Dec 1999 CAWS Newsletter Madison Audubon Society

8/9/2019 Dec 1999 CAWS Newsletter Madison Audubon Society

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22 2 S. HAM ILTON ST. M ADISON W ISCON SIN 53703 255 BIRD DECEMBER 1999

past memories that ou r visitors have of

Goose Pond. John and Marlen Kaiser,

and Johns parents, Fritz and Kristie

visited November 11, and reminisced

about their visits to Goose Pond over

the decades. Fritz mention theArmistice Day storm of 1940 when

one of his friends almost froze in place

while hunting at Goose Pond on that

eventful day. Fritz also mentioned

about the pine tree-covered hill north

of the house and how it was the first

landmark he would view on his fre-

quent visits to Goose Pond.

Many volunteers, neighbors, partner

organizations, and members have

become best friends. It is a joy to

work with peop le who love conduc t-

ing prairie restorations, and we like to

hear about their sightings of plants

and wildlife. We have many fond

memories of working on projects withfriends such as William and Jean

Damm, Arnold (Pepper) Jackson, Jeff

Nania, Darrel Potter, Don Schmidt,

Kurt Waterstradt, Gene Woehler,

Megan Yost and Tony Karls.

As we enter the last year of this cen-

tury we treasure past memories with

our friends and families and look for-

ward to continuing our existing

friendships and meeting new friends.

Our watch at Goose Pond has

spanned a fast twenty years. We are

fortunate to live at Goose Pond, and

to be able to observe the prairie and

wetland restorations as they develop,

and to view wildlife throughout theseasons and the years.

While living at Goose Pond, we

have had the privilege to meet and

work with many interesting and won-

derful people. We like to hear the bird

watchers describe their observations

and it is pleasing to see that our hard

work benefits wildlife and wildlife

viewers.

We especially enjoy hearing the

On Our Watch 20 Years a t Goose PondBy Mark and Sue Martin

SpecialSanctuaries

Issue

By Mark and Sue Martin

Madison Audubon acquired 50

acres of land adjacent to the

University of Wisconsins Faville

Prairie State Natural Area in 1998.

There, three ditches drained 24 acres

of cropland. We set out on an ambi-

tious plan to restore the area during

1999. We are proud to report that a

large part of the restoration has been

accomplished this past year.Benefits and Impacts

Acquisition and restoration will

directly impact the adjacent state nat-

ural area because a common ditch

drains the natural area and over time

the plant composition will change. In

addition this property will act as a

buffer for the virgin prairie, from neg-

ative impacts such as herbicide drift.

The prairie community will benefit

in the long run because there will be

additional habitat created for another

one million prairie plants including

rare species. Over time the white-

fringed prairie orchid and wh ite-

ladys-slipper will establish popula-

tions in the reestablished prairie. The

larger the habitat, and the greater the

number of individuals present, the

better the chance that plant popula-

tions can remain viable over the long-

term.

Grassland bird use w ill increase

with the increase in prairie habitat.

Perhaps the upland sandpiper will

again nest on the prairie. Small mam-

mal numbers will increase and pro-

vide more prey for prairie raptors such

as the marsh hawk and short-eared

owl.

Invertebrate populations will alsoincrease. One state-endangered

species found on the adjacent natural

area is the silphium borer moth. This

rare moth feeds only on prairie dock,

and their populations should increase

as the number of prairie dock plants

increase.

Prairie Restoration

The p lans called for us to collect seed

The rare silphium b orer moth. Ron Panze r

continued on next page

Fav i l le Grov e Na tura l Area Wetland / Pra ir ie Restora t ion


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from as many plant spec ies as possi-

ble. All seed would be collected with-

in three miles of the site. Most of the

seed was collected at the UWs

Faville Prairie, The Nature

Conservancys (TNC) Snapper Prairie,

and from the Department of NaturalResources Bluejoint Prairie located

within the Waterloo Wildlife Area.

Restoration work began in fall of 1998

with volunteers co llecting grasses and

legumes. Legumes and grasses are

easily stored because of longer shelf

lives, and are needed in larger

amounts.

Summer interns began extensive

seed collecting efforts in June of 1999.

