dec 2005 caws newsletter madison audubon society

8/9/2019 Dec 2005 CAWS Newsletter Madison Audubon Society

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Madison Audubon is a chapter of the National Audubon Society

222 S. Hamilton St. Madison, WI 53703 255-BIRD http://madisonaudubon.org

THE MADISON AUDUBON

Newsletter

of the

Madison

AudubonSociety

December 2005

Notes from Faville

Grove

A landscape for the

greater goodBy Roger Packard

Decisions about land use always haveramifications beyond the borders ofthe land being managed. Throughour sanctuary efforts at Goose Pondand Faville Grove, Madison AudubonSociety is working to restore largeareas of land to native biologicalcommunities. In the process we arealso restoring the many services thatthese lands provide to society.

As the newsletter deadline arrives,we are rushing to prepare for ourprojected November 12 plantingdate for 40 acres in the floodplain ofthe Crawfish Rivervolunteers aredrying, cleaning, inventorying and

mixing the seed that they and othershelped to collect. The site is part of an80-acre tract that will be knownas Charles Prairie, named in honorof Charles Loufek Kimport at the

request of an anonymous and verygenerous contributor to the FavilleGrove Sanctuary endowment fundfor long-term management. We planto plant the south 40 acres of the tractnext fall.

Since World War II, the CharlesPrairie site, like MASs otherrestoration sites in the Crawfish Riverfloodplain, was ditched and reshapedto drain water off the land and

continued on page 4

On Our WatchBy Mark and Sue Martin

It is interesting and rewarding tosee wildlife and plant populationsincrease or to locate new populations.Trumpeter swans, sandhill cranes,and wild turkey populations have

increased greatly in Wisconsin sincewe moved to Goose Pond in 1979,and Goose Pond Sanctuary hasgrown from 100 to 647 acres!

In August Sue was fortunate

enough to see two whooping cranesat Goose Pond. Hopefully theirpopulations will continue to increaseand a breeding population will beestablished in Wisconsin in the nextdecade.

continued on page 3

Sanctuaries

Highlight of the

YearBy Mark and Sue Martin

Great gray owls invaded northernWisconsin in 2005, and a few madeit to the southern part of the state.A great gray was sighted on Hwy.K south of Goose Pond on Feb.27. A neighbor saw it a few dayslater on Kampen Road north of thepond. Local children who saw himfrequently about 1.5 miles south ofGoose Pond named him Wilson.

Many bird watchers came to seeWilson and were saddened to learnof his death when he was hit by a caron March 26. Kris Kesselhon, formerMAS treasurer, spent many hoursobserving Wilson and taking notesabout his habitat use and behavior.This is one species we never wouldhave thought would have been addedto the Goose Pond Bird Checklist.See page 9 for a list of past yearshighlights.

The oaks were in glorious color this fall in this Faville Grove savanna restoration (unfortunately, the newslet-

ter is in black and white.) Photo by Roger Packard


2/12The Audubon Caws December 20052

Audubon Members - Renewal Instructions

When? Please renew when your renewal date is within a couple months,or when you receive a renewal reminder from National Audubon. You cancheck your CAWS address label for your renewal date (e.g. JAN06). Thismakes renewals simpler, and in the long run it will help cut down on paper.How? Renew your Audubon membership through Madison Audubon by using the Membership Form in the CAWS or on the web at

http://madisonaudubon.org. Renewing through Madison Audubon directssome of your contribution to efforts that benefit you locally, such as MadisonAudubons large habitat and prairie restorations!Bonus! Please check Double Audubon Membership when you renew. Thisincludes an Audubon Gift Membership for only $5 more! What a greatopportunity to introduce Audubon to a friend, relative, student, work buddy,neighbor, or teacher! Thank you for helping Double Audubon Membership,one member at a time!

THE AUDUBON CAWS is publishedSeptember through June by:Madison Audubon Society,

222 S. Hamilton St., Madison, WI 53703Birding hotline, 255-BIRM.

Madison Audubon Web Page:http://madisonaudubon.org

Email: [email protected] services donated by Berbee

Contribution deadline is Dec. 1 for Jan.

issue, for which items may be sent toMichael Becker, [email protected]

The mission of the Madison AudubonSociety is to educate our members andthe public about the natural world andthe threats that natural systems are fac-ing, to engage in advocacy to preserveand protect these systems, and to devel-op and maintain sanctuaries to save andrestore natural habitat.

