Celebrating Mud

 Guest Post by Julie Hoel, KVR Instructor and Enthusiastic Mud Loving Grandparent

I was just out of college and visiting a friend who had three children. We were chatting when her five-year-old son came bursting in the door full of boyish exuberance and covered with splotches of mud from head to foot. She took one look at him, put on her sternest mom face, whipped out her you’re-in-big-trouble-now voice and said, “JAY MEYER, HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING IN THAT CREEK?” The smile fell from his face, he rolled his big brown eyes upward and said, “No.” The two older sisters and I tried our best contain our laughter as his mom began peeling off the muddy clothes and throwing them directly into the washer. To her credit, she did not shame him for being a muddy mess but continued with her harangue, “You know you’re not supposed to be playing in that creek!” Clearly, her concern was the danger of water play rather than dirty clothes. 

In these parts, we cannot escape the mud of the March thaw and April showers that follow. We can save ourselves irritation and frustration by just embracing and celebrating the wonders of mud. In that spirit, I would like to share my favorite holiday photo of all time. It was refreshingly different from the typical family photo of the kids clean and pressed. These parents were secure enough to celebrate their kids in all their mischievous muddiness in the deep green of a summer day.  When I recently asked their dad if I could share this image, he said, you’re “welcome to use that pic if it’s to promote kids being kids!” He added, “I think based on where we lived our kids naturally got real dirty experiencing being a kid in nature. We had 50 acres and a half mile of river frontage…what a place to be a kid!” He pointed out the nice clean laundry hanging on the line behind them. I also noticed that they are both wearing glasses that somehow remained relatively clear. Definitely experienced mudballs with some self-control!

In these two vignettes, the children sought and located the mud on their own. A quick google search will bring up many benefits of mud play including development of fine and gross motor skills, increasing cognitive skills and enhancing creativity. It also is good for the immune system and decreases stress levels. We would therefore be wise and wonderful caretakers to seek out opportunities for our children’s mud exploration. My favorite resource, Pinterest, has limitless schemes to bring mud play to every location. There are recipes for mud paint, fizzing mud and mud soup. The design suggestions for mud kitchens are endless.

But the fun of mud play is not just for children. Back in ’93, I experienced mud as art with adults during a volunteer week at Dr. Patch Adams’ Gesundheit! Institute in West Virginia. His model of good health includes humor and art as healing. Once a week, volunteers were encouraged to experience community in the mud pit. After the mud bath, there were photo sessions of numerous statuesque poses. It was a truly memorable experience!

So when you encounter the inevitable mud of the season, I encourage you remember your own fondest muddy memory and smile.  And if a mud-covered child comes bursting in your doorway, greet them with that smile and make throwing those dirty clothes into the washer a celebration.

P.S. All the above references to mud exclude flood mud.  That nasty stuff is a nightmare.

For some more muddy inspiration, check out these books and links:

 Mud by Mary Lyn Ray, Illustrated by Lauren Stringer

This beautiful book celebrates the beginning of the mud season in simple text and gorgeous illustrations. 

Mudplay for Kids: Why It's Worth the Mess - Healthline This article provides details about why messy play is so beneficial for children.

Mud, Marvelous Mud - Community Playthings With the benefits clearly outlined, this article provides ideas and considerations for embracing mud play with your child.

Spring Migration is Upon Us

 Guest Post by Barbara Duerksen

What a delight to welcome back the birds we have not seen for months! There’s music in the air – honking geese and calling swans flying to the northwest, robins, blackbirds, and cardinals singing in the morning, and the loud, rattling bugle calls of Sandhill Cranes.

Sandhill Crane photo by Dave Franks

When the ice goes out, the ducks come in. They might stay for a day, sometimes longer, as they make their journey from the southern states to their nesting territories.  A few of the duck species like Wood Ducks, Blue-winged Teal, and Mallards, stay in our area to raise their broods, while most of the other ducks head for farther north wetlands.  I find Hooded Mergansers particularly elegant and fun to watch. The males are black on top with white stripes in front and back, brown sides, and a black and white head that looks very large when the crest feathers are raised.  Females are brown and also have crest feathers that can be raised or lowered.  They look a little less elegant and more like a bad hair day.  I have found Hooded Mergansers in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve in early spring swimming in the wooded wetland at the junction of Hwy 131 and County P.