First, they located and marked early-

blooming species such as blue-eyed

grass, which would be hard to locatewhen their seeds were ripe. Many of

these early blooming species were

collected on their hands and knees.

Matt Herrmann, our summer intern,

coordinated summer seed collecting

efforts as part of his intern project.

Fourteen species of seeds were col-

lected by mid-August. The list of

species and amounts collected was

impressive. An e stimated 40 million

seeds worth abou t $9,500 were col-

lected, dried and cleaned. An estimat-

ed 4 ,400,000 shooting star seeds

worth about $3,600 was a highlight.

Fall seed collecting efforts began on

Saturday, September 11 and ended on

October 30. Seventy-six additional

species were collected. Table 1 lists

half of the 90 species that were col-

lected. Madison Audubon hired four

persons to assist volunteers with seed

collecting, drying, cleaning and plant-

ing. Steve Richter, TNC Manager,

coordinated two seed collecting

efforts at Snapper Prairie. This was a

major effort as many species pro-

duced large amounts of seed and

were available for collecting.

The fanning mill and hammermill

were busy at Goose Pond in late

Oc tober and early November. Seed

was cleaned to make it easier for

planting and also to give us an e sti-mate of the quantity planted. Species

were then assigned what habitat they

should be planted in.

The day before, planting areas

(cropland and wetland restorations)

were marked out into 48 plots. Each

plot was assigned a habitat type,

either mesic, wet-mesic or wetland

basin. The land was planted to corn

last summer and the farmer harvested

silage corn leaving an excellent bed

for fall plan ting.

November 6th was an exciting day.It was an excellent day for planting

with the weather being warm and

sunny, with calm winds. Eighteen

volunteers assisted in preparing seed

mixes and hand planting. David

Musolf secured two truckloads of

sawdust that were used to help dis-

tribute the seed. Each plot was plant-

ed with a grass mix, a forb mix and a

mix of large sliphiums (compass

plants, prairie dock and rosinweed).

We began at 9 a.m. and after walking

many miles, finished p lanting at sun-set.

Tree Removal

Another major part of this restoration

involved removal of trees such as

box elder so they would not seed

into the restored prairie. Tree

removal was also necessary so that

the drainage ditches could be filled

in. Volunteers spent one day in

Z02

7xCH

MADISON AUDUBON SOCIETYPresident: Joann e Herfel, 241-8009

Vice-president: Amy McDaniel, 238-0450

Goose Pond Resident Naturalists:

Mark and Sue Martin, 635-4160

Editors: Pat & Deb Ready, 873 -1703

[email protected]

Graphic design: Pat Ready.

Printed by Roemer Printing.

THE AUDUBON CAWS is pub lished

September through July by:

Madison Audubon Society,

222 S. Hamilton St.,

Madison, WI 53703,

(608) 255-BIRD (2473).

Birding h otline, 255-BIRM.

Madison Audubon Web Page:

http://madisonaudubon.org

E-mail: masoffice@mailba g.com

E-mail services donated by Berbee

Contribution deadline is December 15 for

the Janua ry issue, for which items may be

sent to Pat Ready, 1210 Oakwood Ct.,

Stoughton, WI 53589. p [email protected]

The mission of the Madison Audubo n

Society is to educ ate our members and the

public about the natural world and the

threats that natural systems are facing, to

engage in advocacy to preserve and protect

these systems, and to develop and maintain

sanctuaries to save and restore natural ha bi-

tat.

JOIN M ADISONAUDUBON

Student/Senior: $15

Introductory membership: $20

Basic: $35

Foreign: Add $10 in US funds.

NAME

ADDRESS

CITY

STATE ZIP

____I do not wish to receive AUDUBON maga-

zine

____The National Audubon Society occasionally

makes its membership list available to carefully

selected organizations whose mailings you might

find of interest. To have your name omitted from

this list, please che ck here.

Please enclose your check payable to

National Audubon Society and mail to Madison

Audubo n Society, 222 S. Hamilton St . #1 ,

Madison, WI 5370 3. Memberships are shared

with National Audubon and all members receive

Audubon magazine.

Faville Prairiecontinued from page 1

Prairie planting at Faville Prairie. Photo by Dorothy Haines


3/8

spring removing trees. Mark Pfost, our MAS summer intern,

coordinated most of the tree removal project in late summer

with the assistance of other interns. This was difficult work

especially on hot days. After the trees were cut, they were

moved into large piles.

Wetland Restoration

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biologist Greg Kidd coordi-

nated the wetland restoration project as a Wetland Reserve

Program project with the Department of Agriculture. To

begin the project, Greg prepared an elevation map with

assistance in surveying from Mark Pfost. Greg then prepared

a restoration plan that called for filling 2,200 feet of ditchesas well as restoring four wetland basins. Greg coordina ted

the bid process while Fish and Wildlife Biologist Art

Kitchen coordinated the restoration work that was done by

N.D. Navis from Waupun. Everyone was impressed with

the quality of the w ork.

Partners and Donors

The success in acquisition and restoration at Faville

Grove Natural Area is due to donations of time and dollars

by many people.

Donations to assist with land acquisition and restoration

at our Faville Grove Natural Area Project were received

from loca l supporters including David and Frances Tillotson,

Max Parch, David Musolf and Roger Packard.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service coordinated the wetland

restoration project and a lso provided funds for the restora-

tion. The Farm Service Agency (Dept. of Agriculture) also

provided wetland restoration funds. The U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service provided funding to assist with collecting

early, summer blooming species through their challenge

grant program. The Natural Resources Conservation Service

also provided funding through the Wildlife Habitat

Improvement Program (WHIP) to assist with collecting andplanting late summer and fall blooming spec ies. All grants

required matches of cash or volunteer time. THANKS TO

EVERYONE AND ORGANIZATIONS tha t provided dona-

tions of time or funding.

Prairie Lane and a Lone Bur O ak

On November 6th, we left Goose Pond Sanctuary, located

on Prairie Lane at 8:00 a.m. with a truckload of prairie

seed for Faville Prairie. We parked a t the end of another

lane named Prairie Lane at 9 a.m. Another similarity

between the properties is that there is a single, large bur oak

on each project along with a number of smaller oaks.

Snapper Prairie Connection

Mark worked with the D epartment of Natural ResourcesBureau of Research in the 1970s and assisted with wildlife

studies in the Waterloo Area. He worked with Chuck Pils,

recently retired as Director of the Bureau o f Endangered

Resources.

On Saturday Decem ber 9th, 1972 Chuck and Mark hunt-

ed pheasants on the Miller property that was about one mile

north of Faville Prairie. They flushed a rooster and after

missing it decided to see if they could loca te it again. It

landed on part of the Miller farm that they never walked on

and were surprised to find a prairie dominated by compass

Above photo shows the ditch at Faville Prairie before filling

was done. Bottom photo was taken upon completion of thework. The photos were taken from two separate views.



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plants. Little did they know that day tha t

the Miller Prairie was not known to the

scientific com munity and that with

efforts of many people, especially Mike

Ayers, that it would later become pre-

served by The Nature Conservancy as

Snapper Prairie.

Congratulations to Mark and DoreenMark Pfost and Doreen Hugener met

for the first time at the tree removal

work party in the spring at Faville

Prairie. They found that they had a lot in

common, and were just recently mar-

ried. The Faville area will always have a

special meaning for them.

Op pie II Remem ber edBy Sue Martin

My second opossum passed away this

summer. He was orphaned along with

his 12 siblings back in the spring of

1996. My friend and wildlife rehab per-

son for Columbia County, Julie Johnson,called to say that she had a litter of

Joeys that were ready to be weaned and

so I picked Oppie and his sister Annie

from the box of youngsters and took

them home. Annie was later placed with

a rehab/educator in Marquette County

and O ppie went on to have a stellar

career with the DNR as a classroom ani-

mal a t MacKenzie Environmental

Educa tion Center whe re I work.

Toward the end of Opp ies life, I

developed severe asthma from his dan-

der, and was no longer able to use himin the classroom. Sadly, three other

opossums have been offered to me, but I

can no longer tolerate the reactions that

I have to them.

I am hopeful that someday, I can

again work with these wonderful crea-

tures. My allergist just scratches his

head and said that nobody has done

work with them in his field. Until then, I

will have to make do with an occasional

yard possum, or see one making its

way down our driveway come nightfall.

Rar e Plant Restor at ion a t Goose PondBy Mark and Sue Martin

Only about 100 acres (0.01%) of an original million acres of mesic (deep-

soil) prairie are known to exist in Wisconsin today. It will take large-scale

prairie restorations to preserve the biodiversity of Wisconsins mesic prairie.

Madison Audubon is committed to preserving the biod iversity of mesic prairie

with the intensive prairie restoration work being done at Goose Pond. This

restoration is the largest mesic prairie restoration be ing done in Wisconsin.

Our efforts involve planting as many spec ies as possible including rare

species. It is rewarding to see the results of our efforts when rare species (state-endangered, threatened and special concern) grow, thrive and multiply.

Rare plants growing in Goose Pond prairie restorations (state status):

Cream Gentian (Gentiana flavida) (threatened) Most of our plants were res-

cued from a quarry operation and have greatly increased in size.

Glade Mallow (Napaea d ioica) (special concern) This attractive plant seems

to move around and a large population grows around the edge of a wetland

restoration.

Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida) (threatened) This attractive cone-

flower is easy to establish and 5 pounds of seed were co llected this fall.

Prairie Bush Clover (Lespedeza leptostachya) (endangered) - This legume is

also federally threatened and was established by planting transplants. There

are several hundred plants that are producing seed.

Prairie Parsley (Polytaenia nuttallii) (threatened) We were delighted to findthree p lants flowering this year. This plant dies a fter flowering and we collect-

ed a few seeds to plant in other locations.

Wild Q uinine (Parthenium integrifolium) (threatened) We usua lly are able to

establish a few plants in our plantings but they have not increased in large

numbers.

Wooly Milkweed (Asclepias lanuginosa) (threatened) This species is found

on a degraded remnant and although many stems are found there we have

never seen any seed pods produced.

By Sue Martin

Those of you who know me, knowthat I have a passion for possums.

Over the years, I have raised several

of these interesting marsupials and

have come to realize that they have a

sweet tooth that cannot be denied.

One of Oppies (all of my possums

are named Oppie) favorites is a cook-

ie made with peanut butter and

chocolate. I made these for our vol-

unteers who enjoyed them, and I

hope you will too!

Possum BitesPreheat oven @375

CRUST:

2 C. Peanut Butter

2 C. Sugar

2 Lg. Eggs

Grease 9 x 12-inch pan. Mix peanut

butter, sugar and eggs together and

pat into pan (yes, there is no flour it

makes possums fat).

FUDGE LAYER:

1- 6oz. package of semi-sweet

chocolate chips

1 Can (14 oz.) Chocolate

Sweetened Condensed Milk1/2 Cup chopped pecans

1 t. vanilla

dash of salt

In a heavy pan, over low heat, cook

and stir chips with milk and salt until

chips are melted. Remove from heat

and stir in nuts and vanilla. Spread

evenly over peanut bu tter crust. Bake

for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Cool thoroughly, cut and enjoy! If

there are any left, please put them out

for the possums!

Faville Prairiecontinued from page 3

Fall Prairie Seed Harvest Recipe


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San ctua ries highlig htof the yearBy Mark and Sue Martin

Each year we select one sighting or event as a

HIGHLIGHT of the year. This years highlight was

wetland and prairie restoration at Faville Grove

Natural Area. About 2,200 feet of drainage ditches

were filled in and the seeds of 90 species of prairie

plants were planted on 25 acres. More information

this project is found in an accompanying article.Past Highlights

1998 Excellent growing year for prairie establish-

ment and seed p roduction.

1997 - Snowy owl invasion in January and

February.

1996 - First nesting of sandhill cranes at Goose

Pond Sanctuary.

1995 - Establishment of Mary Muckenhirn

Stewardship Endowment.

1994 - Large numbers of waterfowl, pheasant and

gray partridge b roods.

1993 - Record rainfall 16 inches in June andJuly.

1992 - Acquisition of 74 acres.

