Dec 2000 CAWS Newsletter Madison Audubon Society

8/9/2019 Dec 2000 CAWS Newsletter Madison Audubon Society

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2000 M ig rat ion Elat ion

at Goose Pond Sanct uaryBy Sue Martin

What b ird is nine feet tall,

weighs 700 pound s, and is

found on ly on the prairie at

Goose Pond Sanctua ry? Give

up? Tnenime Niamond.

The name Tnenime Niamod

is an Ap ril Fools ridd le and is

eminent d omain spelled

backwards.

The flock of seven bird s

with their elongated necks and

trum pet-horn tails came to the

Arlington p rairie in October,

du ring the same week that we

celebrated Prairies Jubilee!

Was this coincidence? What sp irits

were at w ork to make this migration

happ en at su ch a special time?

According to Dr. Tom Evermor,

the artist wh o created these m ajestic

creatures, this species migrates on

Apr il 1 of each m illenniu m year

nu merically d ivisible by 400.

Obviously the birds kn ew that th ey

should w ait until October to maketheir move.

The Good Doctor Evermor stated

that each of the birds has a nam e

given it by a Sham an from South

Dakota. These names were estab-

lished long before the birds were

hatched , or even in the egg. The first

bird named Matomani means opens

gates that h ave been closed. Second

is Shangii or opens doorways of

grand fathers. Third is Wanyeca

which means assists sacred paths.

Fourth is Istato or sets eyes on cre-

ator. Fifth is Zizi or golden road of

health. The sixth is Oyate, the cre-

ative energy of man ifesting. Last is

Mnisunka, the one wh o heals emo-

tional body an d h eart.

Dr. Evermor p ersonally saw to the

placement of each bird on the p rairieat the end of the sanctuary d rive. The

birds are positioned so that they

overlook the entire west pond and

the oak savan na. They will protect

and guide the Sanctuary as long as

they are here h e stated. They have

delighted thousand s of people who

have driven by, many stopping to

get a closer look or be photograp hed

with th e spectacular birds, w hich th e

Good Doctor referred to as Prairie

Peacocks.

Prior to coming to GoosePond, the birds w ere sta-

tioned near the north gate of

the Badger Am mu nition

Plant at Sauk Pr airie. A

ph one call from Jim Kirner of

Design Structures of Sauk

City and Arlington, indicated

that the flock was du e to

begin migration and w as

headed to the old Del Monte

plant in Arlington , the site

wh ich is now ow ned by

Design Structures.

Spirits worked to create just

the slightest chan ge in wind

direction and then combined w ith

the Shaman pow ers that caused the

birds to over-fly the Arlington site

and head for Goose Pond.

And so it is, the flock now rests

with u s for aw hile. Accord ing to

their nam es, they will bring us luck,

good h ealth, creative energy, and

healing of body an d h eart. Perhaps

the bird closest to Goose Pond Roadis the most important of all, because

Matomani w ill oversee our growth

as he opens gates that have been

closed.

Thanks to the Evermor Found ation

for the loan of the flock, to Jim

Kirner, Design Structures, for con-

trolling m igration d irections, and

Roman Slotty and Mike Rapp ,

Design Structures, for adjusting the

landing p atterns of Tnenime

Niamod.

THE AUDUBON

NEWSLETTER

OF THE

MADISON

AUDUBON

SOCIETY

222 S. Hamilt on St . / Madison, WI 53703 / 255-BIRD / ht tp://madisonaudubon.org DECEMBER 2000


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MADISON AUDUBON SOCIETYPresid ent: Joanne H erfel, 241-8009

Vice-presid ent: Am y McDan iel, 238-0450

Goose Pond Resident Natu ralists:

Mark and Sue Martin, 635-4160

Editor s: Pat & Deb Read y, 873-1703

pr eady@ku .com

Graph ic design: Pat Ready

Printed by Roemer Printing

The mission of the Madison Aud ubon

Society is to edu cate our mem bers and

the public about the natural world an d

the threats that na tural systems are fac-

ing, to engage in advocacy to preserve

and protect these systems, and to d evel-

op and maintain sanctuaries to save and

restore natural habitat.