Hooded Merganser photo by Jack Bartholmai

Migration is all about food.  Waterfowl need open water to find fish, snails, worms, roots and other plant food.  Insect eaters need warm enough temperatures to find a good steady supply of insects, and that takes them far south of Wisconsin.  Seed eaters and some of the predatory birds can find enough food to get through the winter season, so we’ll see jays, chickadees, cardinals, crows, Cooper’s and Red-tailed Hawks all winter.  Juncos, American Tree Sparrows, Purple Finches, Rough-legged Hawks, and Northern Shrikes are among the species that come from way north to stay here for the winter.  They will be leaving soon, and instead we’ll see Fox, White-throated, and White-crowned Sparrows on their way north, in addition to other early migrants like kinglets and phoebes.

April brings some notable insect eaters, despite the possibility of cold weather and snowstorms. Hermit Thrushes, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Winter Wrens are all insect eaters that seem to be able to withstand colder temperatures than others of their kind.  Their diets ae a bit more flexible –they prefer insects, but all three are able to digest fruits like juniper berries.  Cold spells with deep snow that last too long can be life-threatening to these birds, as we witnessed with in April, 2018.

Winter Wren photo by Dan Jackson

Winter Wrens are small brown birds with very short tails that they often hold upright.  They are smaller than the more familiar House Wrens that spend their summers here, and most of them fly farther north to the forests of northern Wisconsin and Canada. Winter Wrens have nested in cool microclimates in the Kickapoo Reserve and the Baraboo Hills, preferring areas with coarse woody debris or tangled roots. Some older field guides recommend looking for migrating Winter Wrens in stacks of firewood in the yard. On nesting territory, the male sings a loud, rich, lengthy, bubbly song.  You can listen to the song here by pressing the audio button.

The colorful familiar songsters like grosbeaks, orioles, and Indigo Buntings, will show up a bit later, some in late April and the rest in May, along with many migrating warblers. These are the long-distance migrants that spend the winter in warmer climates, some—Yellow Warblers and Barn Swallows, for example—as far south as countries in South America.

Migration is a perilous journey with hazards that range from bad weather and natural predators, to human-caused habitat destruction, window strikes, poisoning by pesticides, and predation by cats. How to help?  Study up on what birds need, support bird conservation groups and reserves (like the KVR), consider planting bird-friendly plants and trees in your yard.  The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a list of suggestions here: athttps://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/seven-simple-actions-to-help-birds/

                                            American Woodcock photo by Jack Bartholmai

Ready for an evening adventure?  Go out at dusk to listen for the American Woodcock call and sky dance.  American Woodcocks are in the shorebird family, but nest on the ground in shrubby woodland edges. An odd-looking short-tailed brown bird, they are about robin-size, plump, with long beaks and eyes positioned high up and near the back of the skull. In early spring, the males, looking to attract a mate, find an open area to sit and call a series of single buzzy, nasal “peent” sounds, and after a while, fly up with a twittering sound in a large circle, descend to the same area with a slower chirpy sound, and start again to do the call. This occurs about 20 minutes after sunset. The open area around the Kickapoo Reserve Visitor Center has been a reliable spot to observe this spring ritual of the woodcock. 

For great reading on the woodcock dance check out these favorites:

Aldo Leopold, in A Sand County Almanac, describes the Sky Dance of the woodcocks on his farm in the April section of Part 1.  Frances Hamerstrom, in Walk When the Moon is Full, devotes her April chapter to the story of gong out with her two children to witness the sky dance of the woodcock.

Looking for Spring

  C. Chybowski

A guest post by KVR Educator Cathy Chybowski

Spring is in the air!  Even if the calendar says “March,” the cold winds blow, and the snow lingers, those of us tuned in to the changing seasons know that spring is fast approaching. By observing and recording natural events year after year, we can accurately predict and anticipate the sequence in which these events occur. 

The study of recurring natural events like the migration of birds or the flowering of plants and their connection with each other as the seasons change is called phenology.

Everyone practices phenology whether they realize it or not—naturalists, gardeners, farmers, and homeowners, among others. “April showers bring May flowers” is pure phenology.

Islay Pictures Photoblog

What tells you that spring has arrived? Is it the first robin of the year? Like Aldo Leopold, many people sense that spring has sprung when they see and hear a flock of geese flying in the typical V-formation proclaiming the change of season. 

 “One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of a March thaw, is the spring.”          

