Wings over Water - IMAX Production Comes to Goose Pond Sanctuary

We were contacted by Archipelago Films, of New York, to discuss the idea of their company filming wetlands and migrating birds at Goose Pond as part of an IMAX production they were filming. We welcomed the opportunity to learn more about the production that would contain footage of the property and have the chance to work with this enthusiastic and professional group of filmmakers. Here is a trailer for Wings over Water, to be released in 2021 and narrated by actor Michael Keaton.

The film crew would be with us for three days and on Sunday night, October 27, three crew members from Archipelago Films arrived at the house. Director and co-founder of Archipelago Films Andrew Young, Assistant Camera technician Brandon Sargeant, and Office PA Rebecca Markowitz, arrived at Goose Pond and were later joined by Juan Romaro from Sylvan Heights Bird Park in North Carolina. We helped them unpack and get organized for the next days filming and at 10:20 pm, they left for at the Arlington Inn where they enjoyed good food at the end of the Packer game.

On Monday, the crew was joined by Neil Rettig and Dr. Laura Johnson with Neil Rettig Productions (see bottom of post for more info on Neil and Laura), and Steve Gruskin, Line Producer with Archipelago Films. They began the day by assessing the wetlands and made plans for filming. A boat and two canoes were moved to the wetland edge where they would be used to transport the crew out over the water. Once set up they filmed cranes and mallards.

Preparing for launch takes a little longer with all this equipment! Photo by Arlene Koziol

Tuesday morning, the crew arrived early to find three inches of snow and about 500 Canada geese south of the barn. Andy set up his camera by the seed building and Neil filmed by the milkhouse. They were rewarded with excellent slow motion footage when the entire flock of geese flew past. John MacGillivary from Dorsey Pictures and Arlene Koziol, Madison Audubon volunteer and conservation photographer, arrived and were there to shoot behind the scenes photos and footage of the filmers. Arlene produced a wonderful photo collection and a video:

Photos and film from the filming of “Wings over Water” — Goose Pond Sanctuary segment, fall 2019. By Arlene Koziol

To increase the playback quality of this video, click the gear button and choose 1080pHD; click the box symbol to the right for full-screen viewing.

The wetland scrapes provided a beautiful setting for the mallard ducks needed for the film. Goose Pond is a prairie pothole wetland and this type of habitat is featured in Wings over Water. Mark learned from Andrew Young that Wings over Water is a major entertainment and educational effort with a focus on the species and prairie pothole ecosystem, and not on land preservation, threats, or hunting. Rather, the film tells the story of three wetland species: yellow warbler, sandhill crane, and mallard duck. The filmmakers follow the family groups as they return from southern wintering grounds to nest and raise the next generation of the species.

After finishing filming south of the barn, everyone then moved to the Lapinski-Kitzke Prairie for the filming of two sandhill cranes who seemed to enjoy the snow-covered landscape. Sue scouted by car for a flock of cranes that she had been seeing over the past couple of weeks, foraging in a soybean field about five miles east of Goose Pond. The day ended with Mark and Andrew heading back to Sue’s crane flock which had greatly dwindled in numbers and was too far from the road for the cameras to capture.

A sandhill crane frolicks in the snowy cornfield near Goose Pond during the “Wings over Water” shoot. Photo by Arlene Koziol

Wednesday was spent filming more cranes and mallards landing and taking off. By midday the weather forecast for Thursday was for snow, cold, and strong winds. Andrew announced a change of plans and the crew would stay and extra day to film on Thursday. This was an excellent chance to film cranes, mallards, geese, and tundra swan in harsh, early winter weather that causes some species to migrate south.

Thursday’s weather was just as predicted. It was cold, snowy, and blustery. Everyone was prepared with warm clothes, foot and hand warmers, hot coffee, hot chocolate and snacks. The crew focused on their job and shouldered through. By early afternoon, they wrapped by filming more cranes and mallards. Andrew did an interview for Dorsey Pictures while Mark and Neil headed to Goose Pond Road to film Canada geese and tundra swans.