JOIN M ADISON AUDUBONStudent/ Senior: $15

Introductory membership: $20

Basic: $35

Foreign: Add $10 in US fund s.

NAME

ADDRESS

CITY

STATE Z IP

____I do not w ish to receive AUDUBON maga-zine

____The National Audubon Society occasional-

ly makes its mem bership list available to care-

fully selected organizations w hose mailings

you might find of interest. To have your n ame

omitted from this list, please check here.

P lease en c lo se y o u r ch eck p ay ab le to

Nat io n a l Au d u b o n So c ie ty an d mai l to

Madison Audubon Society, 222 S. Hamilton St.

#1 , Madison , WI 53703. Memb ership s are

shared with National Audubon and all mem-

bers receive Audubon magazine.

NAWCA PartnershipGrantBy Mark and Sue Martin

This sum mer ou r conservation

pa rtners in south central Wisconsin

wer e successful in secur ing a $1 mil-

lion grant u nd er the North Am erican

Wetlands Conservation Act

(NAWCA).

This Fish and Wildlife ServiceProgram encourages pu blic and p ri-

vate-sector partnerships to conserve

wetland ecosystems for the benefit of

wa terfowl, migratory bird s, fish, and

other w ildlife.

Its a very comp etitive gran t

pr ocess so it really does show th at

this area has enough current activity

and enou gh potential to warrant

receiving su ch a sizeable grant said

Aldo Leopold Foundation (ALF)

Executive Director Bud dy H uffaker.Kurt Waterstr ad t, U. S. Fish and

Wildlife Service (USFWS) took th e

lead in w riting th e grant. The Aldo

Leopold Foundation is coordinating

the gran t project that involves nine

conservation organizations, two gov-

ernment agencies, and private

landow ners (David Mu solf and

Roger Packard). David and Rogers

easement donation to Mad ison

Audu bon was included as part of

the match requirement in the grant

application.

The emphasis of this grant is to

restore habitat for wetland an d

grassland birds and also to improve

water quality, flood abatement

capacity, recreation opportunities

and aesthetic enhancements. Thegrant aims to protect and restore

3,500 acres of w etlands and 2,300

acres of associated p rairie and oak

savanna in south central Wisconsin.

We are grateful to everyone

involved w ith the grant and w e will

keep you u pd ated on its accomplish-

ments.

Special Thanks to Jim Leach (U.S.

Fish & Wildlife Service NAWCARegional Coordina tor) for all his

assistance w ith the NA WCA pro-

gram. Jim has been very sup -

portive of our Sanctuaries pro-

gram and we w ish him well in

his new job as Regional Director

of the Wildlife Refuges.

THE AUDUBON CAWS is published

September through July by:

Madison Audubon Society,

222 S. Ha milton St.,

Mad ison, WI 53703,

(608) 255-BIRD (2473).

Bird ing hot line, 255-BIRM.

Madison Audu bon Web Page:

http:/ / madisonaudu bon.org

E-mail: ma soffice@mailbag .com

E-mail services donated by Berbee.

Contribu tion dead line is Septemb er

11 for th e October issue, for wh ich items

may be sent to Pat Ready, 1210

Oakw ood Ct., Stough ton, WI 53589.

pr ead y@ku .com

NAWCA grant partners pose during a summer meeting at Goose Pond. From left,Mark Martin, Tim Grunewald (DNR), Jim Leach (USFWS), Buddy Huffaker (ALF),Karen Etter Hale, (MAS), Jeff Board (Wisconsin Waterfowl Association), Sue

Martin, Jim Ruwaldt ( USFWS), Jen Stewart (Riverland Conservancy), Sheldon

Myerchin (USFWS) and Steve Swenson (ALF). Partners not represented areDucks Unlimited, Waterfowl USA, Sand County Foundation and private landown-ers (David Musolf and Roger Packard).

Thank you (Audubon) for making this possible I loved it.The Novotnaks, Madison


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Interns, Interns, Interns!By Sue Martin

What d oes an organ ization do w hen it has 500 acres of

land to m anage in two counties and has only limited p eo-

ple-pow er to do th e wor k? Well, if you a re resourceful,

you find other conservation organizations that n eed help,form a grou p, and hire college interns to help you accom-

plish the w ork. In exchange, you p rovide the stud ents

with mean ingful work an d lots of practical experience.

