This season at the sanctuaries: summer 2025
Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance’s lands are permanently protected and conserved habitat for birds, plants, and other wildlife. They are stewarded, restored, and managed by our sanctuary teams. Learn more here.
Nesting Season in full swing at Goose Pond
A Mallard Duck’s nest (photo by Carolyn Byers).
The current water level and emergent plant cover in Goose Pond provides excellent nesting habitat for Ruddy Ducks, American Coots, Common Gallinules, Least Bitterns, and more. Stop by Prairie Lane to spot them weaving in and out of bulrushes or listen to them calling just out of sight. Other species enjoying the wetlands are the boisterous frogs and toads, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and a rare visitor, a Marbled Godwit (to learn more about birdlife at Goose Pond, read our recent Friday Feathered Features).
Goose Pond’s prairies have also been filled with babies—Ring-necked Pheasant broods running through trails, Red-winged Blackbirds fiercely defending their nests and fledglings, wandering Sandhill Crane chicks, and, of course, the alarming, sudden flash of a fawn or nesting duck flushed from their nest. As the season continues, look closely for near-adult-looking but clumsily-flying fledglings learning the ropes, including American Kestrels from our six active kestrel boxes, Tree Swallows from our songbird boxes, and many more!
Plan your visit
Willow Flycatcher (photo by Arlene Koziol).
Whether you’re in the mood for a hike on our mowed trails or would like to sit and observe the blooming plants, buzzing insects, or singing grassland birds, early summer is a great time to visit Goose Pond Sanctuary. Over the next few weeks, the yellows of golden alexanders will give way to the vibrant purples of spiderwort, soft hues of pale purple coneflower, and bright bursts of white baptisia’s flowering stalks. Eastern Meadowlarks, Song Sparrows, and Red-winged Blackbirds have been steadily singing since late spring, but Dickcissels, Clay-colored Sparrows, and Willow Flycatchers have now joined the chorus.
Get involved
Fall may not yet be in the air, but our seed collection season has begun! Our summer interns have been busy collecting wood betony, one of our earliest bloomers. We’ll be looking for volunteers to help us collect wild lupine, spiderwort, and a few other species this summer.
Goose Pond’s habitats provide food, shelter, and a place to raise young for more than just birds—join us on June 30 for the annual Mud Lake Butterfly Count to survey one of our other favorite winged-creatures. If you're interested in volunteering, please contact land steward Graham Steinhauer at gsteinhauer@swibirds.org.
Learn more:
Goose Pond StoryMap: take a virtual tour
If you have questions, or would like to receive more detailed updates from the team, email goosep@swibirds.org
new programs begin at Faville Grove
A newly arrived monarch butterfly at Faville Grove (photo by Jeff Steele/SoWBA).
The richness of summer is upon us at Faville Grove Sanctuary, and every step through the prairies, woodlands, and wetlands reveals something new. And this year, we’ll be documenting more of these findings and moments through new programs at the sanctuary. Faville Grove recently joined Snapshot Wisconsin, a trail camera-based project from the Wisconsin DNR. This new citizen science partnership will help us document the wildlife that call the sanctuary home—day and night, in all seasons.
We’re also excited to welcome a DNR mammal ecologist to the sanctuary next month to conduct acoustic bat monitoring as part of the Wisconsin Bat Program. Studying bats is no small feat—they’re fast-flying, nocturnal, and roost in hard-to-find places—making them one of the most understudied mammals in North America. Acoustic bat surveys use special ultrasonic detectors to pick up echolocation calls that are inaudible to human ears. By analyzing these recordings, biologists can identify bat species and track their movements.
Intern Leah Jakusz holds a parsnip predator removal tool and a just-removed yellow sweet clover plant (photo by Jeff Steele/SoWBA).
Plan your visit
Birdsong greets early risers across the sanctuary, especially along Prairie Lane, where Bobolinks and Dickcissels sing from Martin and Tillotson Prairies. In the quieter, unburned stems you’ll hear the tee-wick song of Henslow’s Sparrows, particularly west of Faville Woods. Look and listen for Clay-colored Sparrows, Kingbirds, and Orchard Orioles in Buddy’s Prairie, and don’t miss the evening chorus of Eastern Whip-poor-wills echoing from Lake Mills Ledge. Read about more sanctuary birds in our Friday Feathered Features.
