Wisconservation

I had been looking forward to the Building a Land Ethic:  Teaching and Learning Across Boundaries conference for months.  As a Land Ethic Leader alumna from last year (revisit the blog mention here), I heard about the conference through communications from The Aldo Leopold Foundation and knew I had to attend- especially since the event was held at the University of Wisconsin- Baraboo/Sauk County, only a 2.5 hour drive away.  I booked a campsite at Rocky Arbor State Park in Wisconsin Dells (i.e., "the Dells") and hoped for good weather!

For those that don't know, Aldo Leopold was a trained forester who became the first professor of wildlife management (at UW-Madison), as well as a skilled writer for diverse audiences.  If you need a book to read, check A Sand County Almanac published in 1949- his most popular work, which describes his observations of nature and seasons, has been translated into 12 different languages.  To say he had a way with words would be an understatement, but probably the most interesting aspect (I think) is how relevant his words and observations remain today, so many years later.  One of my favorite essays describes The Land Ethic, the concept of caring for the land because we are a part of the biotic community and not separate from it, which developed over the course of his life as opposed to an "aha" moment.  For us wildlife professionals anyway, this is meaningful stuff.

Scott had put in some extra time at work the weekend before working at the WI State Fair down in Milwaukee (176 different deep fried food items to try!?), so he was able to travel with me to camp and do his own sightseeing in the area (hiking at state parks and beer sampling at the local microbreweries- he should write another blog about this part) while I attended the conference events.  We left Thursday morning and made our way in the southwesterly direction through cows, corn, corn, birthplace of the Republican party, and more corn.  The weekend was a hot one throughout- low to mid- 90s with lots of humidity, but it only rained lightly a couple of times for short periods over the whole weekend.  We really lucked out.

The conference was fantastic- lots of discussion of diversity and inclusiveness, as well as engaging communities in the land ethic.  I met so many other professionals in conservation education, non-profit organizations, Land Ethic Leaders, and Leopold Education Project leaders. I even got to connect with a few friendly faces from RLEL last year!  I also enjoyed field trips to both the International Crane Foundation (representatives of all 15 of the world's crane species are in residence) and the Leopold Family "shack" (so named by Leopold himself, now a National Historic Landmark) on the Wisconsin River- both fantastic visits and very inspiring.  I had been to the shack once before during a Wildlife Society conference in October 2013, but this was my first time on a guided tour where I had the opportunity to visit inside.  Added bonus!

Estella Leopold, youngest daughter of Aldo, talks about her experiences with her family at the shack.  The notes on the screen behind her are hers from when she took her dad's class as a college student.  How cool is that?!

 Black-crowned crane (native to Africa) at ICF- so beautiful!

 Beautiful mural of what the Baraboo Hills prairie looked like historically, complete with passenger pigeons on the left (now extinct).  Yes, they have "hills" over in Baraboo- I was so excited!

Whooping crane exhibit- tallest flying bird in North America.  So majestic!

Leopold Shack- the family worked on weekends and holidays to restore the shack (a former chicken coop) and the surrounding land after the farm was completely burned out and sold during the Dust Bowl in the 1930s.

The fireplace in the shack was built by the family.  Very rustic accommodations, but so practical!

Conference attendees participated in the dedication for the newly constructed Leopold Memorial site, including this memorium and a restored prairie (complete with bison figures).

The only negative was the oppressive heat, but it was survivable if you held still and kept quiet!  Wisconsin Dells is eerily very much like Gatlinburg, TN, with the addition of all the water parks- lots of touristy stuff in such close proximity to great natural wonders, which makes it a little bit depressing in my opinion.  Everyone else disagrees apparently (it was packed), so what do I know?

On the way home on Sunday, we continued the Wisconservation theme by visiting John Muir's boyhood home, now maintained as a county park and National Historic Landmark.  He immigrated to the US with his family when he was 11 years old and settled on Fountain Lake Farm in Marquette County, Wisconsin in 1849 (whoa- exactly 100 years before A Sand County Almanac!).  John Muir is known as the father of the national park system and for his deep connection with and tireless protection of Yosemite National Park, not to mention co-founding the Sierra Club.  Before John Muir walked to Florida for the heck of it and moved to California to save the sequoias, he was right here in our backyard exploring the prairies of Wisconsin.  We hiked a short 2-mile segment of the Ice Age Trail that loops around the lake (now called Ennis Lake). 