Interns that work w ith us over the seasons learn the

kinds of things that you dont learn from a book. Gaining

on the job training in all phases of pra irie work is

dem and ing and difficult. From learning to m anage spring

bur ns to collecting seed and condu cting fall plantings, the

work ranges from the mund ane job of hand weeding to

the varied an d rew arding w ork of breeding bird su rveys

on established pr airies. Interns learn to use chain saws

and pow er brush cutters, and may get a chance to use a

tractor to mow or disk fields.Over the years, we have been fortunate to meet and

work w ith many fine students. Many have become good

friends and we h ave seen them go on to good jobs in vari-

ous states with the DN R and The Natu re Conservancy,

and other conservation organ izations.

This year we had seven interns. Two of them , Jon

Eerkes and Amy Junengling, returned from last year, and

Jeff Topel, Tara Schafer, Matt Ruwaldt, Jocelyn Gretz, and

Dawn H inebaugh w ere new. All worked hard and d id

well as a team. They accomplished a g reat deal and can be

prou d of their contribution to conservation.

Our interns had opp ortunities to work for DNR, TNC,

Dane Co. Natur al Heritage, and St. Bened icts Center. In

the years to come, Audubon interns w ill be able to visit

the many areas where they w orked to m ake a difference

for the environment.

Sanctuaries highlight of the yearBy Mark and Sue Martin

Each year w e select one sighting or event as a H IGH-

LIGHT of the year . This years high light w as Willy

Hu tcheson sighting five species of geese at Goose Pond atone tim e. This is possibly the on ly time seeing five species

of geese at one tim e in Wisconsin has occurred . See

Willys accomp anying article.

Past H ighlights

1999 Restoration of 25 acres of wetland and pra irie at

Faville Grove.

1998 Excellent g row ing year for pra irie establishm ent

and seed production.

1997 - Snow y owl invasion in Janu ary and February .

1996 - First nesting of sand hill cranes at Goose Pond

Sanctuary.

1995 - Establishment of Mary Muckenh irn Steward ship

Endowment.1994 - Large nu mbers of waterfow l, ph easant and gray

partridge broods.

1993 - Record rainfall 16 inches in June and July .

1992 - Acquisition of 74 acres.

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

1990 - 30,000 mallards at Otsego Marsh.

Hello WisbirdersWilly H utcheson , Madison (e-mail to the Bird Ch at Line)

This morn ing (March 7, 2000) at Goose Pond , Columbia

Coun ty, I experienced the thr ill of finding all 5 goose

species in one spot! The BRANT was p resent from a t least

8:30 to 10:00 a.m. on the w est side (as long as it w asnt

hiding behind a larger Canada) from Goose Pond Rd.

Also on the west side were 3 White-Fronts, and switching

back and forth between the tw o sides was a flock of 44

Snow Geese wh ich conta ined a ROSS GOOSE.

A Lesser Yellowlegs w as also on the w est side as w as a

Wood Duck, 10 Tund ra Swans, 13 Canvasbacks, 60 Green

winged Teal, 14 Shovelers, 25 Am. Wigeon, 16 Pintail, a

few Gadwall and of course the requisite Mallards.

The strangest thing th at I saw w as a bizarre crash land -

ing by a Sandh ill Crane, which was flying over th e pond

with 2 others, when it sudden ly and inexp licably fell fromthe sky as if winged by a gun shot-but there had been no

sound from any gun. The bird h it the ground pretty hard

and sat there dazed. Its wing app eared bent in an unnat-

ural p osition, but w hen it finally recovered enou gh to

walk, it did not hold its wing in the way most injured

birds do, with it hanging or drooping d own . My best

guess is that somehow , in the strong w inds or just by bad

luck, the birds wing pop ped out of the socket or some-

thing. The crane ended u p w andering up the road a ways

and disappearing into the tall prairie grass, where I sus-

pect it will stay until it heals enough to fly or it becomes a

scavengers meal.

Intern Matt Ruwaldt mowing weeds at the Kampen Prairierestoration.

Highlight of the decade1990s Nesting of sand hill cranes at Goose Pond

Sanctuary.