MADISON AUDUBON SOCIETYPresident: Joanne Herfel, 241-8009

Vice-president: Debra Weitzel, 836-4051Goose Pond Resident Naturalists:

Mark and Sue Martin, 635-4160Editor: Michael Becker, 265-9484

[email protected] design: Ann TheringPrinted by Roemer Printing

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Mail to: Madison Audubon Society

222 S. Hamilton St., Suite 1Madison, WI 53703-3201

Duck Nest Search

at Goose Pond andErstad PrairieBy Mark and Sue Martin

The Department of Natural Resourcesconducted a duck nest searchproject this summer on 1,981 acresin southern Columbia County.Two searches were conducted tostudy nest abundance andsuccess on different habitats,including land entered into the

Conservation Reserve Program.Staff driving two tractors 70 feetapart conducted nest searchesby pulling a cable over thevegetation. When the cablepassed over a hen sitting on anest, the hen would flush fromher nest, and the nest wouldbe located. Once located, theresearchers estimated the age ofthe nest to determine the stageof incubation and recorded the

number of eggs and species ofbird.All told the DNR found 58

mallard nests, 30 blue-winged tealnests, 49 wild turkey nests, 4 northernharrier nests, and 3 woodcocknests in Columbia County. Theyalso flushed 85 pheasant hens, 40pheasant roosters, 10 pheasantbroods, 4 woodcock broods, and 19fawns. Duck nest success this yearranged from 19 to 24%. About 15%nest success for ducks is necessary tomaintain population levels. Some

continued on next page

This nest contained 12 mallard and 1 pheasant egg.

Photo by Mark Martin



On Our Watchcontinuedfrom page 1

It was hot on September 10, the firstday of fall seed collecting, and theonly collectors that afernoon wereMark, Kathie Brock and Sue Slapnick.They decided to explore a prairienear the Mud Lake Wildlife Area that

the DNR recently acquired as a unitof the Empire Prairie State NaturalArea. The prairie was yellow withshowy goldenrod. The three werewalking at the far end of the prairiewhen Mark located a large prairiebush clover plant. Three more plantswere soon located. On the way backeveryone spread out looking for moreplants and Kathie called to us thatshe had found another, then another,and another! We located 39 plantsthat day and returned with flags tomark them. Craig Anderson, a DNRbotanist, found another 12 plants afew days later.

Everyone was excited with thisfind since there are fewer than 100known populations of prairie bushclover in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesotaand Wisconsin. The largestpopulation in Wisconsin is at thesouth end of Arlington Prairie, whereover 1,000 plants are found on a statenatural area. Prairie bush clover is

unusual in that it has two types andcolors of flowers, pink and green.Pink flowers are insect pollinatedand green flowers are self-pollinated.Mark is on the federal recoveryteam for prairie bush clover andthis population will help meet theteams recovery goals. A few yearsago we planted prairie bush cloverseedlings at Goose Pond. Thirty-threeplants were counted this year and areproducing a lot of seed.

Another good find happened when

we were checking out a proposedhiking trail at Otsego Marsh. Wehave hiked Otsego Marsh for over 20years but have never seen the yellowgiant hyssop. This state-threatenedsavanna plant grows to five feet. Afew years ago we removed cherries,box elders and some maples from theoak hickory woods at Otsego Marshand more sunlight is now able toreach the ground. We were pleasedand surprised to find a yellow giant

hyssop, and,after somesearching,we foundhundreds ofplants. It willbe interestingto see if thispopulation

increases in thenext few years.We also foundbottlebrushand a savannaspecies of ryegrass.

It isrewardingto see habitatrecoveriesresulting fromthe help of many

partners, working to preserve andrestore our natural world.

Duck Nest continued frompage 2

ducks can re-nest 3 or 4 times if theirnests are depredated.

Madison Audubon Society-managed lands at the Russell andPhyllis Haupt land southwest of

Goose Pond, at Erstad Prairie atSchoenebergs Marsh, and at part ofGoose Pond accounted for 208 acres,or about 10%, of the total searched byDNR. The Haupt property includes20 acres of brome grass and 27 acresthat MAS has restored to prairie.Nineteen mallard nests (32% of thetotal mallard nests found), 14 blue-winged teal nests (46%), 37 pheasanthens flushed (43%), 33 pheasantroosters flushed (82%), 6 pheasantbroods (60%), and 2 fawns (10%)were found on MAS-managed lands.No woodcock or turkeys were found,but this was not unexpected sincethe areas are not ideal woodcock orturkey habitat.

Thirty-one duck nests werefollowed to determine their fate.Thirteen (39%) hatched, 1 (3%) wasnatural abandonment after laying9 eggs, and 17 (54%) nests had theeggs eaten by predators. Of the 17nests destroyed by predators, the

researchers thought that red fox

impacted 8 nests, striped skunks 5nests, and raccoons 4 nests.

Our observations of the data forthe 208 acres indicated that ducks areattracted to cool-season grasses, suchas brome, rather than restored prairie;ducks appeared to be more successfulin prairie restorations; and MAS-managed acres had many more neststhan the other areas searched.

Eight mallard nests were foundin a 20-acre brome field on theHaupt property over one-half mile

from water. Five of the nests weredestroyed by red fox. Three mallardand one blue-winged teal were foundon 35 acres of restored prairie at SueAmes Prairie at Goose Pond. All thenests at Sue Ames hatched, whileonly 30% of the nests in the bromefield hatched. Many of the hens seemto select a nesting site near fieldedges.