Leopold continues .  .  .  .  “A cardinal whistling spring to a thaw but later finding himself mistaken, can retrieve his error by resuming his winter silence. A chipmunk, emerging for a sunbath but finding a blizzard, has only to go back to bed.  But a migrating goose, staking two hundred miles of black night on the chance of finding a hole in the lake, has no easy chance for retreat. His arrival carries the conviction of a prophet who has burned his bridges.”

     Greg Gillson

 Sid Hamm

It is time to check last year’s phenology records for the order of events. We can predict that in southern Wisconsin, the red-winged blackbirds return to the marshes before the end of February and the bluebirds return to nest by March 15. The wood frogs begin their choral courtship the third week in March and ground squirrels and woodchucks emerge sleepy from hibernation by the end of March.  Hepatica begins to bloom around mid-April  and bloodroot blooms about one week later.

                                                                                                                                     awaytothgarden.com

                 C. Chybowski

Nature’s grand production runs from the time that skunk cabbage pokes up through the snow, through the time when the woodpeckers begin to drum, male red-wings “onk-la-ree” from the cattails and pussy willows fluff out. Killdeer and meadowlarks return, chipmunks awaken from their winter dormancy, song sparrows sing “hip hip hooray guys, spring is here,” balls of garter snakes appear, painted turtles pop up on sunning logs, mourning cloak butterflies and little brown bats flit about, and spring ephemerals emerge from the woodland floor.

   V. Charney

All of these observations were made before April 15^th.  Soon thereafter the great wave of warbler migration begins (about a month after the woodcocks begin their aerial courtship display). Then the tree leaves burst forth, flowers in gardens and fields bloom and the air holds the sweet scent of lilacs just in time for Mother’s Day. The show continues on and on . . .

“During every week from April to September there are on average, ten wild plants coming into first bloom. . . No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.”                                                                                                                                                       -   Aldo Leopold

No two years are exactly the same and some signs of spring are more reliable than others. Frogs are good predictors of spring. Wood frogs and spring peepers begin to sing soon after ice-out when the water has warmed to 46 degrees F. Earthworm castings become visible when the frost has come out of the ground. The return of robins and bluebirds is not a reliable indicator of spring because some of them stay in our area throughout the winter.

                                         petponder.com

            

Spring usually invades our state in the southwest corner and marches north and northeast at a rate of about fifteen miles a day. This was determined when residents across the state were asked to record the date at which the lilac, a species familiar to everyone, was in peak flower.

According to Hopkin’s law, phenological events vary at the rate of one day for each fifteen minutes of latitude, 1.25 days for each degree of longitude, and one day for each one hundred feet of altitude, being later northward, eastward, and upward. When applied in Wisconsin, this law seems to hold almost exactly along a north-south axis; except that Lake Michigan retards the spring warmup.

Above is merely a sampling of the discoveries that await the curious nature observer. It is a fun time of year for each of us to get outside and take a closer look at what Aldo Leopold calls the “hundred little dramas” happening right outside the door when spring is in the air. 

Solstice: Celebrating Winter

Mid-winter or Solstice (December 21) is upon us. Here in Wisconsin the sun is already setting at 4:30pm and not rising again until 7:30am.That's a loooong winter night! Winter Solstice, the time of nature's darkness, has long been celebrated by humans around the world. In Northern climates celebrations often include fire and light to signify welcoming back the sun, and turning toward the renewing days of spring.

While the nights are long, the days of mid-winter in Wisconsin are often sunny and bright.  Taking long walks in the winter sunshine can be rejuvenating and so very interesting. What do you see, hear and find? Where are all the animals and what are they doing to stay warm?  Where do they shelter and what do they eat? How are the trees living through the cold?

To supplement your winter wonderings (and wanderings) you might check out these amazing books. There are some for adults and some for children.

Winter World by Bernd Heinrich

Stokes Guide to Nature in Winter by Donald Stokes

The Longest Night by Marian Dane Bauer

Dear Rebecca, Winter is Here by Jean Craighead George

The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper and Carson Ellis

Indoors there are many ways to continue to observe nature. A favorite is feeding and watching the birds outside your window. Young children can have an up-front seat to bird observation in the comfort of their homes. Many hours can be spent observing the ways that birds use their beaks to eat seeds, how they preen their feathers and how they chase away intruders at the feeder! KVR Instructor Barb Duerksen wrote a great post with tips and reminders about bird feeding back in October.

Collecting bits and pieces of nature and bringing them inside can be another wonderful way to observe and explore winter in the warmth of your home. Create an ever-changing seasonal nature table in your home! For more about creating nature tables, check out The Nature Corner: Celebrating the Year's Cycle with Seasonal Tableaux by M.V. Leeuwen and J. Moeskops.

