Bird & Nature Blog

18 Things That You Can Do to Help the Birds This Year

18 Things That You Can Do to Help the Birds This Year

“Oh, my goodness! It’s the Year of the Bird!!! I have to do something for the birds!” This (gif within the post) was probably your reaction to finding out about the Year of the Bird campaign which celebrates the 100-year anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. I know it was definitely mine.

Luckily, Madison Audubon was thoughtful enough to put together a list of some things that bird lovers can do to help make a difference in 2018, at least in the bird world. How do you bird your world? Let us know with #birdyourworld on social media!

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Winter Update at Faville Grove

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It's been a busy time here at Faville Grove, as always. We finished collecting seed in November, with over 300 species collected! On November 25th we burned 110+ acres on Martin and Tillotson prairies; a very successful burn. With the help with lots of volunteers, we mixed the seed into dry-mesic, wet, wet-mesic, and woodland/savanna mixes. The day before planting we conducted a good burn on the woods north of Hwy 89. And on December 2nd we planted 22.75 acres, a huge undertaking with about 50 volunteers, on a gorgeous and sunny day.

Photo by Drew Harry

Deck the Halls with Bird Counters

The 118th Christmas Bird Count period is officially over, and the Madison CBC data has been submitted! Huzzah and thank goodness! It was an awesome year in many ways: over 100 participants, a record 97 species observed (previous record was 95 in 1997 and 1998), 60,151 individual birds counted, 9 species high-counts, and some cool and unusual birds for this time of year (like an ovenbird and Iceland gull!).

Photo by Carolyn Byers

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From the Educators: Vera Court Creates a Field Guide

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The elementary school kids at Vera Court Neighborhood Center are excited about a brand-new project they’re working on- their very own Field Guide! This semester they’re building their literacy and art skills by creating pages for their field guide. Each week the kids head off to a new park with a MAS educator and focus on exploring different subjects like birds, mammals, plants, and macroinvertibrates. They keep a careful list of everything they encounter, and the following week each student selects one organism to enter into their field guide.

Madison Audubon photo

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Goose Pond is a Prairie Pothole

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Goose Pond is a Prairie Pothole

Goose Pond is a prairie pothole, one of the most threatened types of wetlands in the world and a mecca for wildlife. They’re biodiversity hotspots.

They’re also in danger of destruction in Wisconsin. These shallow ponds with fluctuating water levels fall under the "non-federal" or “isolated" wetlands category. Current proposed legislation seeks to eliminate any permitting or oversight by agencies like the WDNR and would allow developers to destroy and build over these wildlife havens.

Photo by Arlene Koziol