Spring is sprung and our bird friends are oblivious to our anxiety. Their beauty and vitality can take us out of ourselves for precious rejuvenating hours.
How about a new place (for some of you) to look at some of our most interesting birds and some other amazing creatures?
SPRING CREEKS!
Much of Madison Audubon's territory lies in Wisconsin's Driftless Area and holds a resource that is quite rare globally: spring creeks. A spring creek is spring fed; as important, the source of those springs are sandstone and limestone aquifers that confer wonderful productivity to the water.
Many of our area's spring creeks are trout streams. As such, the DNR has spent decades in purchasing access to these streams and restoring them to health. We'll get to the health problem in a moment. While trout anglers are the typical users of the access, the streams posted with yellow or green public fishing signs are open to the public to walk them and take in the sights. Therein lies the opportunity for us to see some really cool birds and other critters really close.
Belted kingfisher, photo by Nigel FCC
Bird Havens
Trout streams are small but vibrant corridors of life and death. Birds are major players. By the time you read this, the streams will be bursting (literally) with life. Wherever you find stands of native, stream side willow, you'll find migrating warblers — yellow warblers love those willows. Any place you see dense grass on the stream bank, even the invasive reed canary grass, several species of rails will dart about. Seeing a great blue heron in a marsh, flying, or in a roost is fine but watching one stalking its prey along a stream is far more intense. You'll probably have a close look at wood ducks and you'll be pleasantly surprised how much interest a bald eagle takes in a trout stream. The avian prince of our trout streams is the belted kingfisher; they strafe, plunge, and dive, and usually come up with a fish dinner.
Death dealers are impressive too. Minks frequently hunt along these trout streams. They never seem to be bothered by humans. They pause, look, conclude that we're just a bit too big to eat, and resume the search for more manageable prey. Northern water snakes and surprisingly large snapping turtles are pretty common after mid-May. A rare but most wonderful sight is an ottter.
A curious mink, photo by Eric Begin FCC
But birds don't lack formidability. Years ago, I rounded the bend on a stream and flushed a great blue heron. I was surprised that it had let me get that close. At the spot of the flush, the heron had just killed a hen mallard, probably on a nest, with one blow to the chest with that powerful beak. That memory still unsettles me.
My all-time favorite stream-side bird is also an amazingly graceful and efficient predator but doesn't get enough credit for its skill. Reading about the cedar waxwing, one encounters descriptions of its extraordinary beauty and its fondest for berries. Come August, though, tiny blue and olive mayflies begin hatching and flying off many of our spring creeks. If large shrubs or trees line the creek, you'll find small flocks of cedar waxwings waiting. As the mayflies fly, the waxwings launch themselves over and over. The mayflies are tiny and elusive. But the waxwings hover, dart, turn, and dive. In 30 years of watching this spectacle I've never seen a miss.
Cedar waxwing, photo by Kelly Colgan Azar
Life within the Streams
You can see the fish too. If the water is clear on a good trout stream, you'll seem them darting about. These streams don't have diversity of fish but numbers. A really cold trout stream may only have a few species but astounding numbers of trout, sculpins, and white suckers. In spring, find a shallow riffle and you might see swarms of spawning brook lamprey. They look like small versions of their notorious invasive cousin, the sea lamprey. These, though, are a native, harmless species. To move upstream against fast currents, they'll use their mouths for suction to cling to rocks and slowly move forward. Once I saw a swarm partially out of the water as they pursued this arduous maneuver.
Brook trout, photo by Chesapeake Bay Program FCC
Back to the trout. Brook trout inhabit smaller, colder streams. They are our native trout — actually a char, facing a serious threat from climate change. Brown trout occupy most streams, an import from Europe, usually Germany or Scotland. From late April to mid June, at some point in the day some species of mayfly, caddis, or cranefly will hatch and the trout will be sipping or slashing at the surface to feed on them.
You might be tempted to take up fishing after you see this.
Another thing you might see is one of the major problems faced by our spring creeks. Some flow through towering, grossly eroding banks; the resulting sedimentation and the wider, more shallow stream beds impair streams. You're looking at a great example of human-caused changes to our landscape. About 170 years ago, that soil was not there. It resided on the tops and flanks of the lovely Driftless hills. Settlers' cropping practices caused immense erosion with billions of tons of topsoil transported to the stream corridors. Government agencies and conservation organizations have spent decades addressing this mess, and the DNR is continually refining its stream restoration techniques.
Driftless Area landscape, photo by Jimmy Emerson FCC
A great way to find these streams is by accessing the WDNR Public Lands access maps that show all the land in Wisconsin open for public access and uses of different type. Each county’s PDF is organized by county maps and the stream easements are clearly delineated. An advantage to this site is that it maps almost all the public land in the state. I recommend focusing on southwest Dane, Iowa, Richland, Grant and, Vernon Counties for trout streams.
It is very like that you'll encounter anglers as you explore these areas. Proper etiquette is to give them a very wide berth and say hello. Some will be chatty; others not so much. Trout have great vision and are spooked by overhead disturbances (on the lookout for herons and kingfishers), hence the need to give anglers plenty of space.
These streams are safe to walk for most people. From late spring to mid summer, a tiny, annoying, biting, happy to settle in your ears, nose, or eyes can emerge on calm days; the amazingly effective solution is Buggins BUGG, formulated for gnats and black flies. Check your local hardware store — it will spare you misery.
The Importance of Stewardship
If you're still reading, you might wonder what is the connection between this blog and advocacy?
The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.
Like just about every DNR and conservation organization land acquisition and preservation activity, the stream bank easement program depends on Stewardship funding. At some point, policymakers will turn their attention back to conservation. Probably our highest priority will be a more long term renewal of Stewardship. Madison Audubon will be a leader in this effort along with Gathering Waters and dozens of other conservation groups.
Our members can make a difference. All of the State Assembly and a third of the Senate runs for re-election this November. When a candidate contacts you late this summer or fall, please consider asking them to support the long-term renewal of the Stewardship program. And keep an eye on the Madison Audubon website for more information in the coming months.
A trout stream is a great place to see birds close up and active; these days it's a safe and healthy place to be. Take a road trip, enjoy one, and take care of yourself and loved ones.
Written by Topf Wells, Madison Audubon board member and advocacy committee chair
Cover photo by Joshua Mayer
