Cedar Grove turns 70

I have been lucky to have been involved with Cedar Grove Hawk Research Station State Natural Area since 1985 when I worked with the DNR State Natural Areas program. It seems like only a few years ago that Cedar Grove turned 60 years old when Paul Smith, Outdoor Writer for the Journal Sentinel wrote an article on their first 60 years. 

Since retiring in 2011, I have helped lead annual Natural Resource Foundation tours to Cedar Grove. On October 10, I was outside of the banding building with six people on a Natural Resources Foundation tour and was surprised to see Paul Smith walk up to us. The first thing he said was, “I just heard a merlin.” A tour visitor replied, “We just released a merlin.” Paul is visiting the research station on three days this year and is planning to write an article on Cedar Grove turning 70.

Photo provided by Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station

Dan Berger and Helmut Mueller started the banding station in 1950 and caught two red-tails that year. Dan passed away in 2018 and Helmut and Nancy now visit for only a day.

The oldest bander at the station now is John Bowers, 82 from Cedar Grove, who has been volunteering for the past 31 years. When he greets an old visitor he always says, “I have not seen you since the last time I saw you.”  John arrives every day from August 15 to November 15 at noon and heads home after supper. Besides trapping and banding, he enters all the banding data on the “confuser” (computer). In the past 30 years John has volunteered on about 2,670 days and has only missed 30 days.

Tom Meyer and Rick Hill now supervise the banding with two interns this year, Savanna Steward from California and Danny Erickson from Waukesha County, along with many dedicated volunteers.  

This year Tom Meyer reported that Cedar Grove has three records or highlights for 2019: In addition to turning 70, they banded their 44,000th raptor, and now have HOT WATER!

Last year 685 raptors were banded. When I spoke with Rick Hill on November 7, they were banding a northern goshawk, the 700th bird of the year and the third goshawk of the morning. Banding highlights this year included banding a Swainson’s hawk and a broad-winged hawk. Normally broad-wings feed on small mammals, amphibians, and insects. Few saw-whet owls were caught this year due to the many nights of rain when they closed the mist needs. Running totals for this fall include Sept. 27, - 300 birds banded, Oct. 8 - 400, Oct. 16 - 487, and Oct. 26 - 600.

Check out the Cedar Grove Facebook page that includes information on birds banded at Cedar Grove and recovered another year at Cedar Grove or at other locations. Steve and Laura Holzman with Fish and Wildlife Service from the state of Oregon spend a week of their vacation every year at Cedar Grove banding raptors. They complied the species recovery maps.

Map provided by Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station

Graham Steinhauer, Brand Smith and I were visiting the Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory a few miles south of the banding station and stopped in to say hi. Graham was handed a red-tail to release and John Bowers then informed us they were closing the road to remove ash trees and if we did not leave in five minutes, the private access road would be blocked for five hours.

Red-tailed hawk, photo by Tim Eisele

Tim Eisele won the “door prize” at the Goose Pond Volunteer Picnic, which was a visit for two to Cedar Grove. On October 16th Tim and Linda Eisele, Jim Otto, and I headed to Cedar Grove. The winds were out of the northwest, the ideal direction; however, the wind gusted over 20 miles per hour and the strong winds impacted the number of birds coming in. About 340 hawks passed over the banding station that day and only 16 were captured; 10 red-tails, 5 sharp-shins, and 1 Cooper's hawk. Usually they catch 10 percent of the birds they see. A merlin came in and perched 25 yards from the banding site. I thought this would be an easy one to catch, but the merlin had just caught a song bird and was not interested in being banded. On October 23, they counted 400 raptors flying past and 43 left with with “jewelry” leg bands.

On October 25, Brand Smith, our American Kestrel volunteer coordinator, took our bird volunteers Dory Owen, Mary Manering, and Sharon Weisenberger to spend some time at Cedar Grove. They had a great time and released three red-tails and five sharp-shin hawks. It is amazing to see the birds coming in at a high rate of speed, the banding operation, the small field station, and visiting with the banders.