Welcome to Wisconsin! Filmmakers put on a good face filming during a fall snow. Photo by Mark Martin

After filming the geese and swans Mark and Neil returned to the “crane field” that Sue located on Tuesday and were rewarded with finding 550 sandhill cranes, along with Canada geese, and mallards. They secured some footage of the flocks but not close ups and Andrew said let’s call it a day. Mark and Neil were the first to leave and were rewarded when finding cranes and geese very close to the road. Mark drove and Neil filmed from inside the van with the expensive Red camera securely fastened floor. Neil photographed cranes landing, dancing, and taking off with occasional geese in the footage.  

We ate lunch at 3:00 p.m. and Andrew mentioned that they did not know where to film after leaving Goose Pond, and that perhaps they could drive to North Dakota where another film crew was filming waterfowl or find a large number of cranes. Sue mentioned that Crex Meadows in Burnett County is the place to go for sandhills and we put in a call to Steve Hoffman, former Arlington resident and DNR Wildlife Supervisor for the Burnett County Wildlife Areas. Steve informed us that there were currently 14,000 cranes staging at Crex and so that became their next destination. We heard from Andrew the next day that they connected with the birds and were getting good pictures.

A major partner to the venture, Ducks Unlimited’s CEO Adam Putnam, had this to say about Wings over Water: “North America’s Prairie Pothole Region is a top conservation priority area for our organization. We immediately saw the need to partner on this film to help educate the public on the region’s critical importance to waterfowl, other bird species and wildlife in general. When people of all ages and from all walks of life watch this film, they will have a better understanding of why we all must work together to conserve the Prairie Pothole Region to benefit waterfowl, other wildlife, people and communities across the continent.”

DU is also working in conjunction with the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation of Illinois and other donors to produce Wings Over Water. 

Check out the Archipelago Films trailer for Backyard Wilderness completed in 2018.

The Rest of the Story 

When John MacGillivary introduced himself to us he said he was from Montana and was working for Dorsey Pictures and Chris Dorsey who is the Executive Producer for Wings over Wetlands. Mark ask him if Chris grew up in Wisconsin and John replied yes, and that Chris and his wife are the head of Dorsey Pictures headquartered in Denver, the largest producer of outdoor history films in North America.  

What a small world. Chris grew up in DeForest! We recently spoke with him and asked how he became interested in the natural resource field. He mentioned that he had two teachers that sparked his interest including Biology Teacher, Darrell Potter, past MAS Board member who brought his students including Chris to Goose Pond Sanctuary. Chris then mentioned that he had also met a “young couple” (Mark & Sue) who were the resident managers at Goose Pond Sanctuary and that he came to know us. He frequently visited Goose Pond with his English setter looking to see pheasants.

Chris is the youngest of nine siblings and grew up hunting and fishing with the family. He spent many days hunting ducks in the local marshes including Schoeneberg Marsh and hunting Canada geese in picked cornfields near Goose Pond. He later wrote Pheasant Days and 150 Waterfowling Tips, Tactics, and Tales.

Chris worked for Ducks Unlimited (DU) as head of their Media and Marketing Section. After leaving DU he and his wife Amy formed a media company, now called Dorsey Pictures.

In 2018, Chris attended a waterfowl conference coordinated by the Max McGraw Foundation. Chris and Charlie Potter, CEO of the Max McGraw Foundation, spoke about the need to celebrate and create awareness of the prairie pothole ecosystem and hatched the idea of Wings over Water. Chris enjoyed telling us that Susan Todd, Co-founder of Archipelago Films, reported that Laura and Neil had found a beautiful prairie pothole to film at in southern Wisconsin. Chris asked where the wetland was and she said it was Goose Pond Sanctuary near Arlington, where Chris first experienced a prairie pothole. A small world indeed!

On-site with the Archipelago Films crew at Goose Pond, fall 2019. Photo by Arlene Koziol

Wings over Water will be shown in super IMAX theaters in 2021, conventional IMAX theaters found at venues like museums, and finally will be released to Netflix and local theaters.

Thanks to Graham Steinhauer, Jean Trager, Rachel Barker, and Calla Norris from Goose Pond Sanctuary for helping out.