Red fox were common on theArlington Prairie in the early 1980sbefore being displaced by coyotesin the 1990s. This year, however, wehad both coyotes and fox in the area.If ducks are nesting successfully, weassume that other grassland birdssuch as willow flycatchers and sedgewrens are successful as well.

Note: This spring at Goose Pondwe conducted the annual waterfowlpair count and found the followingpairs: 36 mallards, 22 blue-wingedteals, 5 green-winged teals, 3 northernshovelers, and 1 gadwall.

Volunteer Claire Cowan spreads seed at Faville Grove in November 2005.

Photo by Susan Slapnick



Notes from Faville Grovecontinued from page 1

permit farming. Over the past fourworkdays, a bulldozer has moved anestimated 5,850 cubic yards of soil torestore the hydrologic characteristicsof the 40-acre planting site.

The Natural Resources

Conservation Service of the USDepartment of Agriculture providedmost of the funds for acquisition ofthis parcel through the WetlandsReserve Program, as well as fundingfor the entire hydrologic restorationand the services of their staffengineer, Caroline Clarin. In addition,the Wisconsin Department of NaturalResources contributed funds throughthe Knowles-Nelson StewardshipFund and the Wisconsin BirdConservation Initiative in support of

the project.We are going to all this effort, and

spending some of your tax dollars, torestore the original wildlife habitatthat existed on the site. We hope toprovide habitat for the endangeredplants and animals in the adjacentFaville Prairie State Natural Areaand for declining grassland birdsand waterfowl. But thats only partof the benefit. The wildlife that canmove around, does, spreading thebenefit. Water will no longer rush offthe land through drainage ditchesto exacerbate flooding downstream,saving future tax dollars. The restoredwet prairie will raise ground waterlevels and help to maintain streamflow during dry periods, improvingwater quality and stream habitat.There will no longer be runoffcarrying soil and nutrients directlyinto the river, further improvinghabitat downstream and cleaning upwater supplies. The USDA and DNR

see this as a good investment, and,as an Audubon member, you shouldtoo.

But at Faville Grove, as at GoosePond, were extending the benefits ofour land management even further were restoring a landscape. Wererestoring the long vistas, so importantto grassland birds and to our ownsense of place. Were restoring thebiological diversity that gives textureand meaning to the landscape. AldoLeopold saw in the Faville Grove

landscape a place where he couldwork to reconnect people with land,and Leopolds work in the areahelped to shape his own thinking onland use.

As Curt Meine wrote in AldoLeopold: His Life and Work, the FavilleGrove farms were to exert a majorinfluence on Leopolds thinkingabout land use and the people behindit. MAS is extending Leopoldsvision for the area by recreating alandscape with which people canconnect. In fact, the very process ofvolunteer-based restoration developswhat Leopold termed the sense ofhusbandry and encourages peopleto reconnect with the land on thehighest level.

The Public Service Commission of

Wisconsin is currently consideringa proposal from the AmericanTransmission Company that wouldchange the land use within thesanctuary yet again by condemninga portion of the sanctuary lands (andfuture sanctuary lands) to construct anew transmission line. Like all land-use decisions, this will have effectsthat reach far beyond the footprint ofthe project.

Madison Audubon and the DNRare busy documenting these effectsfor the PSC review, including theeffects on a nearby heron rookery andother wildlife. By far the most far-reaching effects, however, will be theaesthetic toll that the taller poles andwires will have on the landscape. Any


Then the ditch was covered over with clean soil, ready for planting to wet-mesic prairie. Photo by Roger

Packard

The ditch at Charles Prairie was partially filled by bulldozing weedy sod. Photo by Roger Packard



Prairie Restoration

Efforts at Goose

PondFall 2005By Mark and Sue Martin

The goal this fall was to plant 50 acresof prairie on the Western Prairie west

of Goose Pond. Forty-five acres willbe planted to mesic prairie and theremainder will be dry-mesic. We hadrain at critical times so most speciesset a good amount of seed, althoughin early summer we were worriedabout seed quality because of thedrought.

The National Fish and WildlifeFoundation awarded MAS a $13,000grant to purchase seed for restorationof 100 acres of prairie. The granthas to be matched with $13,000 ofvolunteer time (seed collecting andcleaning) and $13,000 of expenses byMAS (intern costs, planting, etc.). Atleast 50 acres will be planted in thefall of 2006.

The grant provided funds forpurchasing less expensive species andthose not available for seed collecting.Abundant species and those of highcost were the focus of our handcollecting and machine seed strippingefforts. Interns collected species

Notes from Faville Grove

continued from page 4

of the alternate routes that wouldtake the new lines more directly toInterstate 94 would have negativeaesthetic impacts as well, but theeffect on the historic landscapeat Faville Grove, a landscape thathelped to shape Aldo Leopolds

land ethic and that will continue toshape the land ethic of generations tocome if we give it the chance, will beimmeasurably greater.