Mary Manering watching Brand Smith releasing a red-tailed hawk. Photo by Dory Owen

Mary Manering ready to release a sharp-shinned hawk. Photo by Dory Owen

Savanna, a Cedar Grove intern, ready to release a red-tailed hawk. Photo by Dory Owen

Sharon Weisenberger holding a sharp-shinned hawk. Photo by Dory Owen

Check out Jacqueline Komada’s Friday Feathered Feature post from last year on Cedar Grove.

My best day at Cedar Grove was on a Natural Resources Foundation field trip last year. It was a busy day for everyone. My “job” was to record the banding data in the record book. When we left at 5:00 p.m., 312 hawks were spotted and 56 were banded. Birds seen (and banded) included northern harriers 4 (0); bald eagle 1 (0); sharp-shinned hawk 160 (42); Cooper’s hawk 9 (2); red-tailed hawk 7 (1); merlins 128 (11)  and peregrine falcon 1 (0).  

Cedar Grove Research Station is not a membership organization but receives donations to pay the interns and operate the station. Mist nets are expense and only last a few years. They have over $3,000 of mist nets up every day.

If you would like to visit Cedar Grove, check out the Natural Resource Foundation field trips.  We anticipate heading over to Cedar Grove one or two days with Madison Audubon volunteers/members in the future. If you have questions about Cedar Grove, call Mark at 608-333-9645 or email him at goosep@madisonaudubon.org.

Written by Mark Martin, Goose Pond Sanctuary Co-Manager

Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station

It doesn’t look like much when you first walk up to it -- just a small green shack adjacent to a footpath through the woods. It’s only open for four months (August-November) during the year and public access is limited. If you want a tour of this place, you need special permission. I was lucky enough to be a part of a Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin field trip group, led by Mark Martin, to experience what goes on at the Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station. Though it doesn’t look like there’s a lot going on from the outside, trust me, there is.

Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station lies just off the shore of Lake Michigan outside of Cedar Grove. It’s an operation that began in the 1930s when the Milwaukee Public Museum began banding hawks there. Operations ceased in the 1940s due to the war. In 1950, Dan Berger and Helmut Mueller started banding all species of raptors that flew by on their migratory routes, and that is still the primary purpose of the station today. It is the most well-known banding station with the longest continuous history of banding, and is strictly run by volunteers who have a deep, sustaining passion for birds-of-prey research. Since it started, the research station has captured, banded, and released more than 43,000 hawks and owls.

The moment you walk into the shack, you’re a little overwhelmed with everything around you. Off to the right is a small office fit for a small gathering of people, a desktop cycling through pictures of volunteers holding raptors, and many raptor books. Ahead of you is a small stove and a few end tables and shelves with personal volunteer items and tools. There is also a larger table where the banding takes place. If you step just past the banding table, you see multiple shelves filled with many cans that have raptor tails sticking out of them - a bizarre site to see. Plastered all over the walls are amusing quotes, cartoons, jokes, and newspaper headlines that keep the mood light. You could spend an hour just wandering around reading them all, and a few are sure to put a smile on your face. Tom Meyer, master bander and co-manager of operations, sat all of us down for a bit and told us about the work he does, the history of the center, and what to expect for the day. Within the first few minutes of chatting with Tom, his enthusiasm for the work became obvious.

Mark Smith and Rick Hill (co-manager of operations) with a sharp-shinned hawk. Photo by Nydia Kien

At the end of the room is a door leading to the observation room. This is where the group met the two interns for this year, Andrew and Frances, and Lisa and Steve, a couple from Oregon that take an annual vacation to volunteer at the field station. They were sitting on stools staring intently at the sky through a long, narrow viewing window. Soon, someone yelled “bird over the hump!” and Andrew immediately began pulling a rope which, if you glanced through the viewing window, could see was causing a starling to continually bounce up and down. As desired, that moving bait caught the sharp-shinned hawk’s eye and it flew in at top speed ready to grab its next meal with outstretched talons. Unknown to the hawk, however, was a hard-to-see mist net strung up carefully just before the bait. As that sharp-shinned came in for a landing, it got caught in the mist net and Frances quickly ran out to untangle it and bring it in for banding. Once they had dozen or so birds ready to be banded, the process began.