 

The beautiful prairie at Fountain Lake Farm

 "...even if I should never see it again, the beauty of its lillies and orchids is so pressed into my mind I shall always enjoy looking back at them in imagination, even across seas and continents and perhaps after I am dead." -JM

 John Muir- Foster Son of Wisconsin (figured I would be in it, but it turned out kind of neat).

A fantastic Wisconservation weekend, if I do say so myself!

Bird is the word

I had the chance to help with 2 duck banding efforts in the area in addition to my regularly scheduled work program over the last couple of weeks.  You may have read the previous post from June about goose banding- the concept is pretty similar, although the tactics for catching the birds are a little different.  The information collected from banded birds can be valuable for population studies related to survival and mortality, migration and dispersal, and reproduction success (see the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory for more information).

Collins Marsh
Collins Marsh Wildlife Area is located in Manitowoc County, about 45 minutes southeast of the City of Green Bay towards Lake Michigan.  The duck banding operation there involves an early morning, a cannon net, and a duck blind- observers get into the blind at about 4:30 AM and wait for the ducks to come in to the baiting site (the corn pile).  They are often very wary of people, so the observers wear camouflage clothing, stay hidden in the blind, and stay very quiet.  The biologist "takes the shot" when ready, which detonates the explosives and releases the net, and captures the ducks beneath unharmed.  Most of the time, the shot occurs at around 6 AM and ducks are processed very quickly thanks to all the volunteer help.

  An early morning at Collins Marsh

Each duck is aged (juvenile or adult) and sexed (male or female), and receives a bracelet (or band) with a number and website for a hunter or other individual to report where the bird was located if recaptured or killed at a later time.  Unlike the geese we banded a few weeks ago that were flightless at the time due to their molt, ducks will take right off from your hands when released.  We banded 42 ducks that morning (a lower number than usual, due to a light wind that made the shot difficult)- 10 mallards, 31 wood ducks, and 1 green-winged teal.  The ducks are not in breeding plumage right now and some of the young born this year are right on the cusp of adulthood, so it can make it a little more challenging to figure out their age and sex. 

 Getting ready to release an male wood duck after he received his new "jewelry."  Woodies have surprisingly sharp claws, used for perching in trees.

Nice look at the green-winged teal, complements of event organizer Josh

Staff and volunteers rolling up the net after finishing with banding- very important to get it put away properly so it will fire correctly at the next shot. 

 The team after a successful morning of banding (which ended at 6:30 AM, before the morning even began!).  The blind is located up in the trees behind everyone, to the right of the photo.

As I heard beforehand, one of the best things about duck banding is the delicious group breakfast at the Silver Dollar Diner in the nearby village of Valders following a successful morning of banding.  Friendly staff and a wonderful breakfast- they even gave us a shout out on Facebook!



Navarino
Navarino Wildlife Area is located in the westerly direction from the City of Green Bay in Shawano County (pronounced SHAWN oh- weird, I know) and Waupaca County (waw PACK uh).  Unlike at Collins, Duck banding at Navarino takes place at night beginning at dusk.  Volunteers watch a short presentation given by the local wildlife technician beforehand and then jump into vehicles to ride to 3 different trapping sites.  Each site has a wire trap set up (referred to as a "walk-in trap"), that allows ducks to walk in to access the bait (also corn) through several open doors.  The first team on site approaches and quickly closes off the small doors with burlap bags, leaving the ducks inside the wire trap.  The ducks are gently herded to an opening once a separate smaller trap is prepared to then transport the ducks to the banding location.  Banding takes place under lanterns since it is so dark on the wildlife area.

Scott and I both volunteered for an evening at Navarino (on our 4th wedding anniversary, in fact), so it made for an interesting and fun evening out!  We helped to herd some of the ducks to the portable traps (Havahart live traps) and also carried ducks to the banders for processing.  We also got to help with blocking off the exit doors at the second site, so that was pretty exciting to jump out of the truck and hurry in on the trap.  The mosquitoes were pretty bad at the first couple of the sites, but overall it was a nice evening in the marsh even though rain was expected the next day.  I heard Navarino is a great place to view stars, but it was pretty cloudy on the evening we were there.  The team banded 90 new ducks- 31 mallards and 59 wood ducks. We also captured 18 mallards and 11 wood ducks that already had bands (known as recaptures).  For recaptures, we recorded the number on the band as a known location of the bird and released them.  Unfortunately, no photos from the evening due to the darkness and cardio workout received from swatting at Wisconsin's state bird (i.e., mosquitoes).