winter

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Scenes from a Faville Grove Winter

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Scenes from a Faville Grove Winter

With the fluttery busy-ness of spring, summer, and fall absent, it can seem remarkably quiet at the sanctuaries. And true enough, plants are dormant and many animals have migrated away, hibernated, or found another way to quietly survive winter in Wisconsin.

And yet, the crews at our sanctuaries are as busy as ever. Winter is a time to focus on clearing invasive and “weedy” brush and trees. This is labor-intensive work, well suited for winter because the frozen ground makes it easier to get equipment in and out without damaging the soil, and there isn’t wild parsnip and garlic mustard to compete for attention!

Photo by David Musolf

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Be a Snow Birder

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We covered the many benefits of “slow birding” several months back, in the warm heat of September. As the months get colder and colder, you might feel less and less inclined to, y’know, stand in one place outside while the cold ground sucks heat from your toes and your fingertips start to lose feeling.

There’s a reason that birding by car gets popular in the winter, but you should know that you don’t need to give up your outdoor birding adventures just because there is snow on the ground. This week’s Entryway to Birding blog brings you tips for how you can adapt your “slow birding” to a more seasonal “snow birding” and enjoy all the benefits that come with spending quality time in the woods this winter—cold weather and all.

Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt

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A snowy owl who almost made it back home

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In January 2018, a snowy owl near Arlington, WI was outfitted with a GPS transmitter and tracked by hundreds of scientists and community members. In April, he was found dead in Benton County, Minnesota. The story of “Arlington”, the snowy owl, is one of science, conservation, and community.

Snowy owls hatch and spend their summers and fall in the tundra of northern Canada, and migrate south in early winter, especially in years of high lemming populations when many young are raised. One particular snowy owl was six months old in December when he stopped to spend the winter near Madison Audubon Society’s Goose Pond Sanctuary and the UW Arlington Agricultural Research Station, 17 miles north of Madison. He was one of thousands of snowy owls that flooded into the northern United States and southern Canada during this snowy owl “irruption year”.

Photo by David Rihn

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Winter Update at Faville Grove

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It's been a busy time here at Faville Grove, as always. We finished collecting seed in November, with over 300 species collected! On November 25th we burned 110+ acres on Martin and Tillotson prairies; a very successful burn. With the help with lots of volunteers, we mixed the seed into dry-mesic, wet, wet-mesic, and woodland/savanna mixes. The day before planting we conducted a good burn on the woods north of Hwy 89. And on December 2nd we planted 22.75 acres, a huge undertaking with about 50 volunteers, on a gorgeous and sunny day.

Photo by Drew Harry