Please support Madison AudubonSocietys land use efforts in anyway you are able with a year-endcontribution, by volunteering tohelp heal and manage the land orsimply by coming out for a visit. OurNew Years Day sunrise field trip iscoming right up!

that were readyin summer, suchas spiderwort andgolden alexander.Volunteers collectedand cleaned animpressive amount ofseed. Species collectedin large quantities

included wild rose,yellow coneflower,stiff goldenrod, heathaster, big bluestem,flowering spurge,showy sunflower,prairie dock, leadplant, spiderwort,round-headedbushclover, rosinweed, Indian grass,compass plant and rattlesnakemaster. These are some of the keyspecies in mesic prairie restorations.

In September and October 58volunteers worked about 625 hourson seed collecting and cleaningefforts. Goose Pond seed volunteersthat worked many days includedTom and Kathie Brock, Curt andArlys Caslavka, Claire Cowan,William and Jean Damm, Bill Grogan,Jim and Marci Hess, Tony Karls,Laura Kearney, and Don Schmidt.Students from Poynette High Schoolvolunteered and did an excellent job.Everyone was impressed with their

interest in prairie restoration.This fall we had a secret weapon

named Hunter. Hunter, our newgolden retriever, helped make seedcollecting fun, and we guessed thatsome volunteers came back just tosee him. Hunter seemed to doublein size from week to week and kepteveryone smiling.

The Pheasants ForeverHabitat Team will plantthe seed using a tractorand seed spreader inNovember. This is thelargest amount of prairierestored at one time atGoose Pond.

Rebecca Shroeder, Wisconsin DNR Bureau of En-

dangered Resources, staindg next to a two-year-

old flowering compass planta plant that usually

takes 4 years to flower! Photo by Mark Martin

Poynette High School students and Goose Pond volunteers on a

beautiful October day collecting seed for the Brandt Prairie. Photo by

Mark Martin

A record 99 volunteers assisted with planting 38 acres at Charles Prairie on

Nov. 12. This is part of the group next to an oak savanna at Charles Prairie.

Photo by Mark Martin



Important Bird

Areas Program

in South-central

Columbia CountyBy Mark and Sue Martin

The Important Bird Areas programis being implemented as a part ofthe overall strategy of the WisconsinBird Conservation Initiative (seewww.wisconsinbirds.org/IBA formore information). Sites may benominated by anyone. A technicalcommittee reviews the nominationsand ranks potential sites in order ofconservation priority. Once a site isrecognized as an important birdarea, the IBA program will workwith stakeholders and interestedparties to develop and coordinateplans for management on the site.The IBA program takes a cooperativeapproach and relies on voluntary,grassroots participation to meet itsgoals.

The primary goals of the IBAprogram in Wisconsin are:

To identify, nominate and recognizekey sites that contribute to theprotection of significant bird

populations or communities

To coordinate and assist in themanagement and/or protection ofthese sites for long-term conservationof birds and their habitats

To provide information that will helpland managers evaluate areas forhabitat management and/or landprotection

To activate public and private

participation in bird conservationefforts

To provide public education andcommunity outreach opportunities

Madison Audubon Society will besubmitting a nomination for the localarea around Goose Pond includingSchoenebergs Marsh and JacksonWaterfowl Production Area. Thenomination requires that information

be provided for bird species of highconservation priority. Species foundbreeding in this area included onthe list are redhead ducks and blackterns, for which 5 breeding pairsare required for nomination. Therest of this list requires 25 breedingpairs each of blue-winged teal,willow flycatchers, sedge wrens and

marsh wrens. Shorebird numbers inmigration will also be provided.For the past two years we have

been assembling breeding-bird datawith the help of Roma Lenahan,Brand Smith and Heisley Lewison.Our goal this summer was to locate25 breeding male willow flycatchers.

Robert McCabe wrote an excellentbook titled The Little Green Bird Ecology of the Willow Flycatcher.Willow flycatchers like to nest inelderberries and dogwood shrubs.

Males are easy to locate as they havea distinctive fitz-bew call. McCabestudied the evening song of willowflycatchers and found that males startcalling after sunset and call until it istotally dark.

We have always had willowflycatchers around the house and thenumber seems to have increased overthe past few years. Their calls do notcarry far and it took some listeningbut we were able to count 11 maleswithin 150 yards of the Goose Pond

residence. Another three birds werelocated along Kampen Road north ofthe pond.

We walked roads at SchoenebergsMarsh and Jackson WPA. We found4 males at Erstad Prairie and 6 moreon the federal land to the north. AtJackson WPA we counted 14 moremales to bring the total found in thethree areas to 38.

