You Can Help Keep Wisconsin's Lakes Healthy - It All Starts In Your Yard

Nutrients and chemicals are ending up in our waters and it's causing major problems for the environment, recreation, and tourism. And you can do something about it; so read on to learn more.

In order to maintain a well manicured lawn on a typical lot which often has little of its original top soil remaining, homeowners typically end up feeling pressure to apply a variety of products to their yard including: nitrogen, phosphorous, herbicides, and insecticides. The nitrogen and phosphorous are things which can occur naturally and are things which encourage plant growth (fertilizer). The insecticides and herbicides are chemicals which are used to control pests (pesticides).

Fertilizers may come from a number of sources. Garden shops carry additives which can be added to water, plant food spikes, compounds to be applied by hand or machine, or even mixed in with your soil or sod. They also occur naturally and are found in organic matter like pet waste. Often times these supplements must be applied regularly because the soil itself isn't healthy enough and does not contain the necessary nutrients for the well manicured lawn to thrive.

Fertilizers however have a downstream affect. They rarely stay in your yard. Runoff from rain carries this material into our streams, ponds, and lakes. It then becomes fuel for algae and bacteria. This leads to algae blooms which can making swimming water unsafe, make water unfit for consumption, and depletes the oxygen in the water leading to dead zones and fish die offs. Just run a Google search on "Lake Erie Algae Blooms" and you'll find a supersized example of what fertilizers in run off can do.

Here's the good news. Things don't have to be this way. Instead of planting a monoculture of grass in your yard, you can plant native trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, legumes (they put nitrogen back into the soil). Typically native plants don't need chemical maintenance to stay healthy. Many native plants have deep spreading root systems which not only to help them obtain their necessary nutrition, they also allow for greater water infiltration allowing the soil to collect nitrogen and phosphorous from the run off. (Also you should remember to clean up after your pet.)

Pesticides are chemicals used to prevent the growth of weeds or to suppress insect populations. Here's where our yard really stands out in the neighborhood. There are just a few houses in the neighborhood which do not pay for lawn treatments they are most obvious in May and June when the Violets, Creeping Charlie, and Dandelions are in bloom. Our yard is yellow and purple meadow while others have green lawns. These chemicals are potentially hazardous to your pets, children, and yourself (hence the flag that says stay out of the yard for 24 hours). These chemicals also end up in our water system and may suppress desirable plant and aquatic animal growth.

The use of these chemicals is a choice. In a future where they are not used, our lawns are more colorful and support a variety of wildflowers, bees, and butterflies. Birds and toads too need chemical free spaces for hunting grubs and insects, or for birds collecting dandelion fluff.

Keeping Wisconsin's waterways healthy is a major challenge. The UW Arboretum has a webpage dedicated to the challenges faced by the Lake Wingra watershed. The challenges highlighted are true of many bodies of water in the state. These waters are essential part of the states sporting, hunting, and fishing cultures, as well as being a source of tourism revenue.

If you think your yard doesn't matter or that your run-off is somehow not affected, consider this example. Each of us live in some watershed, and water is always seeking the lowest point. Many of our neighborhoods have retention ponds. The retention ponds in the Upper Sugar River Watershed eventually deposit water into the Sugar River. The Sugar River is dammed in Bellville to form Lake Belle View. Water leaving the lake runs back through the Sugar River to the Pecatonica, to the Rock River, and into the Mississippi. Eventually remaining chemicals and nutrients unnatural the water are dumped into the Gulf Mexico and creates one of the biggest coastal dead zones in the world.

If each of one of us changed how we treat our lawns, even just a little it could be make a major difference in the amount of nutrients and chemicals ending in these waterways.

Plant Your Corridor to Connect Remnant Habitat

There was a time when the gusto of Manifest Destiny, the promise homesteading, and the sheer lack of forethought led a nation to near ecological ruin. Species now extinct or extirpated; whole states had to be reforested, and eventually a conservation movement brought forth national parks and forests, and other such zones which create a patchwork of wilderness.

Remnant habit created by planting: Big and Little Blue Stem, Black Eyed Susan, Purple Coneflower, Butterfly Milkweed, Cardinal Flower, False Indigo, Lupine, Bee Balm, and Obedient Plant.