Wonderful, spectucular !Yaraira Ruiz Zogbi, Mexico


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Enjoying Goose PondSanctuary

In order to make you r visit

reward ing and enjoyable, we ask

you to observe the following ru les

Birdwatch along Goose Pond Rd.,

Kampen Rd., and Prairie Lane

only

Use your car as a blind the birds

will stay close by

Do not flush w ildlife by w alking

down to pond

Do not flush wildlife by walking

dow n railroad tracks

Record your sightings and com-

ments in the observation box

Further use of prop erty is by per-

mission only

Hike the Bicentennial trail any-

time trail head on Prairie Lane

info area

Dogs must be kept on leash at alltimes

Please help us by following these

ru les to ensure th at wildlife will feel

safe and stay at the sanctuar y for all

of us to en joy -

Goose Pond notesBy Mark and Sue Martin

Sandh ill Cranes

This year du e to the low w ater lev-

els no sand hill cranes nested at the

pond . Cranes raised youn g at Goose

Pond the previous four years. It will

be interesting to see with higher

wa ter levels if cranes retur n to nest.

Some year w e may report cranesnesting on both sid es of Goose Pond

Road.

Pheasants Crowing Coun t

On a beautiful April 15, 2000,

morning, Mark and Sue, Gene

Woehler, and William Dam m count-

ed 39 roosters comp ared to 33, 40, 38

and 37 the past four years. Also

foun d that day w ere one bobwhite

quail, two p air of gray partridge an d

four sandh ill cranes. We also saw

two d isplaying male marsh hawks.

Brood sightings of gray partridgeand p heasants were down this sum-

mer probably du e to the heavy early

Jun e rains.

Red-tail Haw k carvingdonation comes hometo roostBy Sue M artin

Things sometimes come together

in mysterious ways, as w as the case

with th e recent donation of a spec-

tacular hand-carved red-tail haw k

and gray p artridge stud y carved byartist Beau Payton . Mr. & Mrs. David

Carman d onated The Survivor to

MAS. Formerly of Mad ison, the

Carmans n ow reside in Florida.

Beau Payton meticulously carved

the life-sized bird s. When Beau

received the comm ission for the

piece, I was learning to carve bird s

from him and he asked me to help

him w ith the d esign of the carving.

He d onated the prototype to Goose

Pond years ago and I never dreamed

that I wou ld see the original carvingagain.

Jim and Terri Wilson-Carmen of

Madison w orked at p lacing the carv-

ing for Jims paren ts who wan ted it

to go where it would be seen and

appreciated.

Donations AppreciatedMY OWN VISION

In memory of Roger Brown

Judith Brown

Dianne Haskins

Ned & Susan Kalin

Nu rsing and Medical Staff,

Inpatient Psychiatry-Unit C, UW

Hosp ital & Clinics

Cullen, Weston, Pines, & Bach

Attorneys at Law

Bruce Connelly

Fall Prairie Seed Harvest RecipeBy Sue Martin

This recipe is mad e better by the baked -in streusel

topping mad e of brown sugar and chopp ed pecans.

Goose Pond Banana Pecan Cake

2 14oz. Pillsbury Banana Qu ick Bread Mixes

3 Large Eggs

2 Cup s Water1/ 2 c Oil

1 Large Banana

1/ 2 c Brown Sugar

1 c Pecans chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degr ees. Grease and flour large bu nd t pan . Follow

package directions for mix add ing mashed banana to batter and mix well.

Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly in bottom of greased bund t pan an d sp rin-

kle nuts over sugar. Spoon batter over nuts and brown sugar and bake for

60 minu tes. Cool slightly before cutting an d en joy! Remember to pu t a p iece

out for the possums!

Unusua l occurrence: when nearby church bell

peeled at noon, all geese and sw ans fell

silentjust beaut iful.Laura Kett erhagen, Madison

Age 7

Thank You toSanctuary SupportersGene Woehler, Sanctuary Chair

Thanks go out to everyone whoassisted in all aspects of the sanctuar-

ies program d uring the past year.

We look forward to continued

progress in preservation an d restora-

tion of wildlife habitat in 2001.