The Importance ofInternships from

the Perspective of

an InternBy Heisley Lewison

I was offered the wonderfulopportunity to be an intern duringthe summer of 2005 at Goose Pond

Sanctuary. The reason I wanted thejob was to learn more about prairiesand see if this kind of work wassomething that would interest meenough to pursue it academically.

During my internship I learnedmany skills, ranging from drivinga tractor to plant identificationand seed harvesting. One of the

highlights of my internship wasspending a week at Otsego Marshlooking for and removing garlicmustard. I estimated the area theweed occupied, noted if seedlingswere present, and used a GPS unit todocument the location. Seedlings willbe targeted for future removal.

I quickly learned that priorexperience was not necessary to bean intern. The goal of internship isto learn and ask questions, and I dida lot of both! During my 12-week

internship, I realized that I enjoyedwhat I was doing every day. Thishelped me to focus my major and gotme excited about prairies.

I feel that internships are extremelybeneficial for students as well as theMAS sanctuaries. Sanctuaries benefitby having an extra pair of helpinghands and through the sharingof ideas about the importance ofthe work being done. Internshipsencourage the development of criticalthinking skills about the world and

promote consideration of how ouractions impact our surroundings.I think that it is important tohave students involved with thepreservation of our natural resourcesand for them to take an interest in ourenvironment. Student involvementis an effective way to help ensure thelong-term future of MAS sanctuaries.

NOTE: Heisley was an intern atGoose Pond this summer and servedas crew leader for the 10 summerinterns when they worked at GoosePond, usually each Friday. All ofthe interns did an excellent job. Weenjoyed working with Heisley andenjoyed seeing her enthusiasm for thenatural world.



Zeloski Marsh Baseline

MonitoringBy Bryan Huberty, VolunteerMonitoring Coordinator

Editors note: Zeloski Marsh is a1,500-acre muck farm west of LakeMills that MAS owns and will restorein 2006, primarily to wetland andprairie. It will then be transferred toDNR to manage. Bryan Huberty washired part-time by the Rock RiverCoalition, through a DNR CitizenMonitoring Grant and with MASsupport, to coordinate volunteermonitoring of baseline informationon birds, mammals, frogs, insects,water quality, and plants prior torestoration.

The bulk of my time has beenspent writing reports and entering

and analyzing the mountain of datacollected by volunteers throughoutthe year. The dragonfly and damselflydata are recorded and can be viewedin the Wisconsin Odonata Survey(http://ATRIweb.info/Inventory/Odonata) on the Citizen-BasedMonitoring Network of Wisconsinwebsite (http://www.atriweb.info/cbm/). The bird, amphibian andmammal data can be viewed at theWisconsin NatureMapping website(http://www.wisnatmap.org). To

view the data, use the map tool andzoom in to the London/ZeloskiMarsh northwest of Lake Mills.You can also enter your personalWisconsin wildlife observations onthis site.

I was fortunate to attend twoexcellent monitoring conferences. TheRock River Coalitions conferencein Fort Atkinson in August was agood chance for me to meet otherwildlife enthusiasts and practicemy presentation on challenges and

successes of citizen monitoring.The DNRs 2005 Citizen-

Based Monitoring Conference inOctober in Manitowish Waterswas an invaluable educational andnetworking experience as well. Inaddition to presenting my monitoringresults, I was able to listen to manyDNR and citizen monitoring talks,meet experts and citizen scientistsin many monitoring/wildlifegroups, and develop a broader,

more comprehensive plan for futuremonitoring projects. The icing onthe cake was an award presentedto my employer, The Rock RiverCoalition, by the DNR as the topcitizen monitoring group of the year.This award was earned and is onlypossible thanks to the hundreds ofvolunteers who have helped the

Coalition in stream, lake and wetlandmonitoring. Thanks to MadisonAudubon Society for providing$2,000 to assist with the monitoringproject.

Finally, monitoring activities atZeloski Marsh have slowed due tothe change in season, the conferenceand the data-crunching aspects ofbeing a coordinator. We have beenmonitoring macroinvertebrates,waterfowl and migrating fall birds.A floristic analysis of Hope Lake

Bog began in early September forcomparison with the last surveyat the site in the 1960s. The bogwas found to be ecologically andvegetatively intact. A spring surveywill complete the floristic survey atHope Lake Bog.

The DNR conference producedseveral exciting new monitoringopportunities for our group. Ouramphibian monitoring team willbe able to use two new pieces ofequipment in the spring: tree frog

PVC tubes and a FrogLogger. TheFrogLogger is a recording devicedesigned by the DNR to record frogcalls throughout the night at variousintervals.The DNR has helpedour mammal monitoring team byassisting us in a small mammalsnap-trap survey this fall in the 60-acre swamp. Carnivore tracking andspotlighting of mammals will also beconducted this fall and winter.

