Bird & Nature Blog

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March Mudness

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March Mudness

I needed to check out a trout stream project on Sunday. The site was only 100 yards or so from the bridge and someone had already tracked through the snow almost all the way there. Almost. And I found out why. If Satan wants to make hell more miserable he can simply add postholing to the list of daily activities. As each foot breaks the crusted top layer of snow through the remaining eight inches of snow and is then extricated with a mix of lung and thigh power, the operator of that foot begins to question the sanity of being outside on what seemed such a nice day.

Photo by Katerine Hala FCC

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Preserving, restoring, protecting, and improving

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The Wisconsin DNR’s Natural Heritage Conservation program is now taking applications for a number of paid internships that are geared toward engaging traditionally marginalized groups.

The outdoors we love is going to take an abundance and diversity of young people who'll make the outdoors their passion and their profession. Those folks need internships. Please see the information below about a very worthwhile DNR summer internship program and alert any young person who might be interested and has any of the qualifications described in the third paragraph.

Photo courtesy of WDNR

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WCC Spring Hearing needs to hear from you

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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

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In praise of elected officials (really!)

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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

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Drumming Up Spring

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The sounds of spring are again inspiration for this week's blog post. My last few birding sessions have featured lots of frenzied behavior from woodpeckers and nuthatches—species that are high into courtship right now. Early spring is a great time to do some slow birding and notice how the activity around you is shifting—you can witness some exciting behaviors and feel even more connected to the shifting of the seasons.

Woodpeckers may not sing like our vocal black-capped chickadees or northern cardinals, but they sure do drum. This week's Entryway to Birding blog takes us into the world of woodpeckers to decipher that drumming.

Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt