Bird & Nature Blog
A clutch of the latest stories from Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
When you think of conservation work, restoring habitats, or surveying wildlife, or conducting prescribed burns might immediately come to mind. But what about the work that’s a bit less dazzling? One important effort is cleaning up roadside garbage—much of which is completely preventable.
photo by Mark Martin
There once was a bird in a prairie
Whose song was as sweet as a cherry
And looking beyond the grasses so blonde
Tall skyscrapers made him feel wary.
American Goldfinch photo by Arlene Koziol
Well, now that you have glimpsed my poetic skills, I want to assure you I'll stick to my day job. But this fall has been filled with so much land work that we have been thinking—even more than usual—about the important elegance of land conservation in protecting birds.
Here's a fun fact: Thanks to the support of our members, Madison Audubon is a nationally accredited land trust. Extra fun: Of all Audubon chapters in the country, our local and mighty organization owns and manages the third most acreage, weighing in at a whopping 2,000+ acres, with multiple land acquisition projects in the works. We have also assisted numerous partners to acquire thousands of acres more.
At the local level, buying and managing land for habitat is the most immediate and effective path to conserving birds. Our sanctuaries provide large expanses of native habitat that are safe and supportive for a variety of resident and migrating birds, mammals, amphibians, insects, and critters of all sorts. Grassland birds nest at these special places. Waterfowl flocks seeking refuge, especially during hunting season, find it at these special places. Long-distance migrants that need nutritious, safe food refuel at these special places. All because of the vision of our members, volunteers, staff, and board of directors to proactively acquire, restore, and maintain this incredible resource. You’ve helped make Madison Audubon a uniquely effective local conservation organization by protecting special places. Thank you!
And because you tolerated my poetry, I'll share one more fun fact: These properties are FREE for anyone to visit, any day of the year. We invite members of the community, neighbors, schools, birders of all sorts, and historically-excluded nature lovers to explore our sanctuaries and soak up the sights, sounds, and aromas of restored and forever-protected habitats. By being there and caring about these places, you are doing so much good for birds. I invite you to visit and watch the birds—they are truly poetry in motion.
Written by Matt Reetz, executive director
A report from Madison Audubon's Goose Pond Sanctuary that was sent to Wisbird (Nov. 17, 2021)
Swans:
Winter probably arrived late in North America's tundra in 2021. Usually swans migrate to Goose Pond around November 1st. The tundra swans have been in North Dakota for many weeks and headed east when winter arrived in the northern Great Plains (specifically, North Dakota). On Monday November 15th, Aaron Holschback eBirded 10 Tundra Swans. We only saw a few yesterday. On November 17th, Spike Millington reported at 10:00 a.m. 550 Tundra Swans " A big arrival, only 22 young birds." Al Roske sent us a wide angle photo taken after 11:00 a.m. and we counted 580 swans in the photo. The east pond is dry and the west pond is maybe 8 inches deep with no arrowhead tubers. The swans are feeding in the picked cornfields just like the geese. The swans like to field feed about 2.5 miles southwest of Goose Pond (southeast of the County I and Meek Road intersection). If you plan to visit Goose Pond the sooner the better to see the swans since they will leave when Goose Pond freezes up and head east to Chesapeake Bay.
Goose Pond waterfowl, photo by Al Roske
Other birds:
On November 3rd, Spike had 21 Eurasian Collared-doves. Calla Norris and Graham had a Short-eared Owl on Nov. 9th. On November 10th, Aaron counted 3,500 Canada Geese and 1,350 Mallards. Spike has had counts of around 2,000 Mallards. On Nov. 15, we counted 193 Sandhill Cranes and Spike reported 3,000 Ring-billed Gulls.
Goose Pond Sanctuary’s “Pond Cam” shows live updates on what’s happening at the pond. See for yourself at madisonaudubon.org/pond-cam
The waterfowl migration has been impressive on our "Pond Cam" and has kept Peter Leege busy moving the pond cam around for best viewing. The last hour of daylight is the best time for viewing. However, you can back the camera up for 12 hours by moving the red line to the left. The cam also has infrared and a microphone.
We invited you to visit Goose Pond any day of the week during daylight hours. Enjoy!
Written by Mark Martin, Sue Foote-Martin, Graham Steinhauer (Goose Pond Sanctuary staff/managers), JD Arnston and Peter Leege (Pond Cam volunteers), and Al Roske (photographer)