Currently, Madison AudubonSociety is making plans to seed 440acres of sedge meadow, wet-mesicand mesic prairie. The hydrologywill be restored next summer undercoordination of Wetland ReserveProgram staff. Information on thewetland and prairie restoration willbe in a future CAWS.

Teams are currently beingformed to help us monitor in 2006.If you would like to help us as acitizen scientist, regardless of timecommitment, please contact me at

[email protected] or (608) 345-4124.

Thank YouBy Eugene Woehler, SanctuariesCommittee Chair

Acquiring and restoring land and

managing MAS sanctuaries takesa lot of work with many partners.Heres a list of some of the wonderfulpeople and organizations who havegiven freely and generously of theirtime and resources to get the jobdone. There are so many of you,we apologize that we cant mentioneveryones name individually!

Special thanks to:

Agrecol for providing seed for theprairie and wetland restorations atwholesale cost;

An anonymous donor for providingfunds for facility developmentat MAS sanctuaries in ColumbiaCounty;

Curt Caslvaka for painting the corncrib at Goose Pond;

Dane Cooperative for providing seed

corn for planting food plots;

Donors too numerous to mentionindividually for providing fundingfor land acquisition and restorationwork;

Dorothy Haines and her helpers forpublicizing Goose Pond and MASevents;

Fish and Wildlife Service throughthe North American Wetlands

Conservation Act for land acquisitionfunds for Goose Pond;

LMS Construction, Louie Meisterand Scott Bauman for doing anexcellent job restoring the wetland atCharles Prairie;

Melvin and Bonnie Martin forproviding a bag sewer for sewing




Thank you continued frompage 7

bags containing prairie seed. Thesewer was used at the Martin feedmill;

Michler and Browns habitat crewthat works on invasive species andseed collecting at MAS preserves;

Mounds Petfood Warehouse and Jilland Jerry Martin for providing birdseed for Goose Pond;

National Fish and WildlifeFoundation for providing funds torestore 100 acres of prairie at Goose

Pond;

Office Staff, Sanctuaries Committee,and the MAS Board of Directors forall their work related to sanctuaries;

Pete Cannon for scanning GoosePond slides;

Sanctuary Managers Mark and SueMartin, David Musolf, and RogerPackard for their dedication and

tireless work at Goose Pond andFaville Grove Sanctuaries;

Solheim Billing and Grimmer lawfirm, David Billing and CindyDraeger for their legal assistancerelated to land acquisition andprotection;

The Prairie Enthusiasts for providinglocal genotype seed that theirvolunteers collected;

Volunteers who assistedwith seed collecting,cleaning, and planting atCharles Prairie, FavilleGrove, Goose Pond, andZeloski Marsh, and thosewho donated seeds;

Volunteers who assisted

with fund-raising eventsand mailings;

Wetland Reserve Programstaff Caroline Clarinsand Alice Klink, forcoordinating the wetlandrestoration at CharlesPrairie;

William and Jean Dammfor all their assistance,including equipment

repair, seed storage andassisting with Eagle Scoutprojects;

Wisconsin Bird ConservationInitiative for providing funding tohelp restore 40 acres of wet-mesicprairie at Charles Prairie; and

Wisconsin Department of NaturalResources Stewardship Fund forfunding land purchases at GoosePond and Rose Lake and restorationfunds for Zeloski Marsh.

Field Trips: See the

New Years Sunrise

Sunday, Jan. 1Sunrise Tour of Faville Grove

Sanctuary

Our annual New Years Day sunrise

field trip at Faville Grove Sanctuarywill meet at Buddys Place, the oldfarmstead at N7710 Hwy 89, at 6:55a.m. If there is good snow and youhave snowshoes, bring them along.Otherwise, sturdy boots for uneventerrain will do.

From I-94, take the Lake Mills/Waterloo exit and go north onHighway 89 about 2.5 miles. Thedriveway is on the right immediatelypast North Shore Road, whichintersects from the left.

We will meander through the prairiein the pre-dawn light to arrive at themarsh overlook in time for sunrise,and then spend the early morningexploring the Faville Grove Marshand surrounding uplands.

Volunteer sanctuary managers DavidMusolf and Roger Packard will leadthe trip.

Winter is a great time to get up closeand personal with our beautifulWisconsin wetlands; there is no betterway to start the New Year!

Note: Be sure to check the web site:http://madisonaudubon.org for anyupdates to field trips.

