Friends Field Trips  2021 

​​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.
  • The UW-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve is open from sunrise to sunset each day.
  • Wear a face mask, maintain physical distances from non-household members, stay home if you feel unwell, and remain on the trails.
  • Carry a cellphone to access Audio Trail links.
  • Bring water to drink, as there are no drinking fountains. 
  • Wear comfortable hiking shoes and clothing appropriate for the weather.
  • Dogs on leash are permitted.  
  • Free, no registration required. 
  • Rustic toilets are located west of the beach at the Picnic Point Narrows. There are no toilets available at the old Beach House.
  • The fire circles on Picnic Point are closed and no fires are allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
For up-to-date changes in the following guidelines, see  https://lakeshorepreserve.wisc.edu/. 

July 2021
Walking Field Trip around the UW Lakeshore Nature Preserve’s Class of 1918 Marsh in the year of Covid

by John J. Magnuson (johnjosephmagnuson@gmail.com)
Friends of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve and
Center for Limnology, UW-Madison

Picture
The (red) walking trail is around the outer edge of the cattails. Begin at the rock with the Marsh’s dedication plaque, located to the south of parking lot 130, which was rebuilt and improved in 2020. On the south end, the walking trail is between the playing fields and the marsh between South Bridge and South Inlet. The white arrows denote water flow and the green circles are where water has been sampled for chloride. The marsh empties into Lake Mendota.
This year you will have to walk alone or with a friend. A few things to plan your hike:

  1. The entire hike is flat but might require water resistant boots or shoes. The
    bridge near the hospitals at the south end of the marsh is closed, but one can
    easily access both the east and west trail around the marsh from the sidewalk
    between the south end of the marsh and the hospital complex.
  2. Park at the main Picnic Point parking lot (UW Lot 130), 2003 University Bay Drive, which is next to the northern edge of the marsh and across University Bay Drive from the entrance to Picnic Point. The parking lot is fee-free on the weekends and after 4:30pm on weekdays. Alternatively, bike, walk or take the route 80 bus to the parking lot entrance. 
  3. The walk is enriched by audio clips with information about the marsh. Each of
    four locations around the marsh has a sign indicating how to use your smart
    phone and listen to topics ranging from geology to microscopic life, cattails,
    birds, fishes, and early human residents. Each audio is short with the
    information designed for children and adults. The audio files can also be accessed ​here, as well  through the Preserve’s website, including written transcripts. 
    The best place to listen and view the open waters is the observation platform extending over the cattails on the northwest corner of the marsh. 
  4. The marsh is alive with birds, insects, toads, frogs, and cattails and other plants.
    Signs of other animals, including raccoons and coyotes, are apparent to the keen
    observer from paw prints and scat. 
  5. The audio trip does not have a piece on threats to or the future of the marsh. Two major environmental threats are:
  • the replacement of the native broadleaf cattail by the invasive narrowleaf cattail and its hybrids, and 
  • chloride contamination by deicers applied to roads and sidewalks in the marsh’s watershed.  The waters in and around the marsh, including the groundwaters, have high levels of chloride. Lakeshore Nature Preserve staff and friends are considering how to deal with these threats.
Chloride Publications
  • Dugan, Hilary A., Greta Helmueller, and John J. Magnuson. 2017. Ice formation and the risk of chloride toxicity in shallow wetlands and lakes. Limnology and Oceanography Letters.
  • Helmueller, G., J.J. Magnuson, H.A. Dugan. 2019. Spatial and Temporal Patterns of ChlorideContamination in a Shallow, Urban Marsh. Society of Wetland Scientists. Wetlands.
  • ​see also Fall 2014 Friends Newsletter, pp.4-5

MAY 2021
Self-Guided Bird Tour: Class of 1918 Marsh and Picnic Point
UW-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve
By Roma Lenehan (rlenehan@charter.net), 2021

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE PDF FILE
Picture
Green heron. Photo Arlene Koziol
It's a privilege and a pleasure to introduce Roma Lenehan's May Bird Tour with Arlene Koziol's image of our logo, the green heron. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve provides opportunities to view a wide variety of birds in a relatively small area. The 300-acre Preserve has woodlands, marshes, open water, prairie and open lands.  Birding in the Preserve is best right now, during migration, when migrants can be found anywhere in the area.  

More than 250 bird species have been seen in the Preserve.  The Preserve also supports more than 70 breeding species.  Roma Lenehan's tour has fascinating and valuable details to improve your birding, and it includes the birding checklist that she created.  She ends her tour with this message to you:  "I hope that this tour was helpful.  Hopefully next year we can walk together."  

Park in UW Lot 130 (2003 University Bay Drive). The parking lot is fee-free on the weekends and after 4:30pm on weekdays.  See the map below. 
TO CONTINUE WITH THE SELF-GUIDED BIRD WALK
​CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE PDF FILE

Please do send us your photos, observations, and comments to EAEmsh2@gmail.com, iNaturalist, and facebook.com/uwpreserve. 
​With your permission, we’ll share them on the web!

