This ‘fairyland’ bog is a beacon for winter birders – and a sponge for the climate

Here & Now Anytime

NPR

News

4.1 • 953 Ratings

🗓️ 7 March 2026

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Even when it's freezing and covered in snow, Minnesota's Sax Zim Bog attracts birders from around the world. They flock there hoping to spot owls, hawks and rare songbirds that spend most of their time in northern Canada. Many of those birds are feeling the pressure of the warming climate, however, so local scientists and wildlife enthusiasts are working to conserve their habitat, which also happens to be a peatland adept at storing carbon. Here & Now's Chris Bentley reports. Then, volunteer naturalist Rich Hoeg recently installed listening devices across northern Minnesota to record elusive species of birds. Some of his recordings are informing scientific studies of owls, and surprising even lifelong birders.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for here and now anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink software for technical computing and model-based design.
0:09.2	MathWorks accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at Mathworks.com.
0:17.0	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:21.6	When there's a lot going on in your life or in the world, it can be good to get outside, if you can.
0:32.6	Even some unassuming places are full of wonder.
0:36.6	Most people think of this as a useless swamp.
0:39.7	4,000 species.
0:41.2	Magical useless swamp.
0:56.3	This is here and now anytime from NPR and WBUR.
0:57.4	I'm Chris Bentley.
1:06.6	We've got a special bonus episode for you today, off the news, as we say in the biz.
1:08.6	But some things are timeless.
1:14.7	For instance, who hasn't had the experience of saying a word out loud that you've only read and been met with a gallery of blank stairs?
1:18.3	And then realizing, we're more likely being told, you've been saying it wrong in your head the whole time.
1:24.4	There's no shame in mispronouncing a word.
1:27.0	Even Stephen King does it.
1:28.6	I used to think those animals that run around out west were coyotes. I used to think that the parts of a story were dentals.
1:37.7	They are actually details.
1:40.2	Coming up at about 10 minutes, Robin Young shares one of her most embarrassing moments on air.
1:47.3	But first, I was up in northern Minnesota in February, crunching through snow, wrapped up like a mummy in my ski clothes, looking for moose.
1:58.4	That was for another story we had on Here and Now anytime.
2:01.5	If you missed it, look back in the feed to February's installment of our Environmental
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.