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Bird and Nature walk – February 23 2020

3/11/2020

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Picture
PictureChuck Henrikson
On a lovely Sunday afternoon, Chuck Henrikson and 35 birding enthusiasts gathered to learn about and spot some feathered friends in the Lakeshore Nature Preserve. 
 
Chuck first talked about owls and their diets. Owls eat rodents and other small birds. Some animal matter— like bones and hair— are not digested by the owls, so they regurgitate this in the form of a pellet! Chuck showed attendees intact pellets, as well as the individual bones taken from other owl pellets he had found. Interestingly, Chuck mentioned that the size of the pellets varies across owl species and is correlated to the size of the owl (so Barred Owls tend to make larger pellets than Eastern Screech Owls for example). Chuck also showed attendees some feathers from Wisconsin birds and discussed properties of these feathers (like how some bird species have wing feathers that are frayed on the edge to allow birds to travel silently through the air). 

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Bones extracted from Owl pellets.
Throughout the field trip, seven bird species were spotted: Hairy Woodpeckers (2 males), Downy Woodpeckers (1 male, 1 female), Herring Gulls (2), White-breasted Nuthatches (2), Black-capped Chickadees (3), Northern Cardinal (1), and a beloved Barred Owl (1)! Chuck also informed attendees about resources like eBird where you can upload your birding lists and contribute to citizen science efforts to track bird species’ temporal movements in the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, Wisconsin, and beyond! ​Report and photos by the Friends host Olympia Mathiaparanam
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It’s In Our Nature! Open Mic Night – February 25, 2020

3/3/2020

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Picture
Picture
Early last year, Olympia Mathiaparanam, Board Member, had the idea that we could harness the power of the humanities in inspiring connection to nature. The “It’s in Our Nature” open mic event held in the BioCommons in the Steenbock Library on Thursday, February 25 was the result of that idea. We asked Robin Chapman, poet, Emeritus faculty of the UW-Madison, and Friends member, to be the Master of Ceremony and featured poet. Robin has written ten books of nature-inspired poetry and has received recognition and honors for her work including the 2010 Appalachia Poetry Prize, and a Wisconsin Arts Board Literary Arts Fellowship. Robin, Olympia, and Lillian Tong, also a Board Member, met together to plan the details around this experimental initiative months in advance. Because of the need to reach a broader audience than our usual field trips, the team created and distributed posters around campus and in local coffee shops and establishments. 

The event opened with a slideshow of 105 images of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, selected by Lillian Tong and put into a PowerPoint presentation with the help of Linda Deith, Tom Yin, and Sarah Congdon. These images were among those taken by numerous photographers and pulled together by Gisela Kutzbach. The slideshow played for the 15 minutes prior to the Open Mic while performers were signing up for slots and choosing images that would be projected while they read their creative expression. Olympia welcomed the attendees and introduced Robin, who opened and closed the event with her excellent poetry. The poetry and prose of our 6 performers, together with the visual images, brought the beauty and power of nature into the space! In all, 23 people enjoyed the work of the performers, several of whom were new to the Lakeshore Preserve. After the presentations, attendees had an opportunity to visit and view the display table with materials about the Lakeshore Nature Preserve. 
The BioCommons director and staff were very welcoming and helpful, and provided a perfect place for the event, for which we are so grateful. Refreshments were donated by Lillian Tong and the BioCommons offered coffee. The organizers, who had worried about results of this experiment, were happy with the response and hope to repeat the event, perhaps with ideas for improvements. Report by Lillian Tong and Olympia Mathiaparanam. Photos by Tom Yin and Olympia.​
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Friends of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve
 P.O. Box 5534
 Madison, WI 53705 

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Related websites:
UW Nelson Institute
UW Arboretum
Clean Lakes Alliance
Groundswell Conservancy
Pleasant Valley Conservancy
Pheasant Branch Conservancy
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  • Home
  • What We Do
    • Volunteering
    • Field Trips >
      • Self-guided Field Trips
    • Community Outreach >
      • Science Expeditions 2021
    • Friends Projects
    • Newsletter
    • Research
    • Citizen Science
  • People & Events
  • The Preserve
    • Stories
    • Maps >
      • 1918 Marsh
      • Eagle Heights Woods
    • Birds >
      • Bluebirds
      • Purple Martins
    • Animals
    • Plants
    • Lichens
  • Support us
  • About
    • Mission and Goals
    • Annual Report
    • Committees & Contact
  • Blog