On June 9, the Madison Audubon office staff donned face masks and binoculars and headed out to tromp around Madison Audubon’s Otsego Marsh and tour our newest land acquisition, the Reierson parcel.
Before we talk about the new land purchase, I just have to share a little about the pre-existing natural area, in particular, Hawkos Pond. This 32-acre marsh is the the centerpiece of the Otsego Marsh preserve and is not only gorgeous, it’s vibrantly alive with native wildlife, along with the woodlands surrounding it.
Home to a diversity of wetland-dependent species, including wood ducks and state-threatened Blanding’s turtles, it seems as though Hawkos Pond could lap up and over old County Road F with just one heavy rain. I am an unabashed wetland lover and have spent a significant amount of time in wetlands, and Otsego Marsh had such immediate appeal that I found myself wishing I’d brought my kayak along. In just steps, I could leave the road, drop my boat in Hawkos Pond, and explore the hidden corners and teeming life of this absolutely beautiful marsh.*
One of the beautiful nooks and crannies of Hawkos Pond. Madison Audubon photo
…but just on the other side of the road lay the Reierson tract — the land we came to see.
The Great Potential
Even with a road separating the Otsego Marsh preserve and this newest addition, the connection between the two properties is palpable. Despite being primarily in agriculture, the newly purchased Reierson tract is obviously a hydrological and ecological extension of the Otsego Marsh. It is easy to close your eyes and imagine the cacophony of sounds and palette of color that the future restored wetlands, prairies and oak savannas of the Reierson tract will add to the preserve.
It’s a giddy feeling stepping onto a piece of land that has just been permanently protected, especially when you know that restoration will bring it back to its former glory. We were drawn to and spent most of our time in the southeast corner of the parcel, where the persistence of a diversity of sedges and rushes offered us a peek at the land already reverting to wetland. I delighted to see the spikerush Eleocharis, a favorite food of young swans, present in good-sized patches, and we found several crayfish burrows in the formerly farmed, wet soils (below, left). A pearly wood nymph politely posed for a photo in the new tract as well (below right)! Before leaving, we teetered through rows of soybeans to peek into the woods and future oak savanna on the northwest end of the property.
This soybean field will soon be a diverse, vibrant natural area teeming with wildlife — thanks to donors like you. Madison Audubon photo
Seizing the Opportunity
The 36-acre Reierson purchase is obviously critical to the ecological and hydrologic integrity of the Otsego Marsh natural area. It is such an important piece of the landscape puzzle that Madison Audubon used valuable reserve funds to purchase the parcel to ensure that it would be restored and protected in perpetuity — providing much needed nesting cover for the waterfowl of Hawkos Pond, suitable habitat for rare grassland birds and butterflies, and buffer and extension to the larger Otsego Marsh system.
Now it’s time for us to refill our coffers!
Longtime Madison Audubon supporter Jerry Martin has donated a $50,000 lead gift and hopes to inspire other supporters to follow his example to help us replenish our funds. This will secure a stronger financial position for us for when other critical parcels of land come for sale at this and other Madison Audubon sanctuaries. We plan to celebrate our Reierson donations by joining in the popular quarantine pastime of working jigsaw puzzles. Each donation equates to one piece of our Reierson jigsaw puzzle. We will add pieces to the puzzle as donations come in and, when the last puzzle piece is added, we will share the completed picture.
We hope you will donate today to help us complete our Reierson puzzle. Find your puzzle pieces and track our progress at madisonaudubon.org/puzzle.
And after you have added your piece or pieces to the puzzle, be sure to head out to Otsego Marsh. Bring your binoculars and boots. Step on to our new Reierson parcel. And enjoy that giddy feeling of knowing that you helped protect an important piece of the landscape puzzle.
FOREVER.
Written by Becky Abel, Madison Audubon director of philanthropy
*Paddling is permitted at Otsego Marsh from May 1-September 15. Easy views of the marsh from the road’s edge make for excellent birdwatching opportunities. Madison Audubon’s preserves are free and open to the public.