Stargazing after the sun sets continues to delight during the winter season. Tonight, if the skies are clear from your corner of the world, check out this rare event with Jupiter and Saturn that is happening on solstice. If skies are cloudy in your area, there is a livestream available on the link. KVR Instructor and Astroeducator John Heasley also wrote about Winter Solstice Great Conjunction here. 

***

The Learning Outside blog will take a break until the week of January 11, 2021. We wish our readers everywhere opportunities to notice and appreciate the light of the new season. Thank you for joining us in 2020.

Winter Trails

While snow has yet to stay on the ground here in SW Wisconsin, those of us who love winter are getting ready. Skis are being waxed, snowshoes are getting dusted off, and the layers of fleece and wool are coming out to stay.

Although long-term forecasts can be dubious, I'm holding out that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Farmers' Almanac will be correct in their predictions for above average snowfall in Wisconsin this year.

Winter is an exceptional time to get outside. There is nothing quite like a bright and sunny 10 degree winter day in Wisconsin. The ice crystals glint off every surface, the snow squeaks beneath your boots or skis and all the world is still.  Perhaps a hawk cuts an arch above you in the blue sky or you notice the tiniest trail of a busy seed-collecting rodent, but it is evident that this is a time of rest for nature.  A deep inbreath for us all.

As soon as there is enough snow on the ground, our crew will be out grooming those trails for cross country skiing.  The Kickapoo Valley Reserve maintains approximately 10 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails for both classic and skate skiing. The five miles of the Old Highway 131 Trail provide an excellent opportunity to experience the solitude and beauty of the Reserve. Other groomed trails include the Dam Trail, Old Harris Road Trail and Star Valley Road.  Additional trails may be groomed as time permits. The more adventurous are welcomed to make their own tracks into the wild.  Please note: Skiers may not ski on the snowmobile trail.

Even if you aren't a skier, there are so many ways to get out and enjoy the beauty of winter.  Check out the KVR Winter Trail Map here.  On it you'll find trails marked for cross-country skiing, for fat-tire bikes, and snowshoeing.  Before you come, visit our website and Facebook page for current winter trail conditions.

Most years spectacular ice formations can be found in the deep valleys that are home to sandstone rock shelters. This map marks they way to two of our favorite ice formation locations.  Please always remember that ice and rock are fragile--never climb on the ice formations.  Please take only pictures and leave only footprints.

There are copies of the Winter Guide Map available at the public bathrooms in the KVR Visitor Center Parking lot. Snowshoes (adult and child sizes) can be rented, by the day, for use on the KVR. They are $5/day for adults and free for children. Visitors will still need a day pass or annual pass to use the trails. There are not designated nor groomed snowshoe trails, although the summer trail system is easy to follow in the winter. Please always snowshoe along side the groomed ski tracks rather than on them, snowshoeing on the groomed ski track makes them difficult for skiers to use.

Bluedog Cycles in Viroqua is a another great place to rent cross country skis and fat tire bikes, by the day or the week. Winter fat tire biking (FTB) is a popular activity at the KVR. Bikes must be non-motorized pedal bikes, tires 3.7-5 inches, and 10 psi or lower. There are approximately 8 miles of  FTB trails on the Reserve.  Located on the eastern side of the property, FTP trails are winter trails (Jan 1 - March 15) and are subject to closure during the season. The following criteria must be in place for the FTB trails to remain open: 1)The ground must be frozen.  2) The temperature must be 25 degrees F or below. Closures will be posted at FTB trail heads, our website, KVR Facebook page, and at the Visitor Center. A current year annual permit or KVR day pass is required to use the trails. Users must stay on designated trails or adjacent roads. The FTB trails on the Reserve are not groomed. They are considered backcountry trails, are narrow and winding, and are shared with snowshoers and hikers. Please be courteous and practice friendly trail etiquette when encountering other trail users.

Snowmobiling is a popular winter activity in our region, and a segment of Wisconsin's self-funded snowmobile trail system winds its way through the Reserve. A local snowmobile club grooms and maintains the trail from December 15 through March 31, snow cover permitting.  Enjoy the Reserve's scenic ridges and valleys by snowmobile, the only motorized vehicle allowed to operate on Reserve lands. Snowmobile enthusiasts are required to stay on the designated snowmobile trail.