​MAY 2021
Spring Wildflower Blooms and Research:  
​a Self-guided Tour through Frautschi Point, the Biocore Prairie and Bill’s Woods,
UW-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve
​CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE PDF FILE

Olympia Mathiaparanam, omathiaparan@wisc.edu
Glenda Denniston, glendadenniston8@gmail.com
Doris Dubielzig, dbdubielzig@gmail.com
Prof. Eve Emshwiller, eaemsh2@gmail.com
 
Overview:
  • Introduction to phenology and wildflower blooming
  • Self-guided tour of Frautschi Point, the Biocore Prairie, and Bill’s Woods
  • Additional resources
Enter the Preserve from the Frautschi Point parking lot, 2662 Lake Mendota Drive.  Pass between the end posts of the stone wall and take the wide path toward the lake.  Make a right at the sign onto Big Oak Trail.
I.   Phenology and Wildflower Blooming
 
Phenology is the study of seasonal biological phenomena. 
 
Examples of phenological data include the first appearance of migratory birds, dates of tree budding, dates of egg-laying in amphibia and birds, and first flowering times in blooming plants.
 
Madison, Wisconsin has a notably rich historical record of such phenological flowering time data from ecologist, Aldo Leopold. 
 
From 1935 to 1945, Leopold, his students and members of his family kept records of seasonal events in Wisconsin, primarily in Madison, Wisconsin and at his shack in Sauk County, Wisconsin. Data collection continued in these counties between 1977 and 2012 by his daughter, Nina Leopold Bradley, Dr. Stanley A. Temple of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and staff from the Aldo Leopold Foundation. 
 
The resultant 45-year-spanning datafile allowed researchers to discover the long-term effects a changing climate may have on phenological events. For example, analyses from Leopold’s records revealed that plant species like spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis), prairie phlox (Phlox pilosa), and shooting star (Primula meadia) began flowering earlier in the season as average spring temperature increased over time. 
The spiderwort, prairie phlox, and shooting star plants demonstrated phenotypic plasticity, the ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions. We are unsure of the limits of each species’ plasticity partly because each species’ physiological threshold may be different due to the particular factors that elicit their developmental changes.  
For example, some plants may grow and flower 
dependent on temperature, 
while others may be reliant on daylength. 
 
The variability in phenotypic plasticity and developmental mechanisms has great ecological effects. Biological events in animals are also prompted by abiotic factors, which pose additional questions regarding their plasticity and physiological thresholds with climate change. Ultimately, we fear that climate change may cause ecological mismatches between interacting species, which could have greater implications. Climate change may influence the interactions between plants, pollinators and herbivores; it may affect water uptake, nutrition cycling, and carbon sequestration.
 
Consequently, scientists conclude we must continue studying seasonal relationships between climate and the timing of biological events. 
 
One event of particular interest is the flowering times of the first spring ephemerals as these plants are the first source of food for early pollinators.
 
In this prepared wildflower tour, we aim to highlight some interesting ecological interactions between wildflowers and assorted fauna. We hope you will appreciate the intricacies and interconnectedness of the Preserve and remain conscious of how a changing climate may impact these relationships. 
 
Finally, we encourage you all to actively contribute to phenological research by documenting and sharing observations you make during your independent walks in the Preserve. Our team recommends using the iNaturalist app, to which you can easily upload photos and learn about the different organisms you encounter during your outings, while also contributing to phenological research. 
 
II.  Self-guided Tour of Frautschi Point, the Biocore Prairie, and Bill’s Woods    
    Blue trail to Bill’s Woods; Maroon return path to Frautschi Point
 
The first wildflower species of our tour is Wisconsin’s state flower, the common blue violet (Viola sororia). You will encounter this adaptable and vibrant wildflower in patches lining either side of the Big Oak Trail as well as the other paths throughout this walk. 
How many different colors of violets do you see?  You may detect the bicolored form of the common blue violet, which is colored with a rich purple pigment that fades to white at the tips of each petal. 
 
Violets are one of the wildflowers species with an early spring blooming time, so they tend to be one of the first sources of nutrients for pollinators. Notably, violets are a crucial food source for fritillary butterfly larvae. Like many other butterfly species, fritillary butterfly larvae are selective about what they eat.  While fritillary caterpillars require a diet of violet greens, the adult butterflies have fewer dietary constraints and drink nectar from a variety of native flowers.
TO CONTINUE WITH THE WILDFLOWER FIELD TRIP,
​CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE PDF FILE

Please do send us your photos, observations, and comments to EAEmsh2@gmail.com, iNaturalist, and facebook.com/uwpreserve.  With your permission, we’ll share them on the web!
PictureYellow-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.
Picture
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.
Picture
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).


Class of 1918 Marsh-
Audio Field trip​ with audio files

Picture
The 1918 marsh and behind it the playing fields.

Winter 2020 Archaeology walk
Fall 2020 Virtual field trips
Spring/Summer 2020 Field Trips​
Fall/Winter 2019/20 Field Trips
Spring/Summer 2019 Field Trips
Fall/WInter 2018 Field Trips
Spring/Summer Field Trips 2018
Fall/Winter 2017 Field Trips
​Spring/Summer 2017 Field Trips
Fall 2016 Field Trips
Spring 2016 Field trips
​Fall 2015 Field Trips
Spring/Summer 2015 Field Trips
Fall 2014 Field trips
Spring/Summer 2014 Field trips