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

Sanctuary.

1990 - 30,000 mallards at Otsego Marsh.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DECADE

1990s Nesting of sandhill cranes at Goose Pond

Sanctuary.

Land acquisition, followed by wetland and prairie

restoration, provided habitat for sandh ill cranes

that have nested successfully every year since

1996. Many visitors enjoyed the frequen t sighting

of cranes.

Uncomm on bird sfound in 1999By Mark and Sue Martin

Thanks to everyone who contributed sightings.

Goose Pond Sanctuary

Bald Eagle February, April and October

Merlin September

Peregrine Falcon September and October

NOTE: On September 28th bird watchers could

see all three members of the falcon family at

Goose Pond (Am. Kestrel, merlin and peregrine

falcon).

Harvey and DM Marsh

Ross Goose - April

Highway K Marsh

Red-necked Grebe May

Common Moorhen May

Schoenebergs Marsh

White-fronted Geese - March

Black-necked Stilt November

UW Farms Area

Upland Sandpiper May, June and July (brood

found)!

Mu dfla t Offers Rich Bird W atchingBy Sam Robbins, and Mark and Sue Martin

Sam wrote a feature article in the Country Today on the dry con-

ditions at Goose Pond. According to his atlas, Wisconsin has 15

Goose Lakes and three Goose Ponds. To most of the states birders,

however, there is just one Goose Pond that outshines all othersin

spring and fall this is a favorite stopover for thousands of geese and

hundreds of swans.

But when I stopped there last week, I felt like renaming the wet-

land Goose Flats. The recent drought had virtually dried up theentire west pond. All that remained was a gigantic mudflat inter-

spersed with a few small puddles.

Does that mean no geese at Goose Pond this fall? By no means.

Hundreds of Canadas were milling around the mudflats the day I

was there. Flock after flock tumbled from the sky to swe ll the popu-

lation. It was a sight to behold.

In its present mudflat condition, Goose Pond provides excite-

ment in a different way. Shorebirds love mudflats. So do shorebird-

watchers

This fall visitors sighted a variety of shorebirds including black-

bellied and golden plovers, killdeer, greater and lesser yellowlegs,

least and pectoral sandpipers, and common snipe. Other species

found on the mudflats included horned larks, American pipits, andLapland longspurs.

Waterfowl numbers were down due to the low water. However

mallards and Canada geese peak numbers reached about 4,000

while the most tundra swans seen at one time were 75.

Hopefully there will be normal snow conditions this winter that

will result in a return of water to Goose Pond next spring.

Goose Pond notesBy Mark and Sue Martin

Kampen Prairie Restoration

Warm conditions and adequate rainfall this summer produced a

very good seed crop. Thanks to the many volunteers that assisted incollecting a large quantity and variety of prairie seed. The weather

cooperated for the p lanting as it did for many of the collecting days.

Eighteen people helped prepare seed and plant ten acres at Kampen

Prairie on November 14th. The temperature reached a record high

of 69 degrees. With sunny conditions and light winds some volun-

teers planted in their shirtsleeves. Forty-five species were planted

with species tha t prefer wet-mesic to dry-mesic spec ies.

Sandh ill Cranes

A pair of sandhill cranes successfully raised two young this past

summer Goose Pond . This is the fourth year that sandhills have nest-

ed and successfully raised young. Each pair has raised two young

except for one year when only one colt fledged. The first year they

raised two young, then one, then two. The pair nested on the northside of the pond and the family was frequently seen feeding north of

the pond.

A pair of cranes also nested at Erstad Prairie and Faville Grove

Natural Area.

Waterfowl 2000

Recovering Wisconsins Arlington Prairie was the title of an article

that we wrote that was featured in Waterfowl 2000. The publication

features project profiles on projects that help implement the North

American Waterfowl Management Plan.

The article summarized Madison Audubon Societys efforts along



6/8

with help from its restoration Partners

(Wisconsin Department of Natural

Resources, U.S. Fish & Wildlife

Service, Ducks Unlimited, Inc.,

Wisconsin Waterfowl Association

and Pheasants Forever.)