Star gazing is an excellent activity for clear winter nights. Visit the Driftless Stargazing Facebook page for frequent updates on what's visible in our local night skies, then bundle up and get out with a thermos of hot cocoa. 

Whether your goal is to get some exercise, find solitude, take photos or just notice the stark beauty that a fresh coat of snow brings to our landscape, you'll find fulfillment and rejuvenation along the winter trails of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.  We hope to see you out there!

 

Tuning In and Keeping Track: An Introduction to Phenology

Can you recall the last morning that wasn't filled with birdsong? Do you remember when you first noticed the buds emerging on maple trees in your neighborhood? Which day in April did your ears perk up to hear the spring peepers? When was the very first snowfall last year?

If you find yourself noticing, contemplating, and wondering about the subtle shifts and patterns in seasonal happenings, phenology is your friend. There is comfort in marking time and tuning into our natural environment, especially in turbulent times like these, and phenology can offer a great way to do so. 

Phenology is a fancy term that means the study of cycles and seasonal natural events. The word is built of two parts: "pheno" (phaino in Greek), which means "to show, to bring to light, to make to appear" and "-logy" of the root "logos," which means "study, discourse, or reasoning." It was first used in a public lecture in Brussels by Belgian botanist Charles François Antoine Morren in 1849.

However, phenological understandings have been fundamental to the human relationship with the land and environment. Indigenous peoples have used phenological knowledge in cultural, agricultural, and ecological practices for thousands of years. Here in Wisconsin, the College of Menominee Nation has recently created a Phenology Learning Path to honor the ways the Menominee have used nature's calendar to mark time and continue to track climate change impacts. 

In other locations, large scale changes over time have been tracked like in the Royal Meteorological Society's project that spanned 58 years of tracking of temperature and flowering events across the British Isles via 600 individual collectors from 1891-1948. Currently there are several networks collecting data via mostly volunteers in many countries, contributing to the understanding of climate change. The USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) maintains a database of observations collected by over 5,000 people who logged information on over 20,000 organisms and over 15,000 plants in 2020. It's fascinating to scroll through the lists of top animals and plants observed, and other information collected like initial growth in plants and migrating behavior. This information is referred to as phenophase data. For folks who enjoy diving deeply into data and data visualizations, this website has an amazing data visualization tool. 

For those of us who might appreciate a less formal approach, phenology in your own local habitat can be greatly rewarding. It can also be a fun activity to do with children. Start small and manageable, and you might be surprised at where this activity will take you in observing natural phenomena.

Here are some ideas to get started:

1. Choose something to observe that's personally interesting and readily available. It could be a bird species that visits your yard, a favorite tree, or a corner of the park with plants.

2. Set a plan to observe at least once a week. Daily would be ideal, but weekly observations will give you a great view of changes.

3. Find out a little more about the thing(s) you have chosen to observe. Species identification is a great first step, and if you can't figure it out by an internet search, reach out to a local naturalist as they love answering questions and sharing information.

4. Create a space to log your observations. This could be a file on your computer or phone, a simple notebook, or a blank calendar square. 5-year journals are easy to create using a template like this and a sturdy 2-inch, 3-ring binder. Since this calendar is organized by day, by the end of 5 years it allows users to see at a glance what was happening on that same date each year. 

5. Record your observations and some details about the weather or other important conditions you notice like time of day, activities around your focused area, and any changes you notice. If you have time or the ability to photograph or sketch your observation, this can add to your record.

6. Consider joining with others to share observations. The Nature's Notebook website hosted by the USA-NPN has several campaigns including monitoring bats, pollinators, and pests. Individual data is personally meaningful, but sharing it as a citizen scientist has the potential to create a volume of data that is relevant in tracking change over time. 

Aldo Leopold, widely considered to be the Father of wildlife ecology, was an avid phenologist. The Aldo Leopold Foundation creates a phenology calendar every year. Visit their resources more information about the 2021 calendar and the role that Leopold himself played in promoting phenology as a way of connecting with our environment. 

We are all phenologists to varying degrees in our own lives, noticing subtle changes across time in ourselves and in our environment. In a time where so much has changed and shifted in sudden ways, tuning our focus to the rhythms and patterns of the natural world can offer a steadying respite. The simple practices of phenology might provide new, welcoming, and interesting insights in the year ahead. 

