Bird & Nature Blog
A clutch of the latest stories from Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
Dead things are some of my favorite teaching tools. Whether you call them study skins, specimens, or mounts, kids find them fascinating. Usually when I bring specimens into a classroom I'm met with questions. First: "is that REAL?" Then, "what IS that?!" Followed quickly by "did it used to be alive?" and "how did it die?" As I've mentioned before, I love questions like this. It’s one way I know that kids are actively engaged and learning.
Madison Audubon photo
Kestrel nestboxes are busy places this time of year. Because kestrels’ nesting habitat (tree snags) has all but vanished in their range, and because they take readily to man-made and managed nestboxes, our dedicated group of Kestrel Nest Box Program volunteers are also busy this time of year checking out what’s happening in the nests!
To aid in their efforts, Madison Audubon volunteer Pat Ready created a “Guide to Kestrel Box Species” which helps monitors determine who is using the nest (because it’s not always kestrels!), and what to do about it.
Photo by Jim Stewart
Goose Pond is a prairie pothole, a pond that is fed only by precipitation and run-off. Because of this, Goose Pond water levels change significantly only two or three days a year after a major run-off event. But right now, we’re seeing something we’ve never seen before! Goose Pond is normally four feet deep, but today, it’s at least seven.
Deep snow cover and ice, frozen ground, rain, and high temperatures resulted in record flooding and runoff levels. There is so much water in our above-ground system that you could now kayak from Ankenbrandt Prairie (east of Goose Pond) into Lake Mendota and only have to get out to maneuver around culverts.
Photo by Mark Martin and Sue Foote-Martin
It was back in October when my friend Dorothy called me about seeing birds in her backyard. Or rather, not seeing them. She had trouble seeing the birds due to aging eyes and Macular Degeneration, a frustrating and usually debilitating visual impairment that millions of elderly experience. Dorothy is in her mid-90’s and, incredibly, still living independently (with assistance from her aides and the Wisconsin Council for the Blind and Visually Impaired). As it happens, Dorothy is also Madison Audubon’s longest-standing member and an avid bird-watcher… that is, until her eye-sight started to fail.
Photo by Monica Hall
Are you ready for a little good news on climate change for a change? Just a smidgen, but good news nonetheless. With help from Midwest Solar Power LLC, Madison Audubon is getting into the business of producing carbon-free, solar electricity. We’re installing a 7.6-kilowatt photovoltaic array at our land steward’s residence on Prairie Lane at Faville Grove Sanctuary. In full sun, the array will produce 7,600 watts of electricity that will run backwards through the electric meter into the local utility’s wires, producing about 10,000 kilowatt-hours of clean energy per year.
Photo by Roger Packard
