Today the podcast is going off the rails. That’s right, we’re discussing rails - you know, those absurdly sneaky, pancake-thin wetland birds you’re ten times more likely to hear shouting from the cattails than actually see.

These fascinating birds are full of many secrets. Despite their atypical size, shape, and short wings, many migrate great distances. Their reclusive behavior makes them particularly hard to study, but thankfully we have Dr. Auriel Fournier, a leading rail researcher and director of the Forbes Biological Research Station on the podcast today.

Dr. Fournier shares the wonder and breadth of rail life, the unique methods used to track rail movements, the challenges faced in managing wetlands for rails, and she even offers a few tips on how to see them. I even learned where the phrase “skinny as a rail” comes from!

Be sure to check the show notes on naturesarchive.com for some rail-y great photos of some of the birds that were discussed.

So come be a third rail with me today for this episode. It’s a sora-sly good discussion. Sorry - don’t rail against me for these rail-y great rail puns.

Thanks to Amelia Heintz-Botz for guets sourcing and booking!

FULL SHOW NOTES

LINKS
Forbes Biological Research Station
Illinois Natural History Survey
MOTUS tracking
Firebird Project
Nature's Archive Episode #33: Bird Migrations with Dr. Andrew Farnsworth
Nature's Archive Episode #71: Wetlands with Tom Biebighauser

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Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!

Nature is a very broad term, and as we often discuss on this show, everything is connected. Geology impacts soil, which dictates what plants can grow. But if we pull back even further, the ultimate engine driving our planet's systems is the Sun. So when I think of Nature’s Archive—and that big concept of "Nature"—I love bringing these grand, foundational subjects into our scope.

Today is one such instance. Our guest is Dr. Ryan French, a solar astrophysicist and author who specializes in studying solar flares. Solar activity affects life on Earth in surprising ways—from creating spectacular auroras (the northern and southern lights) to disrupting GPS systems and power grids. And most fascinating for naturalists: these solar storms can even disrupt bird navigation and alter the foraging habits of bees.

Dr. French walks us through why solar flares occur, an even more impactful phenomenon called a coronal mass ejection, why these events follow an 11-year cycle, the current state of space weather forecasting, and how you can see and photograph beautiful auroral displays yourself.

Dr. French has an extremely fun and informative social media presence, so be sure to check out ryanjfrench.com for resources and links.

This was a super fun discussion—one I’ve wanted to have pretty much since I started Nature’s Archive.

FULL SHOW NOTES

Links

Compilation from Solar Flares and Eruptions from Dr. French's YouTube Channel

ryanjfrench.com

Check our Ryan's Books, including Space Hazards and The Little Book of Eclipses

NOAA's Space Weather Site, including predictions and real-time observations

Support Us On Patreon!
Buy our Merch!

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!

From the archive...

It’s summertime, and around the globe record heat is dominating, from Europe to the midwest, and across the oceans as well.

As you know, heat is a key driver to wildfires. In fact, it is one of the three key ingredients, along with fuel and oxygen.

Global oxygen levels, at least within our lifetimes, aren’t going to change much. But heat and fuel can and will change. Obviously, heat is increasing, so one variable is driving more fire potential. And in many areas, fuel is also increasing. Whether it be from invasive species like cheat grass in the high deserts, or excessive understory growth due to both invasive species and decades of fire suppression.

Sometimes fuel is indirectly created by heat, which causes die-off of many trees and shrubs. And more complex still is the die-off caused by pine beetles, which are actually native. But they can turn destructive when excessive heat weakens tree defenses, and due to the forest service treating so many forests as dense monoculture crops.

I’d like to share this interview with Lenya Quinn-Davidson, discussing fire management. This interview was recorded 2 years ago, but is more relevant than ever.

Case in point, we’re barely into the traditional fire season and 2026 has already had record breaking wildfires in Nebraska, and Oklahoma and Kansas had a nearly 300,000 acre wildfire in February, along with a 35000 acre fire in Florida.

Wildfire is complex, often misunderstood, and turned into political fodder. So please take a few minutes and enjoy this episode from the archive.

You can find Lenya at LenyaQD on twitter.

FULL SHOW NOTES

Also check out our Episode 109 - Cultural Fire with Margo Robbins, for more great fire information.

Links
California Prescribed Burn Associations
Dixie Fire
Scott Stephens - wildfire reconstructions from UC Berkeley
UCANR Fire Advisors
WTREX - Women-in-Fire Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges

Thanks to Kat Hill for editing help in this episode.

Support Us On Patreon!
Buy our Merch!

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Discover the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature fix we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!