Today one can look at a map of Wisconsin and see this patchwork of green zones which largely dominates the northern portion of our state, and we are lucky. By comparison, our neighbors in Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois have no green spaces. The wilderness of these places is replaced by pavement or turned over by plow.

We live in a time where it has become clear that while these pockets of wilderness are beneficial, they are too sporadic and isolated to preserve the existing diversity of species over the long run. There's still some debate over the effectiveness of wildlife corridors ranging from wild success stories to dismal failure. While we consider the success and failure of modern efforts, we can take a moment to ponder these words:

The shrinkage in the flora is due to a combination of clean-farming, woodlot grazing, and good roads. Each of these necessary changes of course requires a larger reduction in the acreage available for wild plants, but none of them requires, or benefits by, the erasure of species from whole farms, townships, or counties. There are idle spots on every farm, and every highway is bordered by an idle strip as long as it is; keep cow, plow, and mower out of these idle spots, and the full native flora, plus dozens of interesting stowaways from foreign parts, could be part of the normal environment of every citizen. - Aldo Leopold

Wildlife corridors aren't and can't be specific zones and boundaries drawn on a map. Real corridors are created everywhere by leaving some of nature right where it was before we put in the road, plowed the field, or built our house.

If you look at a map of your municipality you may notice features that I noticed; things which Doug Tallamy points out in the The Living Landscape. Even on a smaller scale we isolate nature preserves and parks. There's a prairie on the east side of my town and a marsh on the southwest side, but in between are homes and roads and businesses and schools.

This is where we come in. One house, one yard providing remnant habitat is a start, one neighborhood is better. I started native planting as a project for myself. To see more birds. To test my green thumb. To do some basic green things like save on water and encourage biodiversity.

Immature Bluebirds back from somewhere, stopping by for a visit.

It's become a way of life and in a way an ethical code. In reading what those who came before me taught, I realized that my quarter of an acre was a small piece in a century of conservation efforts. Now when a Gray Catbird drops in, I wonder whether he is headed to or from the marsh. When the Bluebirds visit in the morning, I wonder whether they've come from the prairie this morning or from the wetlands. In my town, my yard is but a piece of a greater fabric; a piece of corridor.

Fall Migration - Catching Departures

WI DNR was on WPR last week talking fall migration and trying to make the most of the end of September in southern Wisconsin. I linked out this a little awhile ago in another post. This weekend I decided to take up the call and headed out to a nearby prairie.

A small segment of the prairie has a stand of trees, some birch, some maples, and some which I honestly can't readily identify. There are also some shrubs and a pond. The prairie itself is quite large, but I stayed in the area near the pond, probably no bigger than a block.

Northern Flicker in a birch.

The sheer mass of wildlife was amazing. Small birds moved through the wildflowers and grasses and then back into the shrubs, Nannyberry and Dogwood from their appearance. There were American Goldfinches, Black Capped Chickadees, Palm Warblers, Clay Colored Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Sedge Wrens, and Nashville Warblers.

Other larger birds were more raucous, chasing each other around. They darted up into trees, swooped down to the ground; they foraged in great number. Cedar Waxwings, American Robins, Northern Flickers, and Gray Catbirds.

Near the water, typical visitors: Canada Geese and Mallards, but also atypical visitors, 5 or more Eastern Phoebes dropping out of the trees to hawk for insects, and Eastern Bluebirds too.

Pensive Eastern Phoebe sat still long enough for a picture.

Through the end of the month is a good time to catch many of these smaller species, and some larger ones which stay nearer the water may be around for awhile, so you haven't missed the migration yet. Take the time to find a local park or wildlife sanctuary, grab your binoculars, and get out there. They will gone before you know it, and they won't be back until spring.

A Visit to My Wisconsin Marsh

Early on Saturday or Sunday mornings, sometimes before there's truly light; I awake. I grab something small for breakfast, slink about the house quietly to not disturb my sleeping family. I sneak out of the house and trek out to the marsh. Upon exiting my car, I start down the path.

The trail runs through the wetland. Can you find the Cranes?

Through most of the summer the warm tunes of the Song Sparrow welcomed me. They often ventured near the trail just above head height and trilled loudly early morning. "Good morning, little sparrow," I'd say. I find myself talking to the more social birds some mornings. It's often early enough that they are the first beings to greet me, and I feel compelled to acknowledge their presence; it seems only polite.