Compass plant leaves



Sanctuaries Highlight of the YearPast Highlights

2004 Acquisition of the 116-acre Northern Prairie at Goose Pond

2003 Acquisition of 1,730 acres at Goose Pond, Rose Lake andZeloski Marsh

2002 Goose Pond went dry; lowering water levels providedexcellent shorebird habitat

2001 Acquisition of 3 acres at Goose Pond and 140 acres at FavilleGrove Sanctuary

2000 Willy Hutchesons sighting of five species of geese at one timeat Goose Pond this was before Cackling Geese were splitfrom Canada geese

1999 Restoration 25 acres of wetland and prairie at Faville Grove

1998 Excellent growing year for prairie establishment/seedproduction

1997 Snowy owl invasion in Jan. and Feb. on Arlington Prairie

1996 Sandhill cranes return to nest at Goose Pond Sanctuary after100-year absence (HIGHLIGHT OF THE 1990s DECADE)

1995 Establishment of Mary Muckenhirn Stewardship Endowment

1994 Large numbers of waterfowl, pheasant and gray partridgebroods

1993 Record rainfall: 16 inches in June and July

1992 Acquisition of 74 acres at Goose Pond

1991 1,200 snow geese in fall at Goose Pond Sanctuary

1990 30,000 mallards use Otsego Marsh Sanctuary as staging areaduring migration

Soil Research at

Goose PondBy Mark and Sue Martin

The University of Wisconsin SoilsDepartment has maintained aresearch site at Goose Pond in theBicentennial Prairie. While much soil

research is done at the UW ArlingtonExperimental Farms, some studiesalso require baseline, benchmark, orcontrol sites. Mesic prairie was theoriginal vegetation of the area and theBicentennial Prairie (restored in 1976)provided an important control site forthe UW studies.

The primary researcher was

Kristofor Brye, who collected dataas part of his masters and doctoratedegrees. He also conducted someresearch on the restored prairie. Kriswrote us recently saying, I still thinkabout Goose Pond frequently andmiss the quiet mornings I used tospend out there. Kris also enjoyedvisiting with our golden retrievers,Buck and Badger. He is now anassociate professor of applied soilphysics in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The UW Soils Department

conducted a variety of studiesthat included research at GoosePond, including a water-budgetevaluation of prairie and maizeecosystems, a study on the fate ofnutrients following three- and six-year burn intervals in a restoredtallgrass prairie, and an assessmentof the progress of a tallgrass prairierestoration.

Planting a seed: Leslie DeMuth and Jerry Martin screen gray goldenrod, while Sue Knaack boxes up dry

black-eyed susan for hammer milling. Photo by Matt Berigan



Future Inhabitants of Charles Prairie Include...Gift for Columbia

County SanctuariesBy Mark and Sue Martin, andDietrich Schaaf

Madison Audubon Society receivedan anonymous donation to improvepublic use at our sanctuaries in

Columbia County.

Work is under way to provideparking areas, information signs,plant identification signs, hiking trailsand benches at Goose Pond, ErstadPrairie, and Otsego Marsh.

Four Boy Scouts who are workingon their Eagle Award are assistingMAS. At Otsego Marsh a Scout islaying out the 1.25-mile hiking trail

and coordinating the rest of the troop,who will remove woody material and

make the trail usable.

Another Scout is erecting awildlife watching blind and benchesalong hiking trails. The parkinglot at Otsego has been constructedand trail work should be done inNovember. Two Scouts are workingon expanding our wood duck andkestrel nest box program.

Our thanks to the donor and allthose involved with improving public

use at the sanctuaries. The goal is tohave this work done by next spring.

We hope you will use and enjoythe improvements and improvedaccess to your sanctuary lands.

...Prairie Dock

The large basal leaves

of this member of the

sunflower family makea dramatic statement

whether in the prairie

landscape or your own

backyard.

The yellow flower

appears on a tall stalk

raised above the leaves

in summer.

...Michigan Lily

The swept-back petals of this beautiful lily are orange

with cinnamon freckles. The leaves are whorls of dark

green.

Snow Geese and MoreReported at Goose Pond

In November, Tom Prestby reportedon the Wisconsin Birding Network

listserv seeing the largest number ofSnow Geese I have seen in quite awhile.

He and his father birded the Sauk/Columbia county area, starting out atDevils Lake State Park, where theyfound high winds and no TownsendsSolitaires. He reported that otherareas in northern Dane and Columbiacounties were very quiet but GoosePond was a major exception. Thepond was full of waterfowl....

They found:

1 ROSSS GOOSE50 Snow Geese (6 white, the rest wereblues)80+ Cackling Geese40 Tundra SwansLots of ducks including just aboutevery common waterfowl species.

Good birding to everyone!



Naming Prairies to Thank Friends and

Donors

Madison Audubon Society will honorseveral good friends and donors bynaming prairies at Goose Pond andFaville Grove Sanctuaries next year.Dedication details will be announced

in the CAWS and on our website.

Lapinski-Kitze Prairie. Dr. ElsieLapinski and Dr. Lois Smithies (neeKitze) have given generously overthe past two years to establish theLapinski-Kitze Prairie Fund. Thefund is helping to pay for MadisonAudubon Societys January 2005purchase of the 116-acre NorthernPrairie at Goose Pond. In the future,the fund will be used to purchaseadditional land for Goose PondSanctuary when such land comes upfor sale.