How do they do it? Part 1

Guest post by KVR Instructor, Cathy Chybowski

As the days become shorter and the temperature drops, animals have three options in order to survive: migrate, hibernate or remain active. These strategies along with essential adaptations help animals to survive the cold season.   

 photo credit: freepik.com

Migration: An Easy Out?

Migration can be quite risky. The energy cost of migration is high and there can be many obstacles along the route. Most animals spend time in a feeding frenzy prior to migrating. This added fat will fuel their movement to an area with sufficient food. For hummingbirds, warblers, flycatchers and other birds that lose their food source with the onset of winter, migration is a necessary risk. Large bodies of water, a changing food supply, predators or hunting can make the trip challenging.

Did you ever wonder why it is mostly birds that migrate? Why so few mammals? According to Peter Marchand in his book, Life in the Cold, a mammal would expend ten times more energy moving a given distance by running than would a bird of equal weight flying that same distance. Bats and caribou are exceptions. For more information on bats and insects that migrate see a previous post I shared in August.

Hibernation? Dormancy? What is the difference?

Dormancy is one of the three strategies animals evolved for winter survival. It is a period of inactivity in which an animal’s bodily functions are slowed down. By definition, hibernation is an extreme form of dormancy. Woodchucks, bats and jumping mice are among the few mammals in our state to hibernate.  

 photo credit: WI DNR

As an herbivore, the woodchuck’s life is centered on the availability of plants. Feeding heavily during late summer into fall, it accumulates thick rolls of body fat and then retires to its burrow usually by the end of October. While hibernating, its heart rate drops from 75 beats to 4 beats per minute, its body temperature drops from 90 to 38 degrees, and it breathes once every 5 to 6 minutes. If the woodchuck can maintain this state of low metabolism for several months without freezing to death, it will usually emerge from its burrow during the first week of March (not like Punxsutawney Phil on Feb. 2). 

There are degrees of dormancy, from the true hibernation of the woodchuck at one extreme, to the deep sleep of bears and chipmunks, and to the short term sleep of skunks, opossums and raccoons. In all forms of dormancy, the metabolism slows down in order to conserve energy at a time when food is scarce.

   photo credit: bearstudy.org

Research shows that the black bear does not hibernate; its body does not undergo the drastic changes of a true hibernator. In order to prepare for its deep winter sleep, bears spend the fall in a feeding frenzy putting on several inches of body fat and growing a thicker fur. While in the den, the sow gives birth to 2-3 cubs which do not hibernate either. During this state of dormancy, the bear does not eat or drink, it does not produce waste and it does not lose bone or muscle mass despite the lack of exercise. How do they do it?  These unique adaptations are of interest to medical science. There is more to learn about black bears—how is it that they can survive a 5-month rest and fast and emerge from their den with a 99% survival rate?  Apparently there are few people willing to crawl headfirst into an active bear den in the winter to see just how cozy everything is in there!

    photo credit: WI DNR

Chipmunks spend much of the fall collecting seeds and nuts for storage in their underground burrow where they spend most of the winter in dormancy. The stored food gives them the option of waking and being active for a time; I was surprised to see a chipmunk out and about during a January thaw. No true hibernator could do this.

  photo credit: WI DNR

Unlike mammals, reptiles and amphibians are cold-blooded. Their options for winter survival are few. Since their body temperature drops with the outside temperature, they will freeze to death if they do not hibernate or go dormant in some form. Most frogs and turtles hibernate in the mud at the bottom of the pond or lake. Wood frogs are an exception, burrowing under damp leaves and into the soft soil of the forest floor. The wood frog produces an antifreeze which prevents its cells from freezing. Much of the body fluids outside the cells will freeze as will the frog’s eyes and brain. Its heart and lungs will stop. This “frogsicle” looks lifeless, but with the arrival of spring, it thaws quickly and is the first frog to emerge from hibernation. It is no wonder that the first frog we hear calling in the early spring is the wood frog. When the ice recedes and the water warms to 46 degrees, these frogs begin to call for a mate.

Snakes, cold-blooded reptiles, generally hibernate in dens or burrows of other animals, sometimes in groups of mixed species.  These are called balls of snakes and it is an amazing thing to see in the spring as these reptiles emerge from their hibernaculum. I witnessed dozens of garter snakes emerging this way one time in southeastern Wisconsin. I happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Stay tuned for Part 2, Animals Toughing It Out, in the weeks to come!

Fall Bird Migration: Sighting, Care and Feeding

 Guest post by Barb Duerksen, KVR Instructor 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Photo by Jack Bartholmai.

