Bird & Nature Blog
A clutch of the latest stories from Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
The official start to spring is just days away, and thank goodness for it. With the change of seasons come the glorious sounds of Sandhill Cranes, the freeing temperatures above freezing, and the promise of garden bounty around the corner.
It also signals the Wisconsin Conservation Congress Spring Hearing, a long-time traditionin Wisconsin that allows citizen across the state to weigh in on really important conservation issues. Your votes in the hearing signal to the DNR Board what the public wants, though the results are non-binding. The hearing will be virtual again this year running from April 11-14.
Photo by Mick Thompson
I needed to check out a trout stream project on Sunday. The site was only 100 yards or so from the bridge and someone had already tracked through the snow almost all the way there. Almost. And I found out why. If Satan wants to make hell more miserable he can simply add postholing to the list of daily activities. As each foot breaks the crusted top layer of snow through the remaining eight inches of snow and is then extricated with a mix of lung and thigh power, the operator of that foot begins to question the sanity of being outside on what seemed such a nice day.
Photo by Katerine Hala FCC
The origin of Valentine's Day is a delightful mess. Probably it starts with the Lupercalia, a Roman pagan feast of late winter or early spring. You can probably guess of what—indeed, fertility. In some accounts, young Roman men would chase and try to hit young Roman women with strips of bloody goat hides, the goats having been sacrificed at the start of the festivities. Allegedly the women didn't mind because the strike of a goat hide would ensure their fertility.
And hundreds of years later here we are. In our backyards we indeed hear some birds with their mating calls and we have the chance to renew or perhaps find love. Hey, it beats frostbite.
Photo by Indiana Ivy Nature Photographer
