Bird & Nature Blog
A clutch of the latest stories from Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
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
Folks have been asking, what happened to the water at Goose Pond this year?
Prairie pothole freshwater marshes like Goose Pond are found throughout the upper Midwest. Most are about one-acre in size but like Goose Pond at 60 acres, can be much larger.
Prairie potholes are shallow depressive wetlands that receive water from rainfall and snowmelt runoff. In dry years they lack water inputs, often drying up completely. That's what happened this year.
Goose Pond web cam photo
This year and next year we're going to put a special emphasis on dragonflies and damselflies. Our goal with your help is to find as many species as possible at Goose Pond, Erstad Prairie/Schoenberg Marsh, and Otsego Marsh.
Could you help us search, identify, and tally them? This is an independently completed citizen science project. Details and guidance are below!
Photo by Graham Steinhauer
On December 1st, Mark Martin and JD Arnston counted 12,500 mallards, 3,800 Canada geese, and 23 tundra swans at Madison Audubon's Goose Pond. The previous high mallard count was 5,000 mallards by John Romano on November 11, 2010. On December 2nd, Graham Steinhauer and Mark counted 1,149 tundra swans at Goose Pond breaking Carl Schwartz's record of 1,100 set on November 9, 2017. In early afternoon, Mark found a picked cornfield with 1,560 swans about 2.5 miles southwest of Goose Pond. The swans were about .5 miles from Meek Road and Highway I in the middle of about 600 acres of picked corn. Mark returned to Goose Pond and counted 1,050 swans on the pond. Graham watched the swans from the cornfield return to Goose Pond near dusk. The afternoon all time high record was 2,610 tundra swans!
Photo by Arlene Koziol
Goose Pond is a prairie pothole, a pond that is fed only by precipitation and run-off. Because of this, Goose Pond water levels change significantly only two or three days a year after a major run-off event. But right now, we’re seeing something we’ve never seen before! Goose Pond is normally four feet deep, but today, it’s at least seven.
Deep snow cover and ice, frozen ground, rain, and high temperatures resulted in record flooding and runoff levels. There is so much water in our above-ground system that you could now kayak from Ankenbrandt Prairie (east of Goose Pond) into Lake Mendota and only have to get out to maneuver around culverts.
Photo by Mark Martin and Sue Foote-Martin