Swan s & geese mak ebeau tiful mu sic

Kate Schutz, Rio


5/8

plants on the remnan t prairies were

prairie dock, but on the restoration,

there were more compass p lants,

although the difference was not as

great. There were actually more

compass plants per acre in the

restoration than any other p roperty

samp led! The old field propertieswere very d ifferent from one an oth-

er, but still showed that even over

decades, the num bers of Silphiums

were far below the n um bers on the

remnants and the restoration.

The interns w ere impressed by the

Interns InvestigateFaville SilphiumsJonathan Eerkes, Intern 98-00

Part of the mission of the Madison

Audu bon Society is to save and

restore natu ral habitat. In 1998

Madison Aud ubon acquired 50 acres

at Faville Grove. This property is a

par ticularly valu able piece as it is

next to the Faville Prairie State

Na tur al Area, one of the largest low

pr airie remn ants in the State. It pro-

vides a bu ffer to the state natura l

area while providing more land to

restore to prairie and w etland habi-

tat.

In the fall of 1999, abou t 4 acres of

wetlands an d 21 acres of pra irie wer e

planted on the new ly acquired land.

As mor e habitat is restored, species

increase their long-term chan ces for

survival. Much effort was expendedto ensure that th is restoration w as

one of the best the MAS could do.

The goal of the restoration p rocess

is to mimic natural systems, and it is

always good to ask if this is being

achieved. The am oun t of time, effort

and money needed to even begin a

restoration is enormous, and the

results must be w eighed against let-

ting natu re take its course.

Interns investigated Silphium pop-

ulations (compass plant and prairie

dock) on th e 1999 plan ting, nativeprairie and old field habitat. Snapper

Prairie State Natu ral Area, owned by

The Nature Conservancy is one mile

north of Faville Prairie. Adjacent

land at Faville (40 year old field) and

Snap per (25 year old field) is being

allowed to succeed n aturally with

the use of prescribed bu rning. An

estimated 10 poun ds (106,000 seeds)

of compass plant and 15 pou nd s

(240,000 seeds) of prairie dock were

planted on the Aud ubon restoration.

After some long hours, that includ-ed one intern getting stung four

times by large black and yellow

bumblebees, the interns completed

the survey. All compass p lants and

prairie dock were counted in square

meter quadrates and samp ling points

wer e 100 feet apart. N ot all ind ividu -

als on the new p lanting could be

identified to species.

It was found (see tables) that by

far, the ma jority of the Silphium

nu mber of individuals per acres that

were estimated from the survey.

Nu mbers per acre were expand ed to

the entire area and pop ulation esti-

mates of both sp ecies were: Faville

Prairie 156,100; Faville Old field

25,100; Snapper Prair ie 198,800;

Snapp er Old field 900; and

Audu bon Restoration 92,900. In

addition to the increase in Silphiumpop ulations, the restoration should

benefit the Silphium borer moth that

feeds only on Silphium species. This

rare moth , foun d on Faville Prairie,

will find an increase in 60% of the

Silphium pop ulation at Faville.

Overall, the one-year old restora-

tion d id not reflect the num bers of

Silphium plants on the remnant

pra iries, but w ere still a big

improvement over the old fields.

Some of the d ifference between the

restoration and remnants can beexplained by the am ount of seed

that w as lost du e to this springs

flooding. Also, only abou t 27% of

the Silphium seeds germinated in the

restoration, and m ore may germi-

nate in coming years. The survey

encourages those that wish to try to

restore prairie habitat but also high-

lights the impor tance of protecting

existing natural areas from develop-

men t; they are not easy to replace!

Plans for 2001 are for intern s to

individually mark compass plant

and prairie dock. This wou ld begin

a life history stu dy of the class of

2000 that w ould be followed from

birth through flowering to their

death. Maybe individuals w ill sur-

vive into the next centu ry.