Grassland Birds of the MidwestMadison Audubon Society pro-

duced the Grassland Birds of the

Midwest poster featuring drawings of

26 bird species overlaying a photo-

graphic background of Goose Pond

Sanctua ry. The poster is available at

no charge to the public. For a free

poster contact Madison Audubon

Society, 222 S. Hamilton Street, Suite

#1, Madison, WI 53703-3201 or call

608-255-2473 or e-mail

[email protected].

Erstad PrairieDon and Mary Ringelstetter live

adjacent to Erstad Prairie and Don

enjoyed telling us one day of this

sighting of 3 cranes, 2 deer and a

flock of turkeys in his spotting scope

at one time.

Rosemary Fleming

A highlight this summer was a visit

by Rosemary Fleming. Rosemary was

instrumen tal in establishment o f the

Bicentenn ial Prairie and in working

with Ruth Wynn in establishing our

early prairie plan tings. We enjoyedshowing her the prairie restorations.

Pheasants Numbers

Many bird watchers enjoy seeing

ring-necked pheasants when visiting

the pond. This spring we counted 33

roosters compared to 40, 38 and 37

the past three years. At least 11

broods were seen this summer.

Breeding Bird Atlas

This was the fifth and final year for

the breeding bird atlas project.

Thanks to everyone who assisted in

Columbia County. Much progress

was made this summer and it will be

interesting to review the results.

New Brochure

Madison Audubon' s new Goose

Pond Sanctuary brochure, filled with

vibrant color photos, made its debut

this year. A copy of the brochure is

enclosed with the December newslet-

ter. Additional copies are available

through the MAS office.

Tha nk You !By Eugene Woehler,

Goose Pond Chair

Summer Interns Mark Pfost, Jon

Eerkes, Kelly Drey, Matt Herrmann,

Amy Juengling, Ryan Magana, and

Cassie Willyard and for their hard

work.

Local Landowners For providing arefuge for waterfowl.

Reporters especially Sam Robbins,

writer for the Country Today, Tim

Eisle, (The Capital Times), Ron Seeley

(Wisconsin State Journal), Brian

Lavendel (Wisconsin State Journal)

and Karl Pearson (Poynette Press) for

their frequent mention of Goose Pond

in their articles.

Volunteers For collecting, cleaning,

and planting prairie seed and remov-

ing invasive plant spec ies at GoosePond and Faville Grove Natural Area;

assisting Dorothy Haines a t Scope

Days; helping with Prairie Jubilee, the

Mary Walker Garden and Erstad

Prairie Dedications, and surveying for

birds on the Bird Atlas project and the

Poynette Christmas Bird Count.

Goose Pond Committee For advice

and assistance in managing our

Sanctuaries.

William Damm For 14 bur oak

seedlings, tree removal, for de signingand building a seed dryer, bag holder

and two drying racks, and good

advice.

Jean Damm For friendship and for

letting William come to help u s.

Dick and Alice Erstad, Duane Hebe l

For erecting the large recognition sign

at Erstad Prairie.

Betty Feldt, Caroline Zelner For pro-

viding bird seed for the feede rs at

Goose Pond.

Dorothy Haines For many activities

including coordinating Scope Days in

April and October.

Keith Gilbertson For masonry

repairs.

Mark and Sue Martin For donating

cord grass plugs.

Vic and Sally Martin For donating

bird feeders and houses.

Darrell Potter For building repairs.

David Musolf and Roger Packard

For coordinating the prairie restora-

tion at Faville Prairie.

Bud Read For displaying his

arrowhead collection from Erstad

Prairie at the Erstad Prairie

Dedication and Prairie Jubilee.

Dan Schuman For repairing the

bathroom wall.

Don Schmidt For assistance with

fieldwork and with the tree removal

project near the house.

Marge Shepherd For donations of

a spotting scope, tripod and books.

Steve Yelk For assistance in food

plot establishment and loaning us

farm equipment.

Kurt Waterstradt For coordinating

a North American Wetlands

Conservation Act grant application

with Madison Audubon as one ofsix partners.

Jim Young For donation of a spot-

ting scope and tripod.

Megan Yost and Tony Karls For

assistance with a variety of tasks.