There are a great number and variety of sparrows. The field marks and calls are handy, but it's difficult to keep track of Swamp, Clay, Field, Chipping, and Song Sparrows.

I wander by wildflowers and stop to pull out my camera. It's zoom is better than my binoculars, and it's proven to be a trusted ally in identifying the locals. On one occasion, I stood still beside some Bergamot and soon had Ruby Throated Hummingbird visitors. On my next of trips out, I made sure to stand near this Bee Balm cousin to ensure future encounters.

Genus Monarda is high in nectar and great for pollinators.

My visits never seem complete if I don't see the my original quarry. I first explored the area during the April Crane Count. Not all of the Sandhills I encountered that day stayed all summer, but two are regulars. I see them in nearly same spot each time I visit. They bugle and forage. They fly overhead and even stroll down the trail. They appear to have not been successful in producing a colt this year. I imagine nesting on the ground in the wetland must be difficult. I've seen mink here and muskrat. I assume there are a number of mammals lurking, waiting to snatch up an egg breakfast.

I thought they had chosen a good neighborhood but they seem to drive their neighbors to distraction.

As morning light grows bright, and I inevitably get hungry, I turn back to my car. Evening Primrose and other wildflowers grow near the gravel parking pad. By now others are here. They are on bikes or on foot on the trail. They've missed the trumpeting Cranes, and they won't stay still long enough to draw the ire of the House or Sedge Wrens. I'll catalog my sitings and plan to be back next weekend and witness how all things change over time.

Evening Primrose

Yes, You Can Help Stop Flooding

It seems like rain events across the country more and more often are turning into flood events. National news articles on the subject often point immediately to climate change. See this recent Huffpost article as an example. While it is possible that climate change is causing heavy rain events; this explanation on its own seems too simplistic and begs a simple question, "Why can't rivers handle heavy rains?"

Bodies of water (rivers, lakes, ponds, creeks, etc) flood when they fill more quickly than what they are able to contain and distribute water. I experience a similar phenomenon sometimes when filling my water can, if I fill it quickly some water escapes via the spout (ie the natural course of the river) but other water may come gushing of out the top.

Okay, so bodies of water flood when you fill them too fast; that's not exactly revolutionary, so it's the fault of climate change, right?

Not exactly. The volume of water in a rain event isn't the only thing at play. The speed at which the water reaches its destination is a factor. The amount of water from the total volume of rain which is directed to the destination is also a factor.

Elementary school science teaches us that water seeks the low point. Driven by gravity run-off makes its way across the landscaping seeking low points and ending up in creeks, rivers, and streams. Water moves more quickly when it encounters a nonporous surface: a driveway or parking lot for example, but even compacted soils.

Of course not all rain becomes run-off, some infiltrates the ground, feeds plants, and otherwise ends up in aquifers. Compacted soils and soils without root diversity are harder for water to infiltrate.

Natural wetlands also factor in. They are able to serve a number of purposes. They act as buffers to slow run-off headed towards bodies of water; they may help with water infiltration, and they can act as buffers when the flood waters begin to rise.

So what can you do?

It all starts in your backyard.

Add rain barrels to help capture water which runs-off from your house.

Use permeable paving to allow for some water infiltration on otherwise nonporous surfaces.

Landscape. Consider adding a rain garden. Plant native flowers and grasses as well as trees. A diversity of plants will help the slow the rains down and help improve water infiltration. Consider even how much rain is collected in the leaves and branches of a mature tree.

Keep your curb and clear so the storm water sewers can direct run off to retention ponds.

Lastly, beyond your yard, get involved. Question development on natural wetlands or which would require draining natural wetlands. Ultimately these areas often end up flooding anyway because they are the lowing lying places the water wants to go.

Now imagine if you weren't alone in these efforts, and your whole neighborhood pitched in or your town. Change starts at home with you and me and can spread one person at a time.

Before the Fall Migration - When the Birds Have Stopped Calling

During a late August trip out to the marsh, I exited my car and strolled down the gravel path. Where throughout much the early summer months the calls of Red Wing Blackbirds, Common Yellow Throats, Swamp Sparrows, and Song Sparrows had once greeted me; often times surpassing my ability to process and identify the direction of a particular call, this walk fell silent.

Pale yellow Evening Primrose, lavender blooms of Bergamot, showy Ox Eye Sunflowers, and the rustling of acres of Big Blue Stem. The chirp of crickets, grasshoppers and toads. For the first time, I heard the gravel beneath my feet.

