Waiting for me this week was one of the coolest and most handsome Wisconsin waterfowl, a Hooded Merganser, aka the hoodie. This was a drake in his full plumage with his magnificent crest. He was socializing with a small group of Mallards but the connection did not last. They flew and he fished, more on that in a bit

Photo by Mick Thompson

Jim Hess was just awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin (BRAW) in recognition of the 25 years he has spent building, installing, and monitoring bluebird houses near his home in rural Blanchardville. For many of those years he has mentored bluebird lovers in Lafayette and Grant Counties to do the same. Please use this link to a story in the Monroe Times with more information on Jim's great accomplishments.

Photo by Arlene Koziol

A few dedicated seed collectors gathered at Goose Pond for the final volunteer effort of the season. We were looking for New England asters (NEAs) and white baptisia. Both are important for pollinators with New England asters being one of my favorites. A late bloomer, it and showy goldenrod are the flowers that give our migrating monarchs the nutritional boost they need before flying  south.

Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS

Stiff goldenrod was one of the plant seeds we collected. Collecting goldenrods occasions a goldenrod identification seminar that Graham and Emma conduct for the volunteers — the many species of goldenrod look similar and one species is on the “avoid” list. We certainly want to collect whatever the desired species is but we also have to avoid Canada goldenrod.

Photo by Graham Steinhauer/SoWBA

Seed collecting is one of the most important management activities on Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance’s lands, and volunteers always play an essential role, making sure that we have enough variety and amount of seeds to re-create and bolster our prairies, wetlands, and savannas. Many people are passionate about birds, bumblebees, badgers or other lovable creatures, and it's important to remember that they simply do not exist without the strong scaffold of diverse plant communities which support them.

Photo by Graham Steinhauer/SoWBA

The seed bonanza continues at Goose Pond. Seven volunteers answered the call. With Graham, Emma, Calla, and Sayre—the latter two being expert seed collectors hired to help this fall—eleven of us took to the field. With each seed collecting session, we're assembling the components of new or improved prairies at Goose Pond and some partners' lands. Analogous perhaps to kids in a Lego store.  

Photo by Peter Gorman

This season at the sanctuaries (Autumn 2024): learn what’s been going on behind the scenes, who you can expect to find when you visit, and how to get involved in the coming few months!

SoWBA photo

Our recent heat wave prompted an urgent request from Graham and Emma at Goose Pond. The culver's root seed had matured much more quickly than expected and needed to be collected.

This is a seed well worth collecting. With its white plume of a blossom, culver's root is one of the most lovely and graceful plants on the prairie. Some pollinators love it including the federally-endangered Rusty Patched Bumble Bee.

Photo by Graham Steinhauer

Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance’s Goose Pond Sanctuary always has a ton going on. Bird conservation, habitat restoration, research, and outreach are always in season here. Learn more about Goose Pond in the latest update.

Photo by Graham Steinhauer

Shooting stars are early bloomers and beloved by folks walking and watching those prairies and savannas in the spring. They also see queen bumblebees and other early, native pollinators for whom shooting stars are an important food source. They are highly desirable prairie dwellers and their seed is expensive-- $1500 a pound. So when Graham Steinhauer, Goose Pond’s land steward, called for shooting star seed collectors on Thursday of last week, several of us happily joined Graham, Goose Pond’s restoration technician Emma Raasch, and Hailey Wedewer and Andi Hokanson, two of our wonderful Goose Pond interns.

Photo by Peter Gorman

Mary was at my door, letting me know the nest was indeed down. Having no idea what we might find, Mary and I made our way through the jungle of the marsh area that had two fallen nests, parts of the nest tree along with many other downed trees. And there in front of us, the two eaglets were sitting on top of the fallen debris.

Photo by Beth Berger Martin

About 20 Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance volunteers celebrated the 4th of July by collecting spiderwort seed at the Erstad Prairie for a couple of hours that morning. Spirits were high, the dew point high, and the spiderwort high.

Photo by Arlene Koziol

August 13 is the state primary where most attention will be focused on partisan primaries for the November State Assembly and Senate races. Please VOTE!