John Bowers, a 29-year volunteer with a knack for telling jokes, and Mark did the recording while Andrew took the measurements. Andrew noted the species, sex, and age as well as, molting characteristics, tail feather length, count of primary and secondary feathers, wing length, presence of fat, and presence of food in the crop. A small, silver band with a specific set of numbers was carefully placed on the birds leg and just like that, the bird was ready to be released. Banding gives us essential insights into bird migratory movements and ranges, survival rates, longevity, and changes in migration patterns and numbers.  Their banding operation documented the great decline in numbers due to DDT and then the recovery after DDT was banned.

Doug Steege observing Andrew, intern, counting primary and secondary feathers on a cooper’s hawk. Photo by Catherine Drexler

The Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation group couldn’t have come on a better day. It was a clear, sunny day with northwest winds pushing the birds towards Lake Michigan and down along the shoreline right to where Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station is posted. The day was filled with good spirits and joking around while we completed meaningful work. At several, random times throughout the day you could hear Tom yell, “FREEZE!” When he yelled this, anyone who was outside the building had to be incredibly still so a bird flying in wouldn’t be distracted by human movement. It was a record day for this year and Tom Meyer noted that “it was the best day for banding since I’ve been here.” When we left at 5:00 p.m. they had seen 312 hawks and banded 56 of them: northern harriers 4 seen (0 banded); bald eagle 1 (0); sharp-shinned hawk 160 (42); Cooper’s hawk 9 (2); red-tailed hawk 7 (1); merlins 128 (11) and peregrine falcon 1.

Goose Pond intern Jacqueline Komada and a saw-whet owl lock eyes during the field trip. Photo by Catherine Drexler

Everyone who came on the field trip was able to get up close and personal with a bird-of-prey and release it. Some of us even got release two tiny saw-whet owls! I think that was the most memorable experience for me, personally. Here I was, holding this beautiful creature in my hand and we were both staring at each other, completely aware of the others presence. There are a thousand other circumstances where this moment wouldn’t have occurred and I actually got be a part of it. I am beyond thankful. Together, at the end of the day before we left, we all released four sharp-shinned hawks and four merlins. It was the perfect ending to a remarkable day.

On October 21, Brand Smith also took over six kestrel box monitoring volunteers to the Cedar Grove Station.  They had southwest winds and while the day wasn’t quite as busy as when I went, they still caught 10 hawks: two red-tails, a Cooper’s, a goshawk, and six sharp-shins. Earlier this week I was chatting with Nydia Kien, a volunteer, about the experience she had. She told me how incredible it was to hold a sharp-shinned hawk in her hand and how she couldn’t believe how fast the hawks fly when they narrow in on their prey! She mentioned how attentive the staff and interns are when searching for hawks through the observation window. “I don’t know how they keep track of them when they fly in!” she exclaimed. Nydia had a positive, insightful time on Sunday and is very glad she went.

Photos in the slideshow below, from left to right (click on the photos to advance the slideshow): 1) Bill Forest with a sharp-shinned hawk. Photo by Nydia Kien. 2) JD Arnston with a red-tailed hawk. Photo by Nydia Kien. 3) Recently released saw-whet owl. Photo by Nydia Kien. 4) Intern Andrew banding a Cooper’s hawk. Photo by Catherine Drexler. 5) Mark Martin releasing a merlin. Photo by Catherine Drexler. 6) Jacqueline, Helen Drexler, Lisa, and Mark about to release four merlins. Photo by Catherine Drexler.

If reading this has got you itching to do some bird watching -- don’t worry! You don’t have to travel all the way to Lake Michigan to see hawks and falcons on their migratory routes. At Goose Pond Sanctuary, Sue Foote-Martin sighted a peregrine falcon flying over the house on October 23. Other raptors observed this fall at Goose Pond include Cooper’s, northern harriers, red-tails, American kestrels, a merlin and an occasional bald eagle. Come out in this brisk fall weather and and see who’s out and about!

Written by Jacqueline Komada, Goose Pond Sanctuary intern

Cover photo shows Jacqueline, Helen Drexler, Lisa, and Mark about to release four merlins. Photo by Catherine Drexler