Friends Field Trips 2021During the Pandemic, we offer Self-Guided Walks each month with the same topics as our regular Naturalist-led Field Trips. They can be taken at your convenience on any day. For up-to-date changes in the following guidelines see lakeshorepreserve.wisc.edu.  Yellow-rumped warbler by Jeremy Cohen
April
A Beyond Backyard Birding Adventure at the UW Lakeshore Nature Preserve By Ashley Olah (ahannah@wisc.edu) and Kristin Brunk (kbrunk@wisc.edu), With photos by Jeremy Cohen (jcohen39@wisc.edu) Grow your backyard birding skills with leaders who can bird by ear and learn to identify those little streaky-brown birds and other early spring migrants. Take the even trails at a leisurely pace. We definitely didn’t expect a year ago that the pandemic would still be raging and that we still wouldn’t be able to lead in-person birding trips, but here we are! Luckily, birding by yourself or with those you live with is still a great way to learn and enjoy the outdoors and the spring weather! To follow the tour, see the instructions in a PDF HERE for a self-guided birding adventure at the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, including a map of the suggested route and tips about what to look for in certain places! We’ve also included a checklist of some of the most common species you’re likely to see at Picnic Point, the Biocore Prairie, and the Class of 1918 Marsh this time of year. 
April
Self-guided walk with Susan Will-Wolf: Lichens in the Preserve Please access the video tour and a PDF of the Virtual Lichen Tour at https://www.friendslakeshorepreserve.com/lichens.html Susan Will-Wolf, UW-Madison Botany emerita, has composed a guide to the “small and inconspicuous, but oh so cool” lichens and constructed a tour to introduce you to them. Beginning at the Picnic Point entrance, you’ll follow a route guaranteed to show you a variety of species on trees and rocks. Tom Bryan partnered with Dr. Will-Wolf to make a 10-part video tour that takes you to the 10 stops described in her guide. March or early April
Early Spring Migrants at the UW Lakeshore Nature Preserve A Self-guided Bird and Nature Adventure by Paul Noeldner (paul_noeldner@hotmail.com) Here’s a video of me welcoming you. — Come along! The Lakeshore Nature Preserve’s bays, shorelines, woodlands, marshes and prairie offer food and shelter for a variety of bird species. This means the Preserve is a great place to spot returning migrants in spring!
Suggested steps: 1. Begin at the entrance to Picnic Point, 2002 University Bay Drive. 2. Download a Preserve map. 3. Use your own binoculars, guidebooks and an app such as eBird or BirdsEye to help your identifications. 4. Search for birds in the trees and bushes on Picnic Point, scan for migrating waterfowl on University Bay, check the Bluebird Trail at Biocore Prairie, and listen for the calls of sandhill cranes. 5. Be sure to stop by the newly renovated and improved Purple Martin house right between the Biocore Prairie and the Eagle Heights Community Gardens. 6. Be a Citizen Scientist and log your observations on eBird and iNaturalist. Helpful links: -- To help you identify some of our year-round resident birds, check out Chuck Henrikson’s illustrated guide to the Winter Birds found in the Preserve, and the photos Arlene Koziol took of the sandhill cranes shortly after they arrived in the first week of March. -- At the Preserve's eBird page, you’ll find records of birds sighted recently at this “hotspot”, and links to excellent photos, background information and audio clips for each of them. --Bird and Nature Adventures are free, fun, family friendly, healthy and educational. For more information and more Bird and Nature Adventures, see and the Lakeshore Nature Preserve Facebook and website. February 2021 Self-guided Walk:
Winterbirds in the UW Lakeshore Nature Preserve by Chuck Henrikson Chuck Henrikson has written this guide to birds found in the Preserve during February's cold and snow, and he illustrated it with 26 of his own photos! Click HERE for DETAILS of the self-guided walk. It includes tips to distinguish Downy from Hairy Woodpeckers, and where Chuck sighted Barred Owls. Please send your own photos, comments, and observations to PreserveFriends@gmail.com. With your permission we will share them on the web. 
Barred Owl in winter. Photo Chuck Henrikson
During the Pandemic, we offer Self-Guided Walks each month with the same topics as our regular Naturalist-led Field Trips. They can be taken at your convenience on any day. For up-to-date changes in the following guidelines, see https://lakeshorepreserve.wisc.edu/.
When regular Lakeshore Nature Preserve Bird and Nature Outings resume, join us at 1:30pm on the 4th Sunday every month. Those Outings are co-sponsored by Madison Friends of Urban Nature (FUN), Madison Audubon, and the Friends of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve. Contact Paul Noeldner: 608-698-0104. |
Free public field trips are one of the most valuable contributions the Friends make to the Preserve. They have been organized every spring and fall for over 10 years on various topics and are all led by Friends volunteers. Many are professional naturalists and emeritus faculty and staff. The Friends also partner with other environmental organizations for field trips.
Field trip coordinator: Doris Dubielzig Bird and Nature Outings Free, family-friendly walks on the 4thSunday of the month. Bring your binoculars and camera. Meet at the Picnic Point entrance next to the kiosk (2004 University Bay Drive). Sponsored by the Friends of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, Friends of Urban Nature, and Madison Audubon Society. Meet at the Picnic Point Kiosk, across from UW Lot 130. Contact Paul Noeldner (608-698‑0104). Winter 2020 Archaeology walk
|
|
Friends of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve
P.O. Box 5534 Madison, WI 53705 UW-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve website Documents |
|