It’s fall and birds are on the move. Cold weather means fewer insects, so the birds that depend entirely on insects for staying alive must migrate–they fly south to find enough to eat.

October and November are exciting months for people who enjoy seeing birds that are flying in from farther north. Some are species that we can find only during the time of migration. 

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a migrant that I’ve seen along the roadsides recently. They are olive-colored with white wing bars and a white eye ring. They are small and energetic, flying quickly through the shrubs, weeds, and trees, searching for food and flicking their wings almost constantly. In fall the kinglets are quiet, except for a soft two-noted “jidit” call. The ruby-colored spot on top of the male’s head is usually hidden in fall. When they come back through in the spring, the males display that bright red spot, and sing a sweet warbly song. (Listen to the song and call here by clicking on the Audio button.) Most Kinglets will be gone by the end of October. They will spend the winter in the southern United States and Mexico.

 

Tundra Swan. Photo by Dan Jackson.

Waterbirds are another group of birds that migrate. They live on or near water, so when it gets cold enough for the water to freeze, they fly south to warmer places. Late October through November is a good time to find geese, swans, and many different species of ducks on ponds and rivers. Tundra Swans are huge white birds with long necks that nest in the far north Arctic tundra. When the weather turns cold, many of them fly south and east, some stopping at resting places like the Mississippi River for a time while they tank up for the rest of the flight. Many spend the winter in the Chesapeake Bay area on the east coast. Goose Island and south along the Mississippi River are good places to find hundreds of these swans in November and sometimes into early December, depending on when freezing temperatures arrive. They call constantly during migration, a high musical “hoo hoo” sound. When you hear that, look up, and you’ll see a flock of big white birds heading south east. Sometimes they migrate at night. (Listen to their call here by pressing the Audio button.)

 

Dark-eyed Junco. Photo by Dan Jackson.

The birds that can stay alive eating seeds don’t need to leave when the insects disappear. They can usually find food all winter. These birds stay here year-round and are appropriately called resident birds. Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, cardinals, Blue Jays, goldfinches, some sparrows, and many of the woodpeckers are residents who stay here through the winter. Some birds like Dark-eyed Juncos and Purple Finches fly here from the north and stay for the winter. Putting up a bird feeder in the yard is a good way to enjoy the familiar birds and learn about the new species that arrive for the winter. Birds do have a harder time finding food when there is lots of snow on the ground and it gets very cold. It is important when there is nasty weather to keep the feeders full. 

Here are some things to consider when you set out to feed birds:

Placement: Keep the feeder within 3 feet or farther than 30 feet from your window to avoid birds crashing into the window.

Cover: Put the feeder near some cover, so the smaller birds have a place to hide when predators come along. If you put a post in the ground near the feeder now before the ground freezes, you can tie your used Christmas tree to the post

Sanitation: Keep your feeders clean so birds don’t get diseases.

Safety/Predators: If you live where there are lots of outdoor cats, it’s really not a good idea to put up a feeder.

For more information about feeding birds: Visit Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s All About Birds site.  

What to feed the birds?  A simple way to start is to put out black oil sunflower seeds and a suet feeder. Most of the birds we have here in the winter like the sunflower seeds.  Woodpeckers especially like suet. You can buy suet blocks at the feed stores, or raw suet from a meat locker. You should only use the raw suet when the weather is cold, as it can get messy and turn rancid in warn weather.

 

Red-bellied Woodpecker. Photo by Dan Jackson.

Here are some birding activity ideas to inspire you to get out as we move through the fall season.

• Spend a little time outdoors on a walk or sitting still. Listen for bird calls. If you hear chickadees, look nearby for other species. Sometimes migrant birds follow the chickadees on their feeding routes. 

• After the leaves are gone and before there’s snow on the ground, the world can seem drab and gloomy. Maybe it’s time to celebrate drab. Bundle up, go out, find 10 things that you would consider drab, and take another look.

• Spend some time learning about Audubon's 121st Christmas Bird Count that will be conducted between the dates of Monday, December 14, 2020 through Tuesday, January 5, 2021. This is a great way to get involved in citizen science. 