Written by Mark and Sue Foote Martin, Resident Managers  with photos and filming by Arlene Koziol, MAS Volunteer Conservation Photographer 

Cover photo by Arlene Koziol

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NEIL RETTIG, Wildlife Cinematographer

Neil Rettig is a world renowned 6-time Emmy Award winning cinematographer with over 40 years experience filming rare and endangered species world wide. Over the past four decades, Rettig has contributed to the production of hundreds of films, including IMAX Productions, National Geographic Specials, and Science Documentaries. His knowledge of raptors, especially the rare forest Eagles, has resulted in scientific publications and a greater understanding of critically endangered species such as the Philippine and Harpy Eagles. Neil’s fieldwork has been instrumental in the conservation of rare and threatened animals, the establishment of protected ecosystems around the world, and breeding projects for endangered species. Neil has been acclaimed for his creative eye, artistic composition, lightning fast ability to capture the moment, and intimacy with the subject.

DR. LAURA JOHNSON, Expedition Coordinator

Laura Johnson is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with over 30 years of experience. She’s fiercely passionate about raptors and has spent most of that time focused on birds of prey– as an avian vet and licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Today Laura splits her time between the veterinary office, assisting Neil on film shoots and expeditions, and caring for the birds and animals at her farm in Wisconsin.

Blue Jay

The phrase “naked as a jaybird” refers to something especially bared, and morphed from the original phrase “naked as a robin.” Blue jays are born without many feathers, naked, one might say. As the phrase morphed, so too did the preceding adjective, growing to include crazy, mean, and saucy as a jaybird. The slight is obvious in calling someone “crazy as a jaybird,” but the slight to the blue jay might be overlooked. With a reputation that precedes them, blue jays are often scorned by birders who call them thugs and overly aggressive at feeders.

Blue jays at feeder, photo by Jo Zimny Photos

Indeed, blue jays have been found to ransack the nests of other songbirds. At feeders, jays have been known to mimic the call of red-shouldered hawks, perhaps to scare other songbirds into thinking a raptor is near. They'll steal feed from squirrels, nuthatches, and woodpeckers, but it is a rather uncommon occurrence.

Blue jays are opportunistic. A majority of their diet consists of acorns, nuts, seeds, grains, and fruits. Insects become an important part of their diet during the breeding season. However, the birds do eat a broad diet including frogs, toads, bird eggs, nestlings, and rarely roadkill or deceased animals.

These birds belong to the corvid family, and accordingly are incredibly smart. Researchers trapping and marking blue jays have difficulty catching the same bird twice. Captive jays have used instruments to pull food from outside a cage to within it. Some blue jays have remarkably learned to pluck ants from a hill, wiping the formic acid of the ants onto their breasts and making the ants digestible. Additionally, blue jays will cache anywhere from 3,000-5,000 acorns each year—relocating a good majority of those acorns.

Oak savanna, photo by Joshua Mayer

Hugely important to the ecosystems of oak savannas and oak woodlands, blue jays have been considered a keystone species for the role they play in dispersing the acorns of oak trees.  If each bird “forgets” 5% of its crop, then an oak savanna will nevertheless have thousands of germinating oaks each year. Another mark of genius for blue jays is that they've been shown to discern fertile acorns with 88% accuracy. Other acorns may be infested with fungus, rust, or the acorn weevil, which lays eggs inside the growing acorn that will feed its larvae, which will eventually use long snouts to burrow a hole out of the acorn.

Photo by Stan Lupo

While oak trees arguably have their own role as a keystone species—allowing sunshine into the understory, fueling fire with combustible leaves, and providing food (acorns) for 150 species of birds and mammals—blue jays are bolted to that same role. Jays allow oak dispersal to an astounding level, as the birds will carry acorns over 2.5 miles away from the source tree.  In fact, after the last ice age, oak species dispersed into glacier-torn areas faster than wind dispersed seeds. It is thought that this is due to the dispersing behavior of blue jays.

“What about squirrels?” you might be asking. Squirrels also play an important role, but their dispersal is not as impressive as a blue jay's. The cached acorns of squirrels are most likely to be found within feet of the source tree. However, squirrels play a dynamic role in shaping the composition of the forest or savanna trees. Squirrels prefer to cache red and black oak nuts, while they prefer to eat white and bur oak nuts. This is because the red and black oak nuts are loaded with tannins, and store better for long periods. White oak acorns germinate in the fall and therefore don't keep as well as the red oak acorns. With fewer tannins, squirrels consume white oak treats immediately, and don't cache as many acorns from those white oak species. Even when white oaks are cached, the embryo is often excised.

