Photographs of Minnesota Wildlife by N. G. Carlson

This past spring and summer, I took photographs of wildlife at Silverwood Park and Long Lake Regional Park north of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Other locations were outside the Bell Museum of Natural History, near my residence and at a woods north of the Twin Cities metro area. 

Spending time in nature during weekday mornings and on weekends made the spring, summer, and fall a wonderful experience. In the book you will meet Scruffy and Blue two Great Blue Herons who glided from one fishing spot to another stopping long enough for me to watch them groom themselves and patiently fish. 

A doe and the fawn on the cover of the book surprised me more than once on my morning walks. The wood duck and hooded merganser families spent time with each other raising their ducklings together. Turtles played tag under water and covered up the available logs on cool sunny days. 

I enjoyed listening to the sounds of songbirds and the hammering of the woodpeckers. I watched bluebirds diving on the grass to pick up insects and the osprey fishing for sunfish. Butterflies, bees, and dragonflies enjoyed the flowers and time on the lake.   

Photographing the wildlife was a walking meditation and an opportunity to capture the beauty in nature. It was a chance to observe and enjoy the dance of life. The book, Photographs of Minnesota Wildlife is available from Amazon in a paperback and kindle version. 

I appreciate the support from the Silverwood Camera Club and my editors Betsy Salvatore and Tammy K. Smith. 

Cardinal Song - 1 min. 15 sec.

Catbird song - 36 sec.

Evolutionary Psychology part 1: The Science of Human Nature by Allen D. MacNeill

In this first section of a two part series Allen D. MacNeill covers the individual aspects of evolutionary psychology, The Modern Scholar: Evolutionary Psychology I: The Science of Human Nature. In the next set of lectures Evolutionary Psychology Part Two focuses on group interactions.

Professor MacNeill's theatrical background makes listening to his lectures entertaining. He often pauses struggling for appropriate euphemisms to describe topics that are not appropriate for dinner time conversation.

He pokes holes in the standard social science model that we are all blank slates that can be molded by the environment into the person you become. He favors the proposition that we are shaped by our genetic background and the environment that we occupy.

He compares the behavior of other animals and finds similarities. Some findings are disturbing. Infanticide or abuse is much higher with stepfathers with no genetic relation to the child. This is true with humans and in many other primate species. With apes if a new male displaces the top male the  non related infants are killed so that the DNA of the new male can be passed along.

Professor MacNeill differentiates between lust, limerence (romantic love) and attachment. These different forms of love are also regulated by different hormones. Please see Science behind lust attraction companionship - Harvard U blog. Attachment (oxytocin and vasopressin) is achieved if you are calmed in the presence of the person you love. Limerence (dopamine and others) is the yearning to couple and is characterized by anxiousness and big mood swings. These feelings are reduced in direct proportion to the frequency of intimacy.

Evolutionary Psychology - 14 minutes