Bird & Nature Blog
A clutch of the latest stories from Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
All extinct, all lamented, and all caused by human action and inaction.
So, why did I keep thinking of the Passenger Pigeon (by the way, Wisconsin was the major nesting area for pigeons in the Midwest)? Because the Devil's Lake purchase might be the last major Stewardship Fund purchase before it becomes extinct.
Painting by John James Audubon, Special Collections Toronto Public Library
Madison Metropolitan School District has publicly committed to collaborating with Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance to build a faux chimney at the new school, based on the guidance and best practices that are known to benefit swifts. We are using construction templates from other successful sites with large chimneys like this, particularly one in Manitoba. It is our intent to keep a watchful eye on this project and weigh in on behalf of bird conservation. This includes making sure that the old chimney will remain on site and functional until the new chimney is available for swift use. We will be working closely with MMSD in the coming months and years to bring this to fruition, and monitor Chimney Swift use.
Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA
As a teenager, I was charged with speaking on the virtue of faith at a Catholic retreat for some schoolmates. I read my draft to the group organizing the gathering, which included a kind, elderly priest. He spoke after I finished saying, "Topf, that was not a good presentation on faith but quite excellent on hope." That about sums up my spirituality and outlook on life then and now, short on faith but long on hope.
Photo by Mandy Martin
The striped (or “common”) skunk doesn't have a great reputation. It’s hard to get past the smell. They’re unpopular for sometimes stealing eggs, honey, and vegetables. If you Google skunks, you’ll finds ads and advice for how to get rid of them. They've entered common parlance; no one wants to be the skunk at the party or the dead skunk on the side of the road.
Photo by Márcio Cabral de Moura FCC
Gathering Waters, SoWBA, numerous statewide and local conservation organizations, and thousands (yes, thousands) of citizens have lobbied legislators for four years to save this program. It's politically popular with the public across partisan lines and is wildly successful. We celebrate STEW’s big successes like SoWBA's purchase of the 300+ acre Hillside Prairie Sanctuary, but it helped fund all sorts of impactful projects around the state, which benefit communities and folks.
Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA
