Ripples 5/24/24

Posted on by May 24, 2024

By Max Kornetzke, land manager

Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis) is a Wisconsin native wildflower with beautiful palmate foliage and spikes of blue flowers.  It flowers in May and June and attracts various bumbles and butterflies. It’s also the only host plant for the endangered Karner Blue butterfly. Habitat loss is a major factor affecting lupine populations, therefore leading to Karner Blue being an endangered species.

Wild Lupine loves sandy, dry soils, so last fall, we decided to try seeding some into our dry, sandy V-shaped meadow off of the Ice Age Trail. Thankfully, we had regular rain this spring, and to our delight, the seeds successfully germinated. The seedlings are tiny but are already showing their iconic fuzzy leaf shape. 

It might take a few years until these plants are established enough to flower, but I know with some help this meadow will be a great home for colonies of this charming plant. We hope that with a healthy established population of Wild Lupine, that our preserve could become an oasis for the rare Karner Blue butterfly.

If you have a sandy, droughty spot in your yard and are looking for a beautiful wildflower that also provides great ecosystem services, consider planting some Wild Lupine. You can find seeds and plugs at most native plant nurseries in Wisconsin and across the Midwest.

Photo credit: iNaturalist

 

 

Ripples 5/16/24

Posted on by May 16, 2024

by Jessica Johnsrud, education coordinator

Spring is a season that truly awakens my senses. I do enjoy winter, but after the cold temperatures and the lack of snow this year, I love watching the world turn from gray and brown to all the lush shades of green. Plants and trees start to bud and bloom and even the smell of spring is noticeable. These are all welcome sensory experiences, but what I love most about spring are the sounds.

It starts just after sunset in mid-late March with the “peent” of the American woodcock. These oddball shorebirds are also known as “bog suckers, timberdoodles and Labrador twisters.” The nasal “peent” noise is part of the male’s sky dance or display to attract female.

Many amphibians also start singing in early spring. Once the water they breed in warms to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, you will hear the shrill “peep” of the smallest frog at Woodland Dunes, the spring peeper. Peepers are part of the tree frog family and in the right conditions, their call can be detected over a mile away!

Two other frog species also sing at this time and they both make interesting calls. The Northern leopard frogs sing a croaky song that can be described as a slow, creaking door. However, if you are an eight-year-old, you may describe it as, “your dad snoring” or “like it’s burping,” amusing comments I have heard several times during the wetland field trip we offer third graders. The other strange frog song comes from the wood frog and reminds me of chickens clucking or as if the frogs are very quickly and repeatedly saying, “look it up, look it up!” Both of these frog species breed in vernal pools that lack fish, but may dry out in late spring.

As spring continues, each morning brings a new chorus to take in. Migrant songbirds return from their wintering grounds and are announcing their arrival. I love hearing the, “Oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada!” song of the white-throated sparrows and the “trees, trees, murmuring trees!” call of the black-throated green warbler.

Spring also brings the buzzing of the first queen bumble bees, the rumbling of thunder, and the patter of rain. It is a time of growth and renewal. I hope you can take a few moments to enjoy the sounds of spring. 

photo of wood frog singing – Nancy Nabak

Ripples 5/9/24

Posted on by May 9, 2024

By Kennedy Zittel, naturalist

Red-winged blackbirds are a common sight and sound of the marsh here at Woodland Dunes during the warmer months. Males can be seen sitting atop cattail stalks with their dark feathers and bright red and yellow wing-patches. Females are a streaky brown color and often stay lower to the ground. Their “Vote for me!” call can be heard echoing across the marsh.

There can be up to 15 females per 1 male’s territory, and both males and females will defend their nest and space from threats. The females build their nest close to the ground by winding plant material around several upright stems (like cattails). They then add wet leaves and mud to the sides and line it with dried grass. With the marsh being full of nesting red-winged blackbirds, it is no wonder that you are sure to see them when you head out on Cattail Trail! 

Besides being a summer birding staple of the preserve, red-winged blackbirds unknowingly help teach at our programs, too! One example of this happens during our 4K spring program. Part of the program has the kids going with us on a walk down Cattail Trail to look and listen for signs of spring. The kids love the nature walk, giggling and smiling ear to ear over frogs croaking, geese swimming in the pond, and those funny-looking “hotdog plants!” (cattails). 

While looking and listening for signs of spring we point out the striking-looking red-winged blackbirds in the marsh and tell the kids that they are singing “Vote for me!”. We then tell the kids that if we sing to the birds they just might sing back to us! Eyes wide with shock they are ready to try to see if a real wild bird will sing to us! Now as you can imagine it is a bit tricky to get a group of 4- year olds to wait to the count of three… but we go… 1…2…3… “Vote for me!”

A few seconds go by, then we hear “Vote for me!” echoing back to us in the distance. Jumps for joy and shouts of “can we do it again!?” showcase a clear example of a nature- spark moment! Just this one simple interaction made them excited about nature, even the kids who were too shy to want to do it the first time eagerly sang to the red-wings when we called again. 

This excitement about nature at an early age is exactly what we hope for. Excitement about nature leads to wanting to learn more, which leads to wanting to protect and care for the environment in the future. You never know what that nature-spark moment can be for a child, whether it is a bird call, a frog hopping across the trail, a shiny bug under a hand lens, or a flower that is “my absolute favoritest color ever!” out along the trail.

Getting to be a part of those magical encounters is one of my favorite parts of teaching. The look of pure excitement over things that we adults may take for granted is a good reminder to stop and take a second to really look at the world around us. To look for all of the wonderful things there is to experience out in nature. 

photo of Red-winged blackbird by Cornell’s All About Birds

Ripples 5/2/24

Posted on by May 2, 2024

by Jim Knickelbine

We are drawn outside by good weather, and have been blessed with our share lately.  A recent walk on Willow Trail at Woodland Dunes was refreshing, even though birds at that moment were hard to find.  While searching for them one could not help but notice evidence of very hard work along the trail-brush pile after brush pile composed of the stems of hundreds, maybe thousands, of invasive shrubs, buckthorn and honeysuckle.  For many years I was aware of the infestation in that area, but was able to only remove or treat a few shrubs here and there.  They multiplied faster than I could remove them.  But now, led by Max, the preserve’s land manager, some real progress is evident.  His concern for the plant communities and the effort he puts into their care and restoration is a good example of what can be done to help wildlife in the best sense.

Helping nature is a concept that comes more and more to mind for me as time goes on.  I think of the early days of Woodland Dunes, much of which was logged and farmed.  But not completely destroyed- plant and animal components remained which can heal the land over time.  We continue to add obstacles to natural restoration, like importing invasive alien plants.  Do we need to plant invasive barberry in the borders around our house?  No, but somebody convinced us to do it, in order to profit.  If the cost of financial profit is ecological harm, that cost can permanently outweigh the temporary benefit, unless serious restoration efforts take place.

Its the same on my property.  Once a forest, home to Native people, it was logged, then farmed, then mined for gravel.  In the old pits waste construction fill was placed.  And still, some of the original plants hang on, providing food and homes for wildlife.  I live among perhaps more invasive plants than I’ve seen anywhere else, but there is always hope.  Restoration of land is good for wildlife, and critical for one’s soul.  After spending time last winter removing invasive shrubs (following Max’s example), I recently spent a day planting trees of a number of different species, all natives.  The day was warm and the wind calm, and birds sang all around.  As I quietly planted I discovered interesting things- a turkey nest, and remnant patches from the original plantlife- old oak and beech trees, marsh marigolds, skunk cabbage, choke cherries, elderberries, wild leeks- that I had not seen before.  Am I smart enough to help them survive and prosper?  I don’t know, but will try as best as I am able.  And as I looked at surviving trees planted in previous years, I felt myself being restored as well.

As I look out the window to a ragged old spruce tree I see a small parade of spring migrants- an oriole, palm warbler, white-crowned sparrow and realize that their presence here constitutes the profit for my work.  Their survival, or even temporary use of my land is sufficient pay.  I know I owe it to them.

 photos- newly found marsh marigolds and a wild turkey nest by Jim Knickelbine

Ripples 4/25/24

Posted on by April 25, 2024

Ripples contributed from the archives by Nancy Nabak, communications coordinator

Our 50th anniversary archived Ripples comes from Dunesletter Number 20, June 1980.  “Animal Highways” written by Helen Dicke.

“Animal highways, bird hotels, plant museums, secret places, grocery stores, nature showcases. Yes, you can see all of these while hiking down a country road.

Perhaps when you are out in the country, you may notice the remnants of an old rail fence; posts driven in the ground just far enough apart to be connected by split rails. If you look closer, you may see in the surrounding bushes brown thrasher nests left over from the previous year. The posts themselves may hold a nest taken over by a mouse in which to raise its young. A food cache for the mouse might be seen inside another post, along with signs of moth larvae and cocoons. A rabbit may dart out of your path, using the fence as cover for its escape. Chipmunks might chatter their annoyance at being disturbed and disappear down small holes amidst the vegetation…! These are the charms of a vanishing American institution, the fencerow.

Ancient fences were either living – rows of trees and shrubs – or inanimate, rocks plowed up or stumps dug out of fields. These hedgerows, for so they were and are called in Europe, served as boundaries for landowners as well as wildlife. They insured privacy and gave the owner a sense of belonging. Hedgerows were also harvested by the people; blackberries and elderberries for jam, hazelnuts for baking, rose hips for cough syrup, and holly for decorations.

Wisconsin pioneers used whole logs, placed in an angled pattern, for their early fences since lumber was plentiful and field needed to be cleared. The post and rail fence, made famous by Abe Lincoln, followed. This type of fence could take up to thirty feet of tillable land out of a field because plenty of room was needed for both the zig-zagging fence and a turn- around for the horses and plow.

…There are still some good, “old-time” fencerows around. Just one can teach us many ecological lessons. We see the web of life along the fencerow. The plants attract plant-eaters such as rabbits, grasshoppers, and birds. These attract other animals, predators, which find them to be good food. Sparrow hawks, redtails, weasels, and fox all haunt the fencerow in search of a meal. Then other animals, including man, hunt them.

…and a meadowlark stops to sing his greeting from a rail. Some of his droppings in earlier years contained seeds of the many varieties of native plants now found along the rows. Bergamot, bottle gentian, asters are there, plus “planted” trees and shrubs. Some of the seeds came as berries- others as burrs (burdock) clinging to the fur of animals, or were winged (maple) and carried by the wind.

Hungarian partridges, song sparrows, indigo buntings will all be seen here in the season. Pheasants, too, use the fencerows for traveling fast and far. If a sandy spot appears, perhaps the rooster will preen and dust his feathers there.

Hotel? Highway? Home? Grocery store? Yes, you will find them all along a simple old-fashioned fencerow.”

Sketch accompanied original article, artist unknown.