Silphium Survey at Snapper Prairie -Interns Jocelyn Gretz and Tara

Schafer

Compass Plant - 21 flowers InternsDawn Hinebaugh and Tara Schafer


6/8

Favil le Grove RestorationsDeveloping WellBy Roger Packard

and D avid M usolf

Last falls 27 acre p lantin g of

local-genotype, w et-mesic prairie

and wetlands in the east unit of

Faville Grove Sanctua ry had an

excellent first year! Amid the

cover crop of giant ragw eed

(an annual weed that w ont per-

sist) we found more than 25

species of native p rairie plants

already blooming. Flowering

forbs included Riddells, stiff,

and gray goldenrods, sky-blue

and New England asters, prairie

phlox, boneset, ironweed,

sneezeweed and even the native

winged loosestrife (not the

dr eaded alien, purp le loosestrife). Blooming gra sses

includ ed cord gr ass, Ind ian grass, big and little bluestem,and Virginia wild rye. In ad dition, large num bers of sil-

phium seedlings (prairie dock and compass p lant) were

counted (see Jon Eerkes article). A neighbor m owed th e

weeds twice this year, but next year weed control begins

in earnest as we work to control the wild parsnip, sweet

clover, and aspen seedlings. (Volunteers are always wel-

come!)

A second year planting in the w est unit of the sanctuary

was in spectacular bloom th is year, with p rairie cinqu e-

foil, cup plan t, sweet black-eyed Susan , and a v ariety of

asters and goldenrod s, as well as two species we d idnt

even plant: winged loosestrife and swamp lousewort. The

fourth-year 10.5 acre planting on the west unit also put ona marv elous show th is year following its first burn ing this

past sp ring. In July the en tire Jefferson Cou nty Parks

Board a s well as several federa l and coun ty agency

employees were inspired by a tour of the restoration.

They hope to d o as well with their planned restorations at

the new Korth Farm an d Rose Lake parks, and other

county locations. They left with an en han ced app reciation

of the imp ortance of diversity in a plan ting and early,

aggressive weed control!

MAS Partners w it hFaville Grove NeighborsBy Roger Packard and David M usolf

This fall Madison Aud ubon worked with three neigh-

boring landow ners to restore native plant comm unities on

nearly 20 acres near ou r new Faville Grove Sanctua ry

north of Lake Mills. The th ree sites, all of which h ave

recently been enrolled in the federal Conservation

Reserve Program (CRP), will provid e valuable grassland

and wetland habitat to complement existing p rotected

areas.

Twenty-four volunteers helped on N ovember 11 to

hand seed the three sites. In the morning, w e planted five

acres on the farm of Bur khard Laas, immed iately west of

the w est un it of Faville Grove Sanctuary . The highly-

erodible field slopes d own to an oak wood s overlooking a

high-quality sedge meadow and spring-fed p ond. We

planted the area w ith a d iverse mix of dry-mesic prairie

forbs and grasses collected by Aud ubon volunteers this

fall. In addition to providing grassland habitat, the

planting will protect the wood s and sedge m eadow from

erosion and siltation.After lun ch, we head ed to the Craw fish River flood-

plain w here the large crew made shor t work of a 2.6 acre

planting on Wayne an d Sharon Magn ussens land near

the east u nit of the Faville Grove Sanctuary. This planting

of wet-mesic pr airie forbs and grasses will provide a

quarter-mile long bu ffer strip and wildlife corridor along

the river.

Shortly after 2:00 p.m. we took on our biggest challenge:

12 acres of mud in a wetland restoration on the p roperty

of David an d Francis Tillotson, neighbors to th e east of

the Faville Grove w est un it. Daves ancestors, the Favilles,

du bbed th e site the Snake Marsh for the massasaga rat-

tlesnakes that inhabited the m arsh before it was drained

in 1911. The w eek before the planting, betw een rain show -

ers and with the help of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

and the USDA Natu ral Resour ces Conserva tion Service,

the tile system that d rained the Snake Marsh w as

destroyed, two broad , shallow pon ds or w ildlife

scrapes were bu lldozed, and a low berm was construct-

ed. We anticipate that the site will have about seven acres

of stand ing water m uch of the year. Slogging thr ough the

black muck un til nightfall, feet heavy w ith mu d, the vol-

unteers succeeded in p lanting a broad band on either side

of the anticipated high-water line with sedges, rushes,

marsh grasses and forbs, while planting the sur round ingfour acres mostly to w et-mesic pra irie species.

