![]() Please complete this important surevy. Deadline November 14. Follow this link. The Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation/DNR reports: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is currently revising two key conservation plans – the Wildlife Action Plan and Fish, Wildlife, and Habitat Management Plan. Through completion of an online questionnaire, Wisconsin citizens can give the department valuable input regarding Wisconsin’s fish and wildlife resources management. The Wildlife Action Plan and Fish, Wildlife, and Habitat Management Plan act as a blueprint for how the department will manage and protect Wisconsin’s fish and wildlife resources over the next ten years. The department must complete each plan in order to receive federal funding that will help support healthy, sustainable fish and wildlife populations and their habitats. Funding is also key for the creation and maintenance of outdoor recreation opportunities throughout the state. Public involvement is a key piece of the puzzle in ensuring the state remains a leader in resource management and protection. An online survey is one component of a comprehensive public outreach effort associated with updating the Wildlife Action Plan and Fish, Wildlife, and Habitat Management Plan. The survey will close Nov. 14 at midnight. To complete the survey, please follow this link. Translated versions will be made available in both Hmong and Spanish within the next few weeks. To learn more about the Wildlife Action Plan and the Fish, Wildlife, and Habitat Management Plan, visit dnr.wi.gov and search keyword “wap10year.”
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Henry Hart's 98th birthday party will be held on Sunday, November 16 at 4PM. It will be held at the Visitors Center of the UW Arboretum.Henry is a great friend to the Friends, and knows most everyone. The event will be informal and no presents (only presence) are the order of the day. Help us celebrate.
Peter Fisher of the Friends shares with us this story of a long friendship with Henry: "When my family first arrived in Madison from California, Henry Hart's niece, who was my first preschool friend, called to say that I would get a call from her Uncle Henry and Aunt Virginia welcoming us to the area. Little did I know that it would be the beginning of an fulfilling and ongoing relationship. Not only did they introduce me to the Friends of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, they showed me so many of the things that made Madison so special to them. Henry and his wife Virginia, who died in 2007, presented a formidable and well-known team as neighborhood activists. Virginia was Wisconsin's first woman cabinet member, holding many positions in state and local government, and Henry was an extremely popular professor in the Political Science Department at UW, who is well-known for his efforts in the organization of the University's Department of Indian Studies. He spent much time in India in residence both teaching and traveling. Together, Henry and Virginia helped to start the Group Health Cooperative in Madison. Wherever they have lived this truly remarkable couple devoted a great deal of time in community service. Henry is a true environmentalist and has advocated for causes that promise long-lasting, far reaching and forward thinking results. He is a charter member of the Friends of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve. As he approaches 98, he is no less passionate for life than he ever was, but understandably has slightly lowered expectations for physical vigor. Lifelong outdoors people, Henry and Virginia backpacked their way through the Rockies, Andes and the Himalaya. Today, Henry keeps fit with daily visits to the gym. If you are unable to attend his upcoming birthday party, please take time to seek him out at the annual meeting of the Friends in April. You'll find a truly unique and genuine person who will add much to your life, as he has to mine. " It's hard to resist activities in the Preserve during Golden October days. Glenda Denniston brought loads of spring flowers to plant, including fifty shooting stars. Tal, back for a week in Wisconsin from her exciting new job as Curator of the Botanical Gardens in Tel Aviv, and Gisela joined in the fun. Bill Cronon, showing off the Preserve to a visitor, cheered us on.
On the Friends field trip this morning, exploring the Class of 1918 Marsh, Glenda Denniston spotted a bunch of Shaggy Mane mushrooms (Coprinus comatus) popping up in the athletic field along the path. She reported that they are edible and excellent when sliced lengthwise and fried in butter. These pretty fungi are aptly named for their frilly head dress. Photo G. Denniston.
Shaggy Mane mushrooms are common in late summer or fall. They tend to grow in fairly hard soil, rather than loose forest floors, and are found along roadsides or even compacted grassy areas such as the playing fields.
![]() What you see on the photo is a mountain of Motherwort plants pulled near the tip of Picnic Point by volunteers, led by Bryn Scriver of the Preserve staff on July 25. Motherwort is an invasive plant and well established along disturbed edges and trails in the Preserve, but it’s easy to overlook. Motherwort is a perennial that produces sharp stick-tight seeds along its stem that readily travel on fur and clothing and produce huge numbers of seedlings. It invaded some of the new plantings on Picnic Point in a very short period. Thanks for pulling!! The next volunteer day is Sunday, Sept 21, meeting at Frautschi Point Parking lot. Earlier in August Arlene and Jeff Koziol observed a juvenile Green Heron in the marsh at Picnic Point. This is great news that the Green Heron, symbolic for Friends and the Preserve, bred successfully in the marsh. See more photos at Green Heron and watch for more details on Roma Lenehan's 2014 the Bird Breeding study in the Preserve.
![]() On August 7, Glenda Denniston sighted and photographed this rare visitor to the Preserve. Ed Spalding, butterfly expert and field trip leader of "Pretty things with Wings" commented that Glenda's sighting of the Harvester butterfly is clearly a "lifer". Glenda reports: "It was (very briefly) on a leaf at the Field Edge Gully [along Frautschi Woods]. I've never before seen one, though a friend had told me he used to see them occasionally in a particular spot at the edge of Bill's Woods. It's our one carnivorous butterfly: the larvae eat small insects rather than leaves." Glenda, thank you for sharing this special sighting. Roma Lenehan reported on July 11 that the Sandhills cranes have a new colt, barely a week old. She observed the parents and colt by the Class of 1918 Marsh. The pair of sandhill cranes had been unsuccessful in their first breeding attempt this season in the Pond Marsh of Picnic Point. A new colt is wonderful news.
If you are aware of bird breeding activities and locations in the Preserve, please enter your information in the bird log kept at the Birding Bulletin board inside the gate to Picnic Point, or email Roma Lenehan. |
AuthorGisela Kutzbach and contributors Archives
May 2022
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