This season at the sanctuaries: autumn 2024
Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance’s lands are permanently protected and conserved habitat for birds, plants, and other wildlife. They are stewarded, restored, and managed by our sanctuary teams. Learn more here.
Watch for wildlife migration at Goose Pond
Two monarch butterflies fly through the air (photo by TexasEagle).
Early September is the right time to tag monarchs, but unfortunately, we have found very low numbers of them at Goose Pond Sanctuary this year. The population that made it to the wintering site this past year was alarmingly small and when the butterflies returned, their summering grounds were experiencing a climate that was much wetter than average. We were happy to have so many folks join us at our public tagging sessions, which wrapped up last week. Our team will continue to keep a close eye for the butterflies during their migration and hopefully tagging more as we are able.
If you want to help monarchs, fall is a great time to plant native plants in your own garden that will support pollinators in the spring. Much of our efforts this season will focus on collecting prairie seeds, including monarch favorites like milkweed, goldenrod, and aster species. These seeds will support further restoration work both at our sanctuary and throughout southern Wisconsin.
Plan your visit
An autumn view at Wingspan Pavilion (photo by Arlene Koziol).
The prairies are awash with golds, scarlets, and purples in early fall. Head out to take in the spectacle of color on one of our many trails (check out the Goose Pond Sanctuary map).
Birds are feeding actively on fruits, seeds, and insects to fuel up for their migratory flights. To learn more about birdlife at Goose Pond, read our recent Friday Feathered Features. Speaking of fall migration, stop by the ponds or Wingspan Pavilion or check out the Pond Cam to watch for migrating shorebirds and waterfowl before the areas ice over in winter. Join our staff on October 27 to scope out who's passing through.
Get involved
’Tis the season for seed collection, and we need all the help we can get! No advance training is needed. We’ll be out collecting on Saturday mornings (9:30AM–12PM), but please RSVP in advance with land steward Graham Steinhauer at gsteinhauer@swibirds.org so we can confirm any changes to the time or meetup location ahead of time.
Learn more:
Goose Pond StoryMap: take a virtual tour
If you have questions, or would like to receive more detailed updates from the team, email goosep@swibirds.org
lose yourself in the prairies at Faville Grove
View of the kettle pond at Faville Grove Sanctuary (photo by Tucker Sanborn/SoWBA).
Current conditions in the sanctuary are dry, but the season didn’t start out that way. Above average rainfall in early summer led to lush growth, with the prairie in many places now towering above our heads.
It might not look like it, but thanks to the summer rains, the wetlands at Faville Grove are full of water. Low water levels in early spring allowed emergent vegetation like pickerelweed, smartweed, and rice cutgrass to establish and outgrow the rising water through the summer, while deeper water areas are covered with water lilies and watershield. Together with the permanent floating mats of sphagnum bog, very little open water is visible. Migrating waterfowl should find ample seed to fatten on as the emergent vegetation dies back (read about more sanctuary birds in our Friday Feathered Features).
Plan your visit
Greater fringed gentian (photo by Tucker Sanborn/SoWBA).
This year, a fall hike on the mowed trails through the sanctuary is truly an immersive experience. But what an experience! Nothing but prairie in front, behind, and on both sides of you. Then round a bend over a dry hilltop of shortgrass prairie and take in the long vistas of wetlands and rolling hills. “Magical” almost describes the feeling (check out the map here).
Grasses dominate the fall prairies, but the blooming stars of the sanctuary currently are the goldenrods, asters, and gentians. Spend enough time and you can find 12 species of goldenrod, 12 species of aster, and four of gentian, creating a tapestry of yellows, blues and whites amid the tawny, swaying grasses. If you would like help identifying them, join our fall prairies field trip this weekend.
Get involved
Volunteers are needed to help collect prairie seed, and on some weeks, clean and process them too. Seed collecting sessions will take place weekly each Wednesday morning (9:30AM–12PM), Saturday morning (9:30AM–12PM), and Saturday afternoon (1:30–4PM). For questions, email land steward Tucker Sanborn at faville@swibirds.org.
Learn more:
Faville Grove StoryMap: take a virtual tour
Questions? Contact Tucker at faville@swibirds.org
take in the birds and blooms at FaIR MEADOWS
A new rack of gourds installed this year at Fair Meadows Sanctuary (photo by Gary Shackelford).
This year has been an important one at Fair Meadows Sanctuary for monitoring and providing appropriate nesting habitat for a variety of species! We established a thorough bluebird nest box monitoring program with the help of an amazing volunteer named Larry Horsfall. He visited all 25 nest boxes weekly during the nesting season to check on the progress of the Eastern Bluebird and Tree Swallow families who inhabited them. We are interested in what we may learn over time by having these regular documented observations.
Based on the success of the Purple Martin gourds that we installed previously near the barn, we decided to erect a similar array near Mirror Pond earlier this year. Cue immediate interest from the birds—Purple Martin “scouts” circled overhead as we put up the pole! All six new gourds were occupied over the summer, so we will be expanding this array in the future. We also installed two Prothonotary Warbler nest boxes in a floodplain forest area near where this species of special concern has been previously observed. Hopefully we can provide a home for these beautiful birds that have been challenged by the loss of forested wetlands.
Showy Goldenrod (Solidago speciosa) and Smooth Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) blooming in Oak Knoll Prairie (photo by Chris Kaplan/SoWBA).
Plan your visit
As a reminder, Fair Meadows is closed to visitors unless attending a field trip or a pre-arranged event. Hit the trails independently at one of our open birding days on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month (except November; registration is required by noon the day prior).
Fall is a great time to get out and explore the natural beauty at Fair Meadows Sanctuary. There is a crispness in the morning air and there are still many blooming flowers and to behold. Not to mention the migrating warblers, waterfowl, and other songbirds (read more about species at the sanctuary in our latest Friday Feathered Features).
Get involved
This summer, a small number of volunteers joined us for monitoring projects and invasive species management. In future seasons, we are planning to recruit volunteers for seed collecting, prescribed burning, and much more. If you are interested in joining future efforts, contact Penny and Gary at fairmeadows@swibirds.org.
Learn more:
Fair Meadows StoryMap: take a virtual tour
Questions? Contact the team at fairmeadows@swibirds.org
Cover image: Leaves begin to change color during a previous autumn in Faville Grove Sanctuary’s oak and hickory woodlands (SoWBA photo).
