-
Arboretum – Hawk Rescue
Somehow it was June the last time I walked through the UW Arboretum, and I knew I couldn’t let a beautiful fall day like this – mid-60s, sunshine and a light breeze to keep the mosquitoes away – pass me by.
My goal was to look for the changing colors in the Longenecker Horticultural Gardens on October 14, but […]
-
Thomson Memorial Prairie
Things aren’t always what they seem.
Take, for instance, Thomson Memorial Prairie just south of Blue Mounds. Reconsider shrugging it off as just another field near expansive farmland, because it’s actually one of the few remaining dry prairies in Wisconsin.
I traveled there on June 4 for a field trip through The Nature Conservancy (which owns and manages over 600 acres of […]
-
Nature Festival – Forest and Creek
Our third and final day of the 10th annual Chequamegon Bay Birding and Nature Festival was bittersweet. There was still so much we could potentially see on the trails, but we were getting worn out from all the walking. And the mosquitoes – they got pretty bad, too.
North Country Trail
The hilly hike along the North Country National Scenic […]
-
Nature Festival – Caroline Lake Preserve
Caroline Lake
We explored Caroline Lake Preserve and State Natural Area near Mellen on May 20, the second day of the 10th annual Chequamegon Bay Birding and Nature Festival. It was fitting considering the lake forms the headwaters of the Bad River, which flows to the Kakagon-Bad River Sloughs that we toured by boat the previous day.
Ensuring the water stays clean and […]
-
Nature Festival – Water, Land and Sky
May 19 was the first day of the 10th annual Chequamegon Bay Birding and Nature Festival, and we didn’t waste any time exploring the water, land and sky.
Kakagon Sloughs
Our first stop was to the Kakagon-Bad River Sloughs, or what some call the “Everglades of the North.” The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa owns more than 16,000 acres of […]
-
Nature Festival – Ashland
I can hardly believe it’s been over a month since I was up north trying to spot warblers and other migrating birds flitting through trees and over the water during the 10th annual Chequamegon Bay Birding and Nature Festival. Hundreds of bird and nature enthusiasts flocked to the Ashland, Wis. area from May 19-21 to […]
-
Barneveld Prairie
A few weeks ago I spent a Saturday morning getting fresh (chilly) air and dirty hands at Barneveld Prairie.
The Nature Conservancy held a volunteer work party there on the parcel of land known as the Muehllehner Addition on May 14 to collect invasive garlic mustard. So now I know that the “pretty” white flowering plant that […]
-
The Hatches
March 30, 2020
After week 2 of quarantine from COVID-19, we got some excitement at the Haas Haus. My favorite neighbirds, the Hatches, returned to clear out the hole in the tree out front. The last couple of summers it has been occupied by a raccoon and her babies, so the nuthatches had a lot of […]
-
Backyard Visitors
Drew and I started moving into our first home together in November 2015. Although it’s located in the city of Madison on the west side in a populated area, it is in a quiet neighborhood with many large, established trees. We knew right away that there would be tons of squirrels around, but as the […]
-
Family R. – Fall
The leaves are really falling now, but I was able to take some family photos a few weeks ago at Lapham Peak in Delafield when they were still hanging on. Along for the shoot was Lisa R. and her kids Nate and Alyssa, as well as Nate’s girlfriend Amber and their dog Gaby.
[…]