1. L.H. Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve, Brown County Parks
I found this "green spot" on the map before we arrived, and knew I wanted to check it out. Barkhausen includes 920 acres of forest, meadows, and wetlands right along the west shore of the Green Bay. They had a very nice nature center, free and open to the public, as well as programming, a hiking (and skiing) trail system, and several nice waterfowl impoundments. We saw a number of egrets and herons using the marsh, as well as a nice prairie restoration area still blooming with wildflowers. The only negative here was the absolutely oppressive mosquitoes- we'll be back later in the season (and will remember to take some photos next time)!
2. Mountain-Bay State Recreational Trail, Brown County Parks section
The Mountain-Bay State Recreational Trail is a "rail-to-trail" system that runs for 83 miles from Howard (where we live, supposedly the "Bay" part of the name) for 83 miles to the center of the state in Wausau (still not sure where this "Mountain" is...). We walked about 2.5 miles out from Howard and back- the trail is free for walkers, but bikers, skaters, and skiers pay a daily or annual user fee since the trail is part of the state park system. The trail was not too busy on a Saturday afternoon, and we saw a number of songbirds as well as a doe that crossed the path in front of us. We definitely plan to go back to walk again, and probably for a bike ride sometime soon.
3. Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, City of Green Bay Parks
Surprisingly, the wildlife sanctuary is a Green Bay City park free and open to the public. Not only do they have several ponds on site with lots of waterfowl and shorebirds, but they also have an active wildlife rehabilitation center for injured and orphaned wildlife, birds of prey center with educational birds that cannot be released, 3-story nature center, and a "Habi-trek" which houses a number of captive animals for viewing both indoors and out. We were surprised to find the park open on a Sunday afternoon/evening and spent a couple hours walking through the exhibits. We saw a number of animals, with the highlights including a pack of wolves, cougar, bobcats, sandhill cranes, and the birds of prey (including eagles, hawks, and owls). Many of the animals were very active while we were there, so photographer Scott got some great photos. We also spent a few minutes birding at the ponds after viewing all of the exhibits and had some great views of plenty of birds, including great blue herons, ruddy ducks, and Baltimore orioles. Highlights for me included a Caspian tern and a white pelican among the typical mallards and Canada geese!
I even went back the next day (Monday) to see the wolf feeding at 1:30. The event was advertised as a "carcass drop" to the dismay of many of the visitors (ewww!), but of course, I couldn't miss this. No carcass available on Monday (the wolves normally are fed roadkill deer, when available), so they got meat chunks spread around their enclosure. It was still neat to watch them get all excited and run around searching for the meat. After the feeding, an Oneida man sat for a few minutes and played the flute followed by another instrument I didn't recognize. From an exhibit at the park, I know that the wolf, along with the bear and the turtle, represent the clans of the Oneida Nation and are particularly important animals. It was pretty neat to watch the wolves while listening to the tribal music.
The Oneida Reservation is adjacent to Green Bay; however, they did not historically inhabit this region. The Oneida inhabited upstate New York as one of the nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. More on the Oneida in a future blog.
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