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  • LPC Home
  • About Us
    • Mission
    • Organization
    • Board
    • Volunteer
    • Programs
    • Contact Us
  • Donate, Join, Renew
    • Memorial Bench Program
  • News
    • Events Calendar
    • Newsletter (Parknotes)
  • Blog
  • Visit
    • Gardens
    • Activities
      • Concerts
      • Movies
      • Vintage Base Ball
      • Playground
      • Walking Tours
      • Birding
      • Volunteer
    • Weddings and Special Events
    • Park Map
    • Directions
  • History
    • Overview
    • Civil War
    • 1896 Tornado
    • Structures
    • Monuments
    • Birds
    • Vintage Base Ball
    • Programs
  • Restoration
    • Current Projects
      • Fence and Gates
      • Grotto Bridge Rail
      • Revolutionary War Monument
      • Pathways
      • 1876 Bandstand
    • Completed Projects
    • Park Master Plan
1SILENT FLIGHT

SILENT FLIGHT

Dec 23, 2020

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD The natural world outside my Midwestern door is preparing for a long winter nap. Cozy quilts made of homespun leaves keep tree feet from getting too cold. Seeds and insect eggs, the harvest of the previous growing season, have slipped into snug sweaters of soil or been tucked into bark bunk beds, […]

2EIGHT IS ENOUGH

EIGHT IS ENOUGH

Nov 25, 2020

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD The Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) is a small bird who raises large families. Having a lot of children isn’t uncommon in the natural world but titmice parents are unusual in that they often follow the sitcom script for managing a Full House. On the other hand, given that this grayscale avian has been […]

3HOMEBODIES

HOMEBODIES

Nov 12, 2020

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Anywhere you hang your hat is home, or so the saying goes, but the same holds true even if your cap is actually a cluster of rose-colored feathers, or even a cloche of streaky tan and taupe.  Perhaps we rarely see a House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) wearing a hat because, once they […]

4SLURPY

SLURPY

Oct 28, 2020

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD You know how there’s always that last bit of liquid in the glass, just a few drops, that’s resistant to lift-off no matter how many times you re-position the straw or how much suction force you apply?  Well, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus varius) solved this physics problem over 10,000 years ago. Turns out, […]

5DIE BAUMSPERLINGE

DIE BAUMSPERLINGE

Oct 14, 2020

A prominent German-American publisher in St. Louis at that time, sponsored the Transatlantic voyage of a dozen Eurasian Tree Sparrows (Passer montanus, aka German sparrows) and representatives of 5 other species from his fatherland. Hoping to establish colonies in the Missouri Rhineland, shortly after their arrival the itinerant avians were released into the park.

6EXCEPTIONAL

EXCEPTIONAL

Sep 30, 2020

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD “He sure does have a chip on his shoulder!” That statement is a metaphor… … except when it isn’t. Taken literally, this idiom for describing someone looking for a fight may also refer to the ornamental insignia on a military uniform, or the poppy red and sunflower yellow feathers of Red-winged Blackbirds […]

7BASKET CASE

BASKET CASE

Jul 8, 2020

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD We can argue until the chickens come home to roost about which 19th century influencer said it first, industrialist Andrew Carnegie or author and humorist Mark Twain, but there’s little dispute that most birds wholeheartedly agree with the statement, “Put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket!” Most, […]

8SOCIALLY DISTANT

SOCIALLY DISTANT

Jun 11, 2020

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Lately, when I’m feeling especially stressed or anxious, I find it comforting to escape reality by watching a sitcom episode, or three, from “the before-times” (shorthand for “everything prior to the first quarter of 2020, when the world changed for everyone, everywhere”). Little wonder I’ve considered, in odd moments, what the Friends […]

9RED-HEADED STRANGER

RED-HEADED STRANGER

May 28, 2020

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD If the stranger hoped to slip into the Square unnoticed he went about it all wrong. Sure, choosing a plain white top beneath an unadorned black waistcoat might sound like a reasonable way to avoid detection, especially when one is hanging out against a backdrop of grey-scale bark and shadow. I could […]

10MOOT SWANS

MOOT SWANS

Apr 17, 2020

BY KIERAN LINDSEY, PhD Just in case readers assume the title of this post is a typo, let me assure you it is not. I’m fully aware that the photos featured here are of mute swans (Cygnus olor) but, like any wordsmith worth her salt, I can’t resist indulging in a little harmless wordplay. As you’ll […]

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