Vera and Marshall Browne Prairie.Another good friend of Goose PondSanctuary also helped with purchaseof the Northern Prairie. An additionalgift from the same donor is enablingimprovements at Goose Pond and OtsegoMarsh, making these sites more userfriendly. We will recognize this donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, bydedicating a portion of the recently acquired Western Prairie in memory of Vera

and Marshall Browne.

Charles Prairie. An 80-acre portion of Madison Audubon Societys FavilleGrove Sanctuary near Lake Mills will be dedicated in loving memory of CharlesL. Kimport, son of Julia F. Loufek and Kenneth R. Kimport of Madison. Fundswere donated anonymously.

MAS Donations The Perfect Gift

Donations made October 4 through November 2

ACRE MAKERWilliam H. KnoedlerIn Memory of Neal Ripple

Stephen Ripple

HALF-ACRE MAKERRoma Lenehan

GIFTS IN MEMORY OF A PERSONIn Memory of Rosemary Sedlacek

Paul and Irene RasmussenIn Memory of Monica Welniak

Dorothy HainesGloria Welniak

YES, I want to make MadisonAudubon Societys vision areality. Here is my contribu-tion to the Wildlife SanctuariesCampaign.

[ ] Acre Maker. $2,000 or more to buy

and restore another acre of land.

[ ] Half-Acre Maker. $1000-$1999.[ ] Quarter-Acre Maker. $500-$999.

[ ] Adopt An Acre. I pledge $100 a yearfor three years ($300 total) towardsanctuaries restoration.Here is my first installment.

[ ] Nest Egg. I pledge $50 a year for threeyears($150 total). Here is my firstinstallment.

[ ] My Own Vision. $ ____ to help asmuch as possible.

[ ] My Gift. $ ____ for MAS Program

Support (I.E. Education & Newsletter)Direct my gift to:

[ ] Where it will help the most

[ ] Endowment fund to restore and main-tain the sanctuaries

[ ] Land acquisition at Faville Grove

[ ] Land acquisition at Goose Pond

[ ] MAS Program Support

NAME

ADDRESS

In Memory of

In Honor of

For Gifts Honoring Another: SendAcknowledgment to:

NAME

ADDRESS

Contributions will be acknowledged nearthe Madison Information Board at GoosePond as follows: $1,000 or morenameto appear on a permanent plaque; $250-$999name to appear on engraved pav-

ing brick.[ ] Do not acknowledge in Madison

Audubon Society Newsletter

Make checks payable to:Madison Audubon Society

Mail to: Madison Audubon Society,222 S. Hamilton Street, Suite #1,Madison, WI 53703

Gift is tax deductible to the extentallowed by law. Madison AudubonSocietys financial statement is availableupon request.

...and Obedient Plant.


12/12

Madison Audubon Society, Inc.Joanne Herfel, President222 S. Hamilton St. Suite #1Madison, WI 53703

Return Service Requested

Non-profit organizationU.S. Postage PaidPermit No. 1831

Madison, Wisconsin

12/05Is it time to renew your membership?

See form on page 2 and help MAS.

MAS Calendar at a Glance

612 W. Main St.,

Suite 303

Madison, WI 53703

(608) 256-1066

Ivory-billedWoodpecker Talk

by Jim Fitzpatrick

Tickets are still available for theWisconsin Wetlands AssociationScience Forum banquet, Thursday,Feb. 2, 2006, at the Monona TerraceConvention Center. This yearsbanquet speaker, Jim Fitzpatrick, willbe giving a talk titled In Search of

the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

By now weve all heard the storyof the ivory-billed woodpecker,thought extinct since the 1940s beforebeing rediscovered in Arkansas andmaking a miraculous appearance onthe pages ofScience. Jim Fitzpatrick,Executive Director of the CarpenterSt. Croix Valley Nature Centerin Hastings, Minnesota, is one ofseven individuals to have madea documented sighting of this

magnificent species.

Banquet tickets are available to thepublic for $35. For more informationand to register, go towww.wiscwetlands.org or call (608)250-9971.

Christmas Bird Counts

Thursday, Dec. 15Waterloo CBC Bob Domagalski,(262) 251-6259, [email protected]

Saturday, Dec. 17Madison CBC Cheri Carbon, (608)233-0024, [email protected]

Wednesday, Dec. 28

Baraboo CBC Scott Swengel, (608)356-9543

Saturday, Dec. 31Poynette CBC Mark andSue Martin, (608) 635-4160,[email protected]

Saturday, Dec. 31Sauk City CBC Karl andDorothy Legler, (608) 643-4926,[email protected]

Sunday, Jan. 1Mt. Horeb CBC Ken Wood, (608)767-3343, [email protected]

For all other counts (there are 100in Wisconsin) see www.uwgb.edu/birds/wso/cbc.htm

Field Trips

Sunday, Jan. 1Sunrise Tour of Faville GroveSanctuary

dec 2005 caws newsletter madison audubon society

Documents