MARCH 23, 2014. The season opened with a successful Bird and Nature Walk guided by Paul Noeldner and sponsored by the Friends and the Madison Audubon. A dozen people and two children met at the shed by the Eagle Heights community Gardens on this chilly but sunny day. Co-leaders were Yun-Wen Chan and Will Waller. After docent table hot chocolate and introductions and singing the Bluebird song 'Here Comes the Laughing Springtime' the group set out to discover cavity nesting habitat and also spotted a number of dangling Oriole nests, bowl shaped Robin nests, and other types of nests. Two Red-tailed hawks circled Eagle Heights Gardens overhead and posed for scope viewing. Other posing highlights were a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Northern Flicker. The resident Sandhill pair was spotted by some as they stepped through the prairie but magically disappeared in the garden area. Three were seen flying at the end of the refreshingly sunny early Spring snow melt walk. Gisela K spotted them on the playing fields by the 1918 marsh on the way home. Contacts made at the walk resulted in volunteers to organize a Bluebird Box Build event and to update and monitor the Bluebird trail. Plan to come along on the next Bird and Nature Walk on the 4th Sunday in April. It's great fun.
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Paul Noeldner
3/30/2014 02:18:51 pm
Heard a Woodcock's plaintive passionate peenting in the lane followed by the whistling whispers of wings winnowing high above the Biocore Prairie on Sunday evening about dusk. This harbinger of Spring is a key indicator of good natural prairie and woodland border habitat. Thank you everybody who helped restore the prairie!
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