net, from the same folks who brought us the & apps, the All About Birds website, & more. has live migration maps, migration forecasts, & so much more! We love checking our local dashboard to see how many birds have migrated, where the largest numbers are expected, & who's on their way through. April 15th had the biggest nocturnal migration numbers through Minnesota so far, & it looks like some sparrows & shorebirds are most likely to come through next. It also offers migration alerts to help notify people when it's most important to turn off outside lights to avoid confusing migrating birds. So many amazing tools for us to learn about birds; they've done wonders to make birding accessible to even more people.

We hope you get a chance to look for butter butts in your area, & enjoy all these new spring beginnings! What signs of spring have you seen, or are most looking forward to seeing?

02/21/2026

Amidst ice, cold, & storms, we look for moments of joy & appreciation this winter. We're so thankful to find both in our nature-focused & human communities, & proudly support efforts to help both our wildlife & human neighbors.

Melting ice, sparkling snow, watching animals (of all kinds!) explore the wintry landscape have brought us joy... along with our community supporting local businesses, helping when help is needed, & generally being good neighbors. Where are you finding your moments of joy this winter?

Photos of Leah's basset hound, Cooper, joyfully (& blurrily) exploring & bounding through snow at the dog park. Off-leash dog parks have been a wonderful joy-inspiring blend of nature-focused & human communities for us.

12/27/2025

It's been so fun to participate in markers' markets over the last few years. Sharing wildlife photos, stories, & appreciation with attendees makes them so enjoyable. Every year, we donate 100% of profits from these markets to wildlife-focused organizations but this year, we were thrilled to be able to donate 100% of our total market income!

A huge thank you to everyone who supported us (& therefore these organizations) & to everyone who donates their time/funds to organizations who do such great work for wildlife & the people who appreciate it.

2025 financial donations went to:
-Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of MN https://wrcmn.org/
-Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation https://xerces.org/
-Urban Bird Collective https://urbanbirdcollective.org/
-MN Wildlife Tracking Project https://www.mntracking.org/
-Monarch Joint Venture https://monarchjointventure.org/
-MN Dragonfly Society https://mndragonfly.org/
-Friends of Sax Zim Bog https://saxzim.org/

P.S.- if you hear of any 2026 makers markets that could be a good fit for us, please let us know!

11/25/2025

Excited to be part of this market again! This was the first market we ever participated in, 3-4 years ago, & it's Silverwood staff who convinced us to keep creating. 💜

We have a few brand new items including animal pins; all wood ornaments will be buy one, get one free; & we're finishing out the year by continuing to donate 100% of our market income to wildlife-focused nonprofits.

Hope to see you there!

11/03/2025

What an amazing look at a juvenile double-crested cormorant on a blustery bird walk at Wood Lake Nature Center today. The cryptic coloration of those juvenile feathers initially blended right into the downed tree it was resting on. But the brightly shining blue eye(s) & yellow/white beak stood out magnificently in the sun, similar to the statuesque pose cormorants make while drying their feathers after diving to catch fish. What a treat to see so closely before it migrates south. Good luck on your journey, friend!

09/15/2025

The first monarch tag was retrieved in Mexico almost 50 years ago, tagged by a fellow ! Monarch tagging is an awesome community science opportunity Leah's participated in for the entirety of her 20+ year naturalist career & it's been so fun to welcome new & returning monarch taggers since Nature Enthusiations began 5 years ago. Have *you* tagged monarchs before?

Though we unfortunately didn't find the opportunity to tag with the public this year, Leah's converted-to-native front yard has seen more monarchs than ever before. Meadow blazing star is a known favorite of monarch butterflies & thanks to that new yard addition, she even netted a monarch tagged by someone further north!

If you find a monarch with a tag, please report it! Get a picture so you have the tag details, then go to mntag.org to submit your information. Tags like these help scientists understand monarch migration and how it may be changing over the years. & with such a low recovery rate, every recovered tag can give useful data.

High-tech radio & bluetooth transmitters are now small enough to attach to monarchs & are giving scientists tons of new information, but these simple sticker tags are a more accessible, low-tech science opportunity almost anyone can participate in. Whether high- or low-tech, it's fascinating how much we can learn about monarch migration, even 5 decades after that first tag was recovered.

Address

Bloomington, MN

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Nature Enthusiations posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Nature Enthusiations:

Want your school to be the top-listed school/college in Bloomington?