6+ hour, 21+ min ago  (636+ words) The first calf of 2026 at Minneopa State Park scopes out a visitor while taking a rest on Monday. The calf, believed to have been born on Saturday, and its mother appear to be doing well, according to park naturalist Augusta…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago  (331+ words) Two museum-goers look at a painting during the opening of the Temporarily Not Soil exhibit at the Carnegie Art Center. The exhibit revolves around themes of the world underneath our feet and continues through Saturday. MANKATO " Beth Fisher and Cheryl…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago  (1076+ words) Roy Heilman, special to The Free Press The 2026 Minnesota Duck Summit was held this weekend at Nicollet Public School. Presenters were drawn from the who's who of the waterfowl conservation community. Duck summit attendees used smart phone technology to give…...

4+ week, 10+ hour ago  (425+ words) Project Feeder Watch, a citizen science project where participants collect data on birds at their feeders, was founded in Ontario by Erica Dunn and the Long Point Bird Observatory in 1976. The project partnered with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology after…...

1+ mon, 1+ day ago  (235+ words) Snow geese take to the sky at sunrise after a stopover at the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, Monday, March 9, 2026, in Kleinfeltersville, Pa. Early-rising birders await sunrise at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, Monday, March 9, 2026, in Kleinfeltersville, Pa. A flock…...

1+ mon, 2+ day ago  (173+ words) Minneopa State Park's bison road is temporarily closed until the road dries out. Park visitors may see the park's bison herd from a trail near pastureland where the animals are penned. MANKATO " Unseasonably warm weather earlier this month has affected…...

1+ mon, 6+ day ago  (936+ words) MANKATO " An ambitious project to transform farmland on Mankato's southeast side into approximately 100 acres of wetland and prairie is being put on indefinite hold by city leaders. The origins of the Southeast Water Quality Initiative date back to former City…...

6+ mon, 4+ day ago  (635+ words) Courtesy Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium Astra the 4-year-old polar bear is a new member of Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. Como Park Zoo & Conservatory has a new resident. Astra, a four-year-old, 700-pound female polar bear, arrived Thursday night from…...

3+ mon, 1+ week ago  (1047+ words) The U. S. Navy destroyer, USS Howard, sails off the coast of Hawaii during sonar exercises, on Wednesday, May 28, 2008. Over the next seven years, the U. S. Navy estimates its ships will injure or kill just two whales in collisions as it tests and…...

3+ mon, 1+ week ago  (826+ words) Chad Heins is a Bethany Lutheran College biology professor and resident bird expert. He's shown here on a hawk-banding trip to northern Minnesota. MANKATO " Chad Heins is Mankato's "bird man," his fellow bird watchers say. As such, the Bethany Lutheran…...