Bird & Nature Blog

Where's the Water?

Folks have been asking, what happened to the water at Goose Pond this year?

Prairie pothole freshwater marshes like Goose Pond are found throughout the upper Midwest. Most are about one-acre in size but like Goose Pond at 60 acres, can be much larger.

Prairie potholes are shallow depressive wetlands that receive water from rainfall and snowmelt runoff. In dry years they lack water inputs, often drying up completely. That's what happened this year.

Goose Pond web cam photo

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People make the difference

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People make the difference

I went seed collecting at Goose Pond with a focus on two goldenrods: stiff and showy. All were in abundance at a prairie that several of us collectors had sowed the seed four years earlier that transformed it from row crops to prairie.

Photo by Brenna Marsicek / Madison Audubon

5 great resources for new birders

5 great resources for new birders

It is SO much fun to meet a new birder... someone who is just getting into the hobby, eager to read and hear and do anything and everything birds.

Does that describe you? Fabulous, and welcome! Below are 5 great ways for you to dive into the bird world. Let us know if you have any questions about these activities or resources—we're always looking for ways to make birding more approachable and fun!

Photo by Ruth Smith

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Another bird that needs our help

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Apparently birders prize sightings or listenings of the Connecticut Warbler. A rare bird, it is secretive ("skulky" is the Wisconsin DNR's word) and breeds in stands of black spruce or mature jack pine in far northern Wisconsin, the southern end of its breeding range.

Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren