Bird & Nature Blog
A clutch of the latest stories from Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
The WDNR just issued a notice concerning the annual spring hearing of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress. The hearing will be a three day virtual event beginning on April 12. The virtual format makes expressing your opinion on a variety of conservation issues facing the state convenient.
Photo by Elvis Kennedy
Some most excellent land conservation news broke recently. The Driftless Area Land Conservancy (DALC) announced the creation of a huge new nature preserve in southwest Dane County!
Two aspects of the Spring Valley Preserve stand out: its size and diversity. At 308 acres, it's huge. Those acres include oak savannas, sand prairies, oak woodlands, oak openings, wetlands, springs, and a small stream. The land features some great native plants, including a personal favorite, the prickly pear cactus. I don't know if DALC and its allies have had the chance to identify all the animals that call this land home at one time or another but, in my blissful, hopeful ignorance, I'm rooting for the ornate box turtle to show up one day.
Photo courtesy of DALC
Last week's issue of the Wisconsin Outdoor News (WON) has a story some Madison Audubon volunteers have been following with great concern. An adult Bald Eagle in distress was found near Barneveld and is now receiving care at the Dane County Humane Society. As I write this, his prognosis is guarded.
He has been diagnosed with lead poisoning. He has shotgun pellets from an old injury and has also probably eaten lead fragments as he scavenged the remains of deer shot by hunters.
Madison Audubon’s Bald Eagle Nest Watch volunteers have been monitoring an active bald eagle's nest in that area for a couple of years. It's possible this eagle was one of a nesting pair at some point. The nest is still active with a pair of eagles.
This eagle has every right to wonder: is this any way to treat your national symbol and a magnificent bird? No, and it needs to stop.
Photo by Monica Hall
In the last days of the Trump administration, the Department of Interior ended some protection of migratory birds. The rollback consisted of removing penalties for actions that killed or injured birds but were perpetrated without the intention of killing birds. One past example of such an act was popularly cited: the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster which released millions of gallons of oil and destroyed hundreds of thousands of birds (and many other creatures). One that resonated with me would be a person or company who deliberately used a banned pesticide. Even if that poison killed many birds, the perpetrator would not be liable under the Trump Administration's revised regulations because the intent was to kill some sort of pest, not birds. This loss of protection changed the interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that has protected migratory birds for decades.
Photo by Monica Hall
Please, please, please use this link to read how the MVC and an incredibly generous anonymous donor saved 108 acres of Crawford County habitat important to migrating Cerulean Warblers and other songbirds. And this land will be open for us to watch those lovely birds and the other cool flora and fauna the land supports.
Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