Alliant Energy For assistance in

removing a dead tree adjacent to

the house.

Mounds Pet Food Warehouse For

hosting the recent birdseed sale with

profits donated to MAS.

Thomas Kemp Foundation For

internship funding.

Donors and Flying Fish Graphics for

financial support and creative

expertise in producing the new

Goose Pond Sanctuary brochure.

Wisconsin Department of Natural

Resources, Ducks U nlimited, U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural

Resource Conservation Service, and

Farm Service Agency For provid-

ing funding to acquire and/or to

establish prairies and wetlands.

The Nature Conservancy For

coordinating collecting seed for the

Faville restoration.

To everyone who contributed to

the land acquisition fund.

To those we may have missed.

We couldnt do it without you.

Goose Pond N otescontinued from page 5


7/8

YES, I want to make theGoose Pond vision a reali-ty. Here is my contributionto the Goose PondCampaign.

[ ] Acre Maker. $1,000 or more tobuy and restore another acre of

land at Goose Pond.[ ] Half-Acre Maker. $500-$999 to

buy and restore another half-acre of land at Goose Pond.

[ ] Adopt An Acre. I pledge $100a year for three years ($300total) toward Goose Pondrestoration. Here is my firstinstallment.

[ ] Nest Egg. I pledge $50 a yearfor three years($150 total).Here is my first installment.

[ ] My Own Vision. $ tohelp as much as possible.

Name

Address

In Memory of

In Honor of

For Gifts Honoring Another: SendAcknowledgement to (name andaddress)

Contributions will be acknowledgednear the Goose Pond InformationBoard as follows: $1,000 or more-name to appear on a permanentplaque; $250-$999-name to appearon engraved paving brick.

Acknowledge in MadisonAudubon Society Newsletter

Do not acknowledge in MadisonAudubon Society Newsletter

Make checks payable to MadisonAudubon Society and mail to:Madison Audubon Society, 222 S.Hamilton Street, Suite #1, Madison,WI 53703

Tax deductible to the extentallowed by law.

Madison Audubon Societysfinancial statement is availableupon request.

Summer InternsBy Sue Martin

Seven summer interns worked at

Goose Pond this summer. Having a

crew this size made it possible to

work on more projects and at more

locations than ever before. Interns are

university studen ts at the junior o r

senior level.

The intern project was a coopera-tive effort with other organizations (St.

Bened icts Center, Wisconsin

Department of Natural Resources

(DNR) and The Prairie Enthusiasts).

Each organization covered costs when

interns worked with them.

Interns Mark Pfost, Jon Eerkes, Kelly

Drey, Matt Herrmann, Amy Juengling,

Ryan Magana , and Cassie Willyard

started off their summer with some

interesting and challenging opportuni-

ties working on many projects. Mark

and Jon returned from last year andtook the lead on several projects.

Work at Goose Pond included the

usual hand weeding of invasive

species in the prairies, fence removal

at our new properties, prairie seed

collecting, cleaning, and planting

transplants. Much progress was made

in collecting seed from early bloom-

ing prairie species.

Work with other organizations

included all phases of prairie, wetland

and savanna restoration. Work at theDNR included collecting 60 pounds

of lupine seed to be used in prairie

restorations to benefit the Karner blue

butterfly that feeds only on wild

lupine.

All the organizations appreciated

the work done by the interns. The

interns appreciated the variety of

work.

Donations benefitthe sanctua riesACRE MAKER

Fritz and Kristie Kaiser

John and Marlen Kaiser

In honor of Victor and Sally Martin

Mark and Sue Martin

Thomas Schultz

MY OWN VISION

Marie W. Brady

John F. and Barbara Bird

William J. Curtin

Hampden Happy Hustlers 4-H Club

John Wright Mitchell

Kathryn A. Moore

Marjorie Shepherd

Joan and Donald R. WeinkaufIn memory of Joan Denniss -

Shirley W. Dieter

In memory of Arthur Jensen -

Al and Dolores H. Kanner

In honor of John Bird, Prairieophile -

Anonymous

IN ADDITION to the above, Madison

Audubon gratefully acknowledges the

following unrestricted donations:

Marie Sieker and Roderick Matthews

First Field Trip of the N ew YearSunrise 2000: Faville Grove Sanctuary

1 January 2000, 6:45 am

New millenium or just a nice round number, either way, start out the year

2000 by watching the sun rise over the Faville Grove Marsh! Dress for the

weather and , if there is good snow, bring snowshoes or c ross-country skis.