Photo by Arlene Koziol

On the morning of Juneteenth, several volunteers joined Graham and Emma, the absolutely world class staff at Goose Pond Sanctuary, at one of the satellite properties of SoWBA near Goose Pond* to collect lupine seed.

This seed requires quick and timely picking because it ripens and drops in just a few days. Here today, gone tomorrow. It's also one of our most important seeds to collect on and near Goose Pond. It's the only host plant of the federally endangered Karner Blue butterfly. With enough seed we shall create more habitat for the butterfly. 

Photo by Dawn Marsh / USFWS

This season at the sanctuaries (Summer 2024): learn what’s been going on behind the scenes, who you can expect to find when you visit, and how to get involved in the coming few months!

Photo by Gary Shackelford

Dane County will award $900K in conservation funds to Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance towards the future purchase and protection of a 348-acre property that features native grassland habitats.

SoWBA photo

Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance and the Southern Wisconsin Chapter of Trout Unlimited, with the vital assistance of the Wisconsin DNR and Dane County Parks, held our annual field trip for the 4th graders of Madison's Lincoln Elementary School during the last few days of the school year. I just hope the kids had as much fun and learned as much as the adults lucky enough to accompany them on this trip.

We traveled to Dane County's Falk/Wells Wildlife Area on the Sugar River with three missions: help a prairie, see some cool fish, and have fun. Missions Accomplished.

Photo by Mickenzee Okon / SoWBA

You may have heard about the proposed large-scale solar energy energy project in the Buena Vista Wildlife Area (near Stevens Point). This Important Bird Area provides critical habitat for one of Wisconsin’s dwindling but beloved species, the Greater Prairie-Chicken. You have an opportunity to weigh in on this matter by Friday, June 14.

Photo by USFWS Midwest

That's not the usual topic of a blog. Failure is not something either individuals or organizations admit to. But, if we're not failing sometime, we're probably dead or not really honest with ourselves.

Photo by Brenna Marsicek / SoWBA

In southern Wisconsin, the rolling hills and family farms go hand in hand. We sometimes get questions from farmers about how to make sure their practices support birds, as well as the livestock and crop needs of their farm. Here is the answer to a question we hear from farmers: when can I hay my fields so grassland nesting birds can raise their young?

Photo by Carolyn Byers

Lots of people in the Madison area are making their gardens a beautiful, vibrant landscape while supporting birds, bees, butterflies, and other native wildlife!

The native plant sale that we put on with Holy Wisdom Monastery, SOS Save Our Songbirds, and Johnson’s Nursery in Menominee Falls was a huge success! Not just in terms of dollars but equally and even better in terms of number of bird- and insect-supporting native plants that have found their way into yards in Southern Wisconsin as a result.

Photo by Mary Dummert

Many of you probably have similar memories of your Moms and can thank many of them for your love of Nature. And Moms are still doing that today, for which SoWBA is grateful. Some of Mother Nature's most devoted friends and defenders are Moms.

Photo by Joshua Mayer

We usually think of champions as winners of athletic contests but another definition kicks off this blog. Champion can also mean a person who is a determined, dedicated, competent, and untiring advocate and protector of a cause or people or, in the case at hand, of birds, bugs, and their homes. We have some such champions in our midst and they deserve our thanks.

Photo by Matt Reetz / SoWBA

Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance’s Goose Pond Sanctuary always has a ton going on. Bird conservation, habitat restoration, research, and outreach are always in season here. Learn more about Goose Pond through the update below, by visiting our Goose Pond webpage, or by exploring our Goose Pond StoryMap.

Photo by Emma Raasch

Thanks to all of you who participated in the DNR's Spring Conservation Congress Hearing and Expressions of Opinion (the DNR and Conservation Congress doesn't like to call the voting voting). With the help of conservation organizations such as Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance and folks like you, we might have made some progress on some important issues. 

Photo by Arlene Koziol

The tree has just started blooming with a most pleasant and lovely surprise. This abundance has produced temporary exhaustion. I've been running back and forth from the tree to the computer in the basement bunker, trying to identify these beautiful butterflies.

Photo by Pat Hasburgh