Bird & Nature Blog
A clutch of the latest stories from Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
Hello, my name is Dexter Patterson. My birding story started about a month after the pandemic shut everything down across the country, including here in Dane County. I have always been fascinated by birds, but I never gave my curiosity the attention it warranted for anything substantial to come of it. Suddenly, I found myself outdoors a lot and taking pictures of birds I seldom ever noticed before in my neighborhood with my iPhone.
Photo by Dexter Patterson
This year for #BlackBirdersWeek2021, we are supporting and celebrating budding birders in Madison. We partner with Bayview Foundation and Vera Court Neighborhood Center for our after-school and summer programming. These are outstanding community centers that support a diverse population of kids.
Our goal is to collect 20 - 30 pairs of new or gently used binoculars to donate to these community centers. If you have binoculars that need a new home, send them our way!
Madison Audubon photo
Bring on the heat, the bugs, the plants, the birds, and the learning. Madison Audubon’s summer ecological restoration internships are now in full session, with twelve undergraduate students learning the techniques, art, and science of ecological restoration at our Faville Grove and Goose Pond Sanctuaries.
Photo by Brenna Marsicek during 2007 summer internship at Faville Grove Sanctuary
Governor Evers has proposed a 10-year renewal of $70 million a year for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, one of the biggest sources of funding for major land and water conservation projects statewide. In turn, this work protects our wonderful birds and wildlife! Within about five miles of any given Important Bird Area (IBA) in WI, there are 3,500+ Knowles-Nelson projects protecting over 370,000 acres.
Madison Audubon photo
As you read the Gathering Waters report and note the positive report on a few Republicans voicing fairly vague support of Stewardship, PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME that Stewardship is secure. We have not lost but we sure ain't won.
So, Mr. Broken Record here, begs you to contact your and any Republican legislator you know really, really soon.
Photo by Jack Dougherty