We will head to the marsh overlook for sunrise, and then spend the early

morning touring the sanc tuary with resident managers, David Musolf and Roger

Packard. Meet at the old farmstead, 7710 Hwy.89. From Madison, take I-94 east

to the Lake Mills/Waterloo exit and go north on Hwy. 89 (toward Waterloo)

about 2 miles. The driveway is on the right immediately past North Shore Road.

Rain date: 1 January 3000.


8/8

12/99

MAS Calendarat a Glance

1321 E. Mifflin St.Madison, WI 53703(608) 256-1066

M ore M AS volun teersto thank

Our sincerest apologies to the vol-

unteers who were inadvertently omit-

ted from the list of 1999 volunteers in

the November newsletter. Their

names follow in the list below.

(Thank you to those who called these

in!) We now also include volunteersfrom the seed sale who werent on

the previous list, which took place

following the previous newsletter

deadline.

Thank you ALL volunteers for a

prosperous and fun year!!

Evelyn Batchelor

Susan Bergquist

Kay Bongers

Todd Brown

Willis Brown

Valy Goepfrich

Russhawn JacksonGary Johnson

Lori Ledeboer

Paul Michler

James Mills

Shamane Mills

Joe Mischka

Mikkel Nelson

John Potis

Susan Slapnick

Jane t Wood

Laurie Yahr

Reflectio ns onFaville PrairieOne visit I will never forget is seeing

a forest of flowering prairie dock

Mark Martin

Everyone wondered what the neigh-

bors would think about us restoring

the prairie that day. I wondered what

the land was thinking. Susan Foote-Martin

Roger and I started our weekly visits

to Faville Prairie in mid-May. From

then until the end of October the

prairie was a continuous and spectac-

ular show of successive blooming

plants. On tha t first visit we counted

27 different forbs in flower including

hundreds of clumps of white lady-slip-

pers, hoa ry puccoon, starry false

Solomon seal, blue-eyed grass, yellow

star grass, and so many shooting starsthat from a distance they appeared to

be a field of dandelions in seed! We

are still awestruck by the beauty,

diversity and balance of Faville. Wha t

a paradise it must have been when

Native Americans shared the Crawfish

River flood plain with the prairie

chickens, short-eared owls, and

upland plovers. David Musolf

I remember vividly the shimmering

fluffs of little bluestem backlit in the

late afternoon sun, and the reds and

golds of all the grasses bent over by

the wind. I could feel, and a lmost see,

my golden dog with me, running free.

Susan Slapnick

Clearing the trees on the no rthern

edge was one of the hardest, most

frustrating, yet most satisfying jobs Ive

done. The finished product was a real

joy. Jonathan Eerkes

Immediately after setting foot on the

Faville Prairie, I felt a connection tothe place . Was it because I was sur-

rounded by a beautiful grassland of

beiges, umbers and reds of varying

textures and heights that seemed to

emanate a magical glow whether it

was sunny or cloudy? Was it because

my ancestors settled the land in the

Waterloo area (my Scottish ancestor,

Orson Carskaden, must have looked

upon this place too)? Or was it

because I was experiencing diversity

at its best, where varied topography,

hydrology and site h istory created

opportunities for new botanica l dis-

coveries in every direction? Amy

McDaniel

Prairie planting volunteers at Faville Prairie.Photo by Dorothy Haines

18 Dec. - Madison Bird Count

23 Dec. - Baraboo Bird Count

26 Dec. - Mt. Horeb Bird Count

1 Jan. - Sunrise walk at Faville

Grove Marsh, p. 7

2 Jan. - Poynette Bird Count

2 Jan. - Sauk City Bird Count

18 Jan. - MAS Meeting & Program

Documents

Dec 1999 CAWS Newsletter Madison Audubon Society