Laura Erickson, who would like us to think of her as the Dr. Ruth of ornithology, is a Duluth bird lover with a sense of mission. She does radio shows, gives public talks, writes books -- and, like anyone else in the communications game, she blogs. Not only does she blog; she works at it. In addition to her own blogs, since November she's had something going called "Twin Beaks," which she bills (sorry) as "the first blog by birds for birds." Here's a sample, from Saturday:

"Damn it's cold! Damn it's cold! Damn it's cold! But spring is on the way, Spring is on the way, Spring is on the way. Tomorrow's March first, tomorrow's March first, Tomorrow's March first."

If that sounds like she's channeling E.B. White in "Charlotte's Web," check out the Shakespearean notes in this passage from another of Erickson's blogs:

"The reason I hate death so much is that I love life so much. And herein lies the contradiction. I love the gentle goldfinch who lives almost entirely on seeds. From the perspective of the animal kingdom, this vegan lifestyle seems blameless. But from the perspective of the plant kingdom, the goldfinch is a ruthless abortionist untimely ripping tiny embryos from their flowery womb, denying them their birthright, ensuring that they will never feel the sun's life-sustaining rays."

In addition to her sense of mission, she's got a sense of humor -- her bio says her interests are birds, her favorite movie is "The Birds," her favorite music is by The Byrds, and her favorite book is "Birds" -- but will that be enough to help her achieve her ambition, which is to be a guest on "The Colbert Report"?

You can visit her home page here. Moving on ...