Our wetlands are full of life: bullfrogs have begun their low, resonant calls, and if you watch closely near marsh edges, you may spot Sandhill Cranes, Wood Ducks, or a clumsy fawn picking its way through the vegetation. Monarchs have returned, gliding over milkweed stands as they search for nectar and host plants. Stay until dusk to watch the fireflies emerge and light up the prairie.
Get involved
We recently welcomed our dedicated team of summer interns, who are hard at work removing invasive species like wild parsnip, reed canary grass, and garlic mustard. In between pulling, spraying, and digging, they’re sharpening their plant ID skills, spotting bird nests, and learning about the complex interplay of Faville Grove’s ecology. If you’re interested in participating in restoration work as a volunteer, please email land steward Jeff Steele at faville@swibirds.org to learn more.
Learn more:
Faville Grove StoryMap: take a virtual tour
Questions? Contact faville@swibirds.org
Abundant bird activity at FaIR MEADOWS
A male American Goldfinch perched on a tall plant (photo by Gary Shackelford).
Bird songs may have quieted down a bit recently, but avian activity shows no signs of slowing down in summer (read more about recent birds at the sanctuary in our latest Friday Feathered Features). Over the past few weeks, many species have been busy with nest building, egg incubation, and, of course, tending to their young. We have also been observing a pair of Sandhill Cranes with a colt feeding in the short growth of Nighthawk Meadow. They seem to prefer spending their time in the areas that we burned this spring, which are easier for the young colts to navigate. Eaglets, briefly fuzzy and white, have now grown their mottled brown adult feathers. Watch for juveniles of many species as they leave the nest and take their first flights.
This season is also busy on the management and stewardship front. It’s a prime time to fight back and remove invasive species while also taking stock of how well native species are getting along. We’ll spend time over the next few months surveying our efforts on oak regeneration, documenting rare plant sightings, and counting roosting bats. Soon, we'll be collecting seeds from early-blooming flowers and welcoming migrating shorebirds, who arrive as early as late July!
Colorful flowers at Fair Meadows during a prior August (photo by Gary Shackelford).
Plan your visit
As a reminder, Fair Meadows Sanctuary is open to the public for many field trips and open birding days, but not for spontaneous visits. Find all upcoming events at the sanctuary here.
Summer is one of the best times to experience the glorious abundance of colorful flowers blooming in the sanctuary’s vibrant prairie habitats. Hit the trails independently at one of our birding days on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month (register to join by noon the day prior).
Get involved
We are always looking for volunteers to assist us with projects ranging from brush management to pulling invasive plants, prescribed burning, seed collecting, and much more. Contact Penny and Gary at fairmeadows@swibirds.org to be added to an email list or to sign up for regularly scheduled workdays (or half-days) at your convenience.
Learn more:
Fair Meadows StoryMap: take a virtual tour
Questions? Contact the team at fairmeadows@swibirds.org
Restoration work underway at Hillside Prairie
Whorled milkweed blooms at Hillside Prairie Sanctuary in summer 2024 (photo by Emma Raasch/SoWBA).
You may have seen our recent announcement celebrating the name for our newest conserved property: Hillside Prairie Sanctuary. These 348 acres of permanently protected land promises to provide critical habitat for grassland birds in Dane County, a part of the state undergoing rapid development.
As we remove long-standing fencerows to open up the landscape, we hope to encourage even more native species to nest and thrive here.
Interns remove invasive species at Hillside Prairie in July 2024 (photo by Graham Steinhauer/SoWBA).
Plan your visit
Our team is hard at work restoring habitats and building the infrastructure needed to make the property open and accessible to visitors, including planning trails, signage, and parking. Please mark your calendar to join us at the Hillside Prairie Open House on September 19 & 20—staff will be on hand both days to welcome you, share the vision for the property, and suggest areas you can explore independently.
Keep your eye out for other pop-up opportunities to explore this summer and fall! A list of all upcoming events can be found here.
Get involved
This is a busy season at our newest sanctuary, with lots of work to be done—removing invasive species, collecting seeds, and performing surveys of plants, birds, and other wildlife. The Goose Pond Sanctuary team is leading many of these efforts, so contact Graham Steinhauer (gsteinhauer@swibirds.org) or Mark Martin (goosep@swibirds.org) if you are interested in volunteering for any of these projects at Hillside Prairie.
Learn more:
General questions? Contact us at info@swibirds.org
Cover image: Bright blue-purple spiderwort blooms in Sue Ames Prairie at Goose Pond Sanctuary during a previous summer (photo by Tony Abate/SoWBA).