We thank the land owners w ho are working with MAS

to protect wildlife and the local plan t commu nities in the

Faville Grove area. We extend a hu ge thank-you to the

good-hum ored volunteers wh o helped with the seeding.

We also thank the man y volun teersespecially Shirley

Elliswh o helped collect seed this fall. And finally, special

thanks to Sue Pech and Wayne Magnu ssen, two volun-

teers whose ded ication and assistance at every stage of

the pr ocess mad e the projects not only possible, but fun as

well. Pie Brake - Thanks to John Reindl for providing Amish piesfor breaks during fall seed collecting/cleaning work days.


7/8

On Our Watch Wetland RestorationsBy Mark and Sue Martin

On our w atch at Goose Pond w e

are fortunate to be able to restore

wildlife habitat and enjoy working

everyone on these projects. The

more wetlands that are restored the

more a ttractive the area is for

wildlife.

On th e Kampen Prairie tract on

Hop kins Road there was a wetland

basin th at held water infrequently

du ring our observations the past 20

years. After Aud ubon acquired the

parcel from th e Kampen family w e

asked our friend Jeff Nania, Project

Director for Wisconsin Water fowl

Association, if he had any ideas on a

wetland restoration p roject at this

location.

Jeff inspected th e area w ith LouisMeister, LMS Construction, and they

thought that the w etland basin may

have a heavy sediment load. Jeff

conducted soil borings that con-

firm ed his susp icions. Above the

gray clay wetland soil horizon w as

12 18 inches of sediment.

One of the reasons the basin did

not contain open w ater for longer

periods of time w as that there was

18 inches of waterlogged sed iment

above the wetland soil.

Jeff and Louis though t that thebasin wou ld hold open water and

provide w ildlife habitat if the sedi-

ment was removed. In late May,

LMS Construction u nloaded a bu ll-

dozer on the project. Three days

later all the sediment was r emoved

from the wetland basin. Over six

inches of rain the n ext week filled

the basin and water w as still present

the first of Novem ber.

Thanks to the Wisconsin

Waterfowl Association for coordi-nating and p roviding fun ding for

the wetland restoration. DNR

Stewardship funds also assisted

with the work. Jeff Nania and LMS

Constru ction d o an excellent job and

we enjoy working with them.

Goose Pond Prair ie Plant ing UpdateTwenty-five volunteers planted 20 acres of prairie and wetland habitat at GoosePond on Saturday, November 11th. It was ideal planting weather but field condi-

tions were a little muddy. It was a satisfying feeling at the end of the day to haveall the seed planted that everyone worked so hard to collect and clean this fall.

Thanks to everyone that assisted with the restoration effort.


8/8

12/00

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

MAS Calendarat a Glance

Christmas Bird Coun t Dates:

The Madison Count -Satur day 16

December 2000: Tony Kalenic and

Carol Anderson, 249-8836; (owl

coun t on ly, Al Shea 825-6232).The Sauk City Coun t -

Saturday 23, December 2000:

Nancy Raffetto, 643-1274

The Baraboo Coun t -

Wedn esday 27, December 2000:

Ken Wood 767-3343

The Poynette Coun t -


Mark an d Sue Foote Martin 635-

4160

The Mt. Horeb Coun t -


Ken Wood 767-3343

16 Jan. - MAS Meeting & Program

20 Feb. - MAS Meeting & Program

MAS has anaccount at the

Madison

Recycling Center

on Fish Hatchery

Rd. Remember

MAS next time

you recycle.

Fir st Field Trip of theN ew YearSunrise 2000: Faville Grove Sanctuary

1 January 2001, 6:45 am

Start out the year 2001 by watching

the sun rise over the Faville Grove

Marsh! Dress for the weather and, if

there is good snow, bring snowshoes

or cross-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 farm-

stead, 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.

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 ofland at Goose Pond.

[ ] Half-Acre Maker. $500-$999 tobuy 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 Ow n 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.

One pleasant evening in June, volunteers gather to remove parsnip and otherweeds from the UW Farms native prairie.

Specta cular! Love it here.Mary Merdo, Milw aukee

Im homesick!!Laura Erickson, Duluth M N

Documents

Dec 2000 CAWS Newsletter Madison Audubon Society