About 20 Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance volunteers celebrated the 4th of July by collecting spiderwort seed at the Erstad Prairie for a couple of hours that morning. Spirits were high, the dew point high, and the spiderwort high.

Spiderwort in full bloom at Goose Pond Sanctuary. *Photo by Graham Steinhauer / SoWBA*

We had a grand and productive time. Two hours of picking and grinning produced 7 large barrels, at least a dozen buckets, and a cooler, emptied of water and soda, full of seed heads. I estimated the catch at 450-500 pounds but I'm a fisherman so maybe I overestimate. Graham and Emma predicted our efforts would produce 10-12 pounds of pure, live seed (or about 1,740,000 seeds). As of July 18th, Graham shared the results: 31.4 pounds, equivalent to just over 4 million seeds! Amazing.

The group of volunteers stands with pails, bins, and a cooler of spiderwort seed. Topf is pictured on left. *Photo by Graham Steinhauer / SoWBA*

Spiderwort is a lovely plant that is a favorite of some of the smaller native bees. We speculated on the name. Some of the more learned of the collectors thought the spider-like arrangement of the leaves might be the basis. We could not fail to notice that the plant is also home to several species of small jumping spiders. They're cute and did not bite. A couple of folks took some really cool photos—perhaps we can track some down.

Jumping spider on spiderwort. *Photo by Makeela Magomolla*

Graham and Emma had found a great spot for the collecting. On this part of the prairie, the plants were incredibly abundant and because they were waist high, no stooping or bending was needed. The short grass prairie made for easy walking. Everything was perfect.

All of us who spend time outdoors treasure our good spots. I love Red-headed Woodpeckers which are not that common. But there's one intersection of two hilly town roads in southwest Dane County where I see one frequently. Some spots are constant like that one—year after year I see a woodpecker there. But some change. Just down one of those hills is my favorite stretch of my favorite trout stream. Year after year, the two best spots for trout are near the most upstream and the most downstream sections of the stream. But this year the most active trout are always in the smack dab middle of that section of stream. That provokes another question: what makes a good spot? The spot where the trout are always feeding has not changed over the years but this year has active fish all the time.

In my backyard, I have a spot in the raspberry patch that stands out. The plants are taller with the berries noticeably more abundant, bigger, and more blemish free than anywhere else. They are clustered around the copse of hazelnuts, which has me wondering if raspberries and hazelnuts have a symbiotic relationship. By the way, the hazelnuts will have a record year of abundance, great news for the squirrels who will snag every single one.

Bad spots exist too, again for mysterious reasons. The mosquitoes are bad in my backyard as they are everywhere in Wisconsin this year but the raspberry patch has a couple of spots whence they arise like a biblical plague.

SoWBA furnishes lots of good spots to enjoy many of southern Wisconsin's most lovely and intriguing plants and animals including many rare ones. By the time you read this, the heat and humidity should have broken. The prairies are blooming and much of the fauna is more active. It's a great time for an excursion.

Seed collecting at Erstad Prairie on the 4th of July. *Photo by Graham Steinhauer / SoWBA*

While you're there, send some kind thoughts to the staff and volunteers who help make our SoWBA lands so lovely and productive. Having volunteers out on the 4th was unusual but appropriate. The USA and Wisconsin support several programs which help SoWBA and other conservation organizations acquire, restore, and maintain places like the Erstad Prairie for everyone to enjoy. And the group of volunteers was diverse—folks of different ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds were there having a good time and doing worthwhile work. I left the site drenched with sweat but hopeful for our country. That's a good trade off any day.

Topf Wells, advocacy committee

Cover photo: Spiderwort in bloom at Goose Pond Prairie by Arlene Koziol