Bird & Nature Blog
A clutch of the latest stories from Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
Monday was a fun day at Goose Pond, one of the first days of seed collecting. The target species was wild lupine. Volunteers collected at Goose Pond and the Erstad Prairie, Madison Audubon’s land adjacent to the Schoenberg Waterfowl Production Area, north and east of Goose Pond.
Photo by Joshua Mayer
Monarch tagging is underway at Goose Pond Sanctuary, with sessions happening on September 9 and 16. Nearly 100 monarchs were tagged on the 9th, but in the morning session, the strangest species of butterflies appeared...
A rare Danaus plexippus gigantus maddius was captured at Madison Audubon Goose Pond Sanctuary. Fortunately master butterfly scooper Jim Otto spotted the maddius. He approached it slowly, gave a war cry, then swept the net forward quickly and captured the maddius before it landed on the terrified Everett Reetz.
Photo by Arlene Koziol
Releasing a freshly-tagged monarch butterfly. Photo by Arlene Koziol.
Bring your whole family and join us at Goose Pond Sanctuary to help with conservation efforts to track declining populations of monarch butterflies.
Photo by Arlene Koziol
Madison Audubon works with monarchwatch.org to capture and tag butterflies at our Goose Pond Sanctuary for monitoring efforts throughout their migration route. You can help with this important citizen science effort!
According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the recognizable orange-and-black butterfly species is in trouble. "Threats, including loss of milkweed habitat needed to lay their eggs and for their caterpillars to eat, are having a devastating impact on their populations and the migration phenomenon. Unless we act now to help the Monarch, this amazing animal could disappear in our lifetime. The state of Monarchs reflects the health of the American landscape and its pollinators. Monarch declines are symptomatic of environmental problems that also pose risks to food production, the spectacular natural places that help define our national identity, and our own health. Conserving and connecting habitat for monarchs will benefit many other plants and animals, including critical insect and avian pollinators, and future generations of Americans."
Attend a tagging event at Goose Pond on September 3rd or 10th to help with this important effort. Please register! We will be unable to support additional trip attendees due to limited materials and impact on the land.