Thus, blue jays may help to spread white and bur oak trees since they pick out fertile acorns and often find suitable sites for these acorns while burying them with a small amount of substrate. One study found that blue jays cached 55% of the acorns in a given area, while eating another 20% while they were gathering. Another interesting adaption from the blue jay is its ability to move multiple acorns per trip. The bird accomplishes this by storing some acorns in its “gular pouch” which can hold 2-3 acorns, stroring one or two in its mouth, and storing one on the tip of its beak.

Photo by Monica Hall

Blue jays live monogamous lives and run complex social circles throughout the year. It is thought that some birds recognize each other based on the markings of the face. Jays can be found in most forested habitats throughout Wisconsin, especially somewhere with oak trees. Here at Faville Grove, you can find these fascinating birds throughout the sanctuary, but they've been especially abundant in the ledge savanna where they've been plucking acorns.

Written by Drew Harry, Faville Grove Sanctuary land steward

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

Foster's Tern

This summer, a great blue heron spent what seemed like its every waking (and sleeping) moment on a wood duck box on the Hwy 89 pond. Every walk around the pond yielded a surprise when a tall figure against the backdrop of prairie, pothole, and aspen turned out to be the heron, again perched on the wood duck box.

There was one instance where this heron departed from its usual routine, as far as we saw it. While the interns and I were on North Shore Road, we witnessed the heron land in the pond. We observed the bird with binoculars for a minute, before it quickly stabbed a bullhead out of the water, gulped it down after a couple of tries, and then returned—where else—to the wood duck box.

In his regular perch. Photo by Drew Harry

I was surprised by the size of the fish in the pond. Yet years past have seen egrets, pelicans, and great blue herons raiding this resource.

I was also surprised, on July 19, when I witnessed a Forster’s tern flying over the 89 pond. This is an endangered bird in Wisconsin that nests in colonies, so my sighting was unlikely to be breeding individual of the immediate area. However, my sighting occurred right around the time when young are fledging, and after this period, parents often disperse more widely to forage for minnows in lakes, rivers, and ponds.

Foster’s tern at Hwy 89 pond. Photo by Drew Harry

In the area of Faville Grove, one nearby location stands out as a potential breeding location for Forster’s terns. The Chub and Mud Lake Riverine Marsh to the north, in Dodge County, covers nearly 7,000 acres of wetland habitat and harbors the appropriate riverine marsh habitat often preferred by Forster’s terns. Portions of this area were never platted during the Public Land Survey, because they were presumed to be a lake. For Wisconsin’s second Breeding Bird Atlas, a number of probable breeding pairs were found in this area.

Faville Grove likely holds wetlands too small and isolated to host breeding Forster’s terns. These birds look for extensive wetland marshes, often nesting on well-concealed islands of vegetation to avoid mammalian predators. Raccoons, skunks, opossums, and weasels, could all decimate the eggs of a colony of Forester’s terns, so nest site selection is key for these birds.

For this reason, only a few colonies in Wisconsin traditionally produce offspring. These areas include Big Muskego Lake, the upriver lakes of the Winnebago Pool, Rush Lake, and the western shore of Green Bay.

It’s interesting to note that many wetlands in the immediate vicinity of Faville Grove contain islands of potential habitat for Forster’s terns. Due perhaps to the unique chemical makeup of these low-lying areas, most boggy lowlands are surrounded by a “moat” of open water, which typically rings the entirety of the wetland.

Wetland “moat” at Faville marsh. Narrow areas of water are likely due to erosion. Native vegetation will replace agricultural field and hold the soil in place in the far upper left of this photo, credit Rob Couey

There are a number of explanations for this moat, including runoff from uplands that increases decomposition and fires running into the edge of the wetland and increasing decomposition. The result is an open island of wetland vegetation with portions dominated sedges and cattails—seemingly perfect habitat for Forster’s terns. Farm field erosion can complicate dynamics of this moat, however. Runoff and siltation from upland areas can fill in this moat, and allow predators to access the island, while also making it more likely that it dries down during summer and fall.

Overall, the Forster’s tern is a chance occurrence at Faville Grove, but we’re happy to support their post-breeding foraging efforts. These birds have migrated through southern Wisconsin at this point, and are likely somewhere in Central or South America. These birds will return in late April, looking for the perfect island of wetland vegetation.