 

Driftless Dark Skies: Autumnal Stargazing

 Guest post by John Heasley, KVR AstroEducator and owner of Driftless Stargazing

Photo of the Milky Way by Stephen Deutsch

We enjoy awesome starry skies in the Driftless. Late fall is an excellent time to be amazed by them. The skies darken earlier and the nights are longer. The Sun sets before 5pm and the sky is fully dark by 6:30pm. Mosquitoes are gone. Humidity is lower. The stars are brighter in the crisp skies. And it’s such a safe outdoor activity. Yes it’s colder, but we know how to dress for the weather. Kiddos lose heat at a faster rate, so bundle them up. You won’t be moving much, so layer for about 20 degrees cooler than the temperature.

You can stargaze wherever you are. If you want darker skies, check out our many public areas such as Kickapoo Valley Reserve, Lower Wisconsin State Riverway, Wildcat Mountain, Wyalusing, Sidie Hollow, and Duck Egg. We can be awed by the starry skies so much much more away from the glow of artificial lights. Remember that there are simple steps we can take to preserve this heritage.  International Dark-Sky Association has done the research and makes it easy to do.

Telescopes are wonderful, but you really don’t need one. There’s much to see with our unaided eyes.  Many of us already have binoculars, and we can see even more with them. They really bring out the color of stars. It’s fun to track the Moon as it rises a little later each evening and goes through all its phases during the month. Binoculars let you explore its craters and plains and mountains even better.  Venture into the sights and sounds and smells of the nocturnal world by walking when the Moon is full.  The Full Frost Moon lights up the landscape on November 29-30 and the Full Yule Moon shines down on us December 28-30. If you’re out early the morning of November 30, you might even notice a little dimming of the Moon as it passes through the shadow of the Earth in a penumbral eclipse. NASA has excellent activities such as keeping a Moon Observation Journal and sharing Moon Myths from Around the World.

Planets are easy to spot. They are generally brighter than the stars, and they don’t twinkle as much. They can be found somewhere along an arc that rises in the east, passes high in the south, and sets in the west. Venus “the morning star” is brilliant in the east before sunrise. It’s lovely with the Waning Crescent Moon on November 12 and 13 (when you might see Mercury below it) and again on December 12 and 13. Jupiter and Saturn are close together in the southwest after sunset. Jupiter is the brighter of the two and Saturn is to its left. Watch as they draw closer together until they meet in a Great Conjunction on December 21, the evening of the winter solstice. This happens only every twenty years. The Waxing Crescent Moon passes by them November 18 and 19 and again on December 16 and 17. Mars is especially bright this season and glows like an ember in the southern sky.  The Waxing Gibbous Moon meets up with the Red Planet on November 25 and December 23.

When we think of meteor showers, most of us think of the Perseids in August. But there are two great showers yet this year: the Leonids on November 16/17 and the Geminids on December 13/14. No moonlight interferes with them in 2020. Bundle up, bring a warm beverage, get comfy on a lounge chair, and look up. These bright streaks of comet dust can show up in any part of the sky. They peak after midnight, but there are quite a few to see in the evening an hour or so after sunset.

When you’re gazing at stars, it’s fun to “connect the dots”. Humans from many cultures all over the planet have seen different people, animals, and things in the sky. You should feel free to create your own and tell their stories. In the last century, the International Astronomical Union has recognized 88 constellations, about 60 of them visible from Wisconsin. Some, such as Orion the Hunter, look like their namesakes. Others, such as Aquarius the Water Bearer, require much more imagination. Use your sky map to learn one a week, and you’ll know the sky in just about a year.

There’s much more to see in the sky including galaxies and clusters and nebulas. And plenty of guides to help us. EarthSky Tonight and Driftless Stargazing give daily updates. Sky and Telescope’s This Week’s Sky at a Glance gives a great overview. Skymaps.com has a free map to print off every month. Bring it outside, turn it so the direction you are facing is at the bottom, and have fun identifying constellations and discovering galaxies and star clusters. Consider connecting with your local astronomy club such as Starsplitters of Wyalusing or La Crosse Area Astronomical Society.

KVR AstroEducators

One thing I especially miss in 2020 is sharing astronomy programs and star parties at KVR.  It is reassuring to know that folks can still be looking up together even as we keep safely apart.  Head out and enjoy the skies of fall and winter,  There’s a whole cosmos to discover.

John Heasley is an astronomy educator and stargazer who enjoys connecting people with the cosmos. He volunteers with NASA/JPL as a Solar System Ambassador and the International Astronomical Union as a Dark Sky Ambassador. For more information about stargazing in southwest WI, like Driftless Stargazing LLC on Facebook and find out whenever there's something awesome happening in the skies. Driftless Dark Skies appears monthly in the Voice of the River Valley.