Written by Drew Harry, Faville Grove Sanctuary land steward

Not-So-Spooky Bats

With Halloween just around the corner, let’s talk about a furry, flying critter with an unfairly ghoulish reputation: Bats.

Hoary bat, one of Wisconsin’s eight native bat species. Photo by Daniel Neal, Oregon State University FCC

Of the 5,416 mammal species on Earth, about 1,200 of them are bats. This makes bats the most diverse mammal group second only to rodents. We have eight native bats here in Wisconsin, and they are all insectivores that prefer to eat beetles, stinkbugs, leafhoppers, and moths. Many of these insects are agricultural pests, and through their pest reduction services, bats have a huge positive impact on farmers. Flies and mosquitoes that directly impact humans are also on the menu.

Bats have been heavily persecuted by humans because of common myths associated with them, a fear of their unknown habits, and their general appearance. Let’s dispel some of those harmful bits of misinformation, shall we?

1. Myth: Most bats have rabies. Fact: Less than one percent of bat individuals have rabies.

2. Myth: Bats like to land in your hair. Fact: Bats may fly around you at night, but that’s only because insects are attracted to the heat and carbon dioxide that humans give off. Their goal has nothing to do with your hair. 

3. Myth: Bats will suck your blood. Fact: Only three species of bats in the world feed on blood, and they all live in Central or South America.

4. Misconception: Bats are ugly. Counter argument: To each their own on this one, but I can say with confidence that not all bats are ugly. There’s a reason that some species of bats, like this cutie below, are called flying foxes.

Young flying fox. Photo by Australian Bat Clinic and Wildlife Trauma Centre

There are four major threats to bat populations including bioaccumulation of pesticides, hibernacula disturbance, wind turbines, and white-nose syndrome (WNS). WNS is by far the most pressing issue. 75-100% of all bats in a hibernaculum (usually a cave or mine) are expected to die if the colony becomes infected with WNS. WNS is caused by a fungus. How it causes such high rates of mortality is somewhat unknown, but it is generally accepted that WNS causes bats to awaken from their hibernation period costing them precious energy. 

Map by White-Nose Syndrome Response Team

Each species of bat emits their own distinct frequency while searching for food. Scientists developed bat survey equipment with this auditory footprint in mind. The machine “listens” for bats, determines what species was present, and adds the associated coordinates to create a bat survey map. Mark Martin, Sue Foote-Martin, and Brand Smith started conducting bat surveys at Goose Pond Sanctuary and Schoeneberg Marsh in 2008. Bats found on past surveys in our area have included big and little brown, hoary and eastern red bats.  A silver-haired bat found on the recent Schoeneberg Marsh count is new species to the bat list. 

This baseline data is valuable in determining what bat species are declining most heavily. On August 6, 2019, Tanner Pettit (summer Goose Pond intern) and I replicated a bat survey from 2016. Note that the time of year, time of night, water levels, and wind speeds are all similar between the two surveys. Each symbol on the map represents one bat encounter. The results were sobering.  

Results of the 2016 Bat Survey. Map by WDNR Bat Program

Results of the same survey done in 2019. Map by WDNR Bat Program

Andrew Badje, DNR Conservation Biologist, downloaded the 2019 bat data for Goose Pond and Schoeneberg Marsh and said, "On that note, 4 species/survey is a great result, for the WNS world we currently live in.” Bat counts have also been conducted at Goose Pond and have found similar results.

Little brown bats in a hibernaculum. Photo by Petroglyph FCC

Bats are sometimes grouped by habitat preference. Tree bats usually roost in small groups under bark or in tree cavities. As the name implies, cave bats usually roost in caves or mines. The largest known bat colony is called Bracken Cave in Mexico, and it hosts 20 million bats annually. This makes it the largest concentration of mammals ever discovered. Because cave bats pack themselves closely together for warmth and to conserve space, they are particularly susceptible to diseases like WNS.

Little brown bat with white-nose syndrome. Photo courtesy of USFWS National Digital Library.

As you can see from the bat survey map of Schoeneberg Marsh above, bats of all species have declined sharply except for big brown bats since 2016. While big browns are cave bats, their larger body size probably helps them survive the winter better than smaller bodied bats. Solutions for WNS like vaccines and hibernacula climate control are in the works, but our window to save bat populations is rapidly closing. 

Written by Graham Steinhauer, Goose Pond Sactuary land steward