The shrill alarms of dozens of nesting Blackbirds replaced with a stunning and almost eerie silence.

Migrating on like retirees escaping the cold of Wisconsin, some of our nomads had already left the marsh. Others remained, but did not make their presence known. Where once Song Sparrows serenaded from shrubs along the path, now they'd turned silent observers of the landscape.

Over the tree tops in the evening, nothing. The progressive growing trills of the gathering Chimney Swifts is simply gone though the irritation that is the insect pests remains. This evening, the red marks along my brow are a testament to this. One or two lonely Barn Swallows remain, almost as if their friends, their family, their colony has abandoned them.

In the sky an approaching V and sudden chorus of brass. A dozen or so Canada Geese approach the wetland. Of course, the marsh is not dead, nor is it empty. Sedge Wrens still chastise me when I venture to close, Cedar Waxwings and American Robins perch en masse above the Oak stand.

Very shortly these friends are likely to depart as well. I've not gone to the marsh in winter. I expect to change this. I imagine that if I am bundled warmly, I will welcome old friends come back from Canada, the Junco, the Siskin, and the Purple Finch. One thing is almost certain, the cyclist who zips by in spring and summer aren't as likely to interrupt my future wanderings.

Wisconsin - Some Fall Migration Activities

Just a quick list of some Fall Migration festivals which folks might be interested in.

International Migratory Bird Day - Kenosha, WI - Sept 19th

Audubon Days - Mayville, WI Oct 2nd - 4th

Crane Fest - Crex Meadows, WI - Oct 10th

Owl Fest - Woodland Dunes Nature Center and Preserve, WI - Oct 17th

Fall Migration Day - Ferryville, WI - Nov 7th

Wisconsin DNR - September Good Time for Birding also Turkey and Grouse Hunting Starting

Wisconsin DNR was on Central Time today on WI Public Radio. You can find the podcast here to learn more about birding in Fall migration.

Also they have posted information on hunting Turkey, Ruffed Grouse, and Pheasant so if you are birding it might be best to avoid birding for these birds or consider wearing something orange.

My Summer in the Marshes

Starting in April for the Crane Count, I began making semi-regular trips to a local Marsh (so long as I could tolerate the bugs). In May, I used the same site to participate in the Bird-a-thon for the International Crane Foundation.

Sandhill Crane

The marsh itself isn't terribly large, and a bike path which was once a railroad runs through it. My birding is often interrupted by cyclists and runners, who from what I can tell rarely realize that they zipping by many interesting natural wonders. I must admit to being guilty of this myself when I used this same trail 7 or so years ago to train for a half marathon.

On occasion someone will stop and ask me if I've seen anything interesting. I'm never sure how to answer them because of course I have, but it isn't necessarily something which they will find interesting. One passerby even stopped to ask me about bluebird behavior, not that I had seen any Bluebirds.

I see regulars when I am out there. Some on bikes and others in the grasses (like Red Wing Blackbirds or a family of Sandhill Cranes). Some people recognize me as the bird guy and say "Hello", I don't know if my feathered friends recognize as me such the Blue Jays still call out in alarm as I amble through the Oak stand at the edge of the marsh.

That's the really great part about this particular wetland. Part of it quite wet, here I encounter, Cranes, Herons, Woodcocks, Rails, Ducks, and Geese. Part of the area is a stand of Oak and Birch where I find Chickadees, Nuthatches, Grosbeaks, and Orioles. And the far end is more dry with lots of a Big Blue Stem, Sedge Wrens, Song Sparrows, Goldfinches, and Blackbirds.

Common Yellowthroat

This is the only place where I've been able to routinely successfully encounter Warblers, Yellow and Common Yellowthroats. Each time out, I find a variety of Flycatchers, Kingbirds, Wood Peewees, Least, and Willow. And there are a host of Swallows, even Cliff Swallows who nest in a viaduct.

As summer winds down, I'm amazed how many birds I've encountered which weren't in my Birds of Wisconsin field guide, and I am struck by how the locals are unaware of this natural resource. Birding is a big deal in Wisconsin with programs like the Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail and the Bird City program. This wetland has the potential to bring unrealized benefit to my city, and the exercisers on the trail, but for now it remains my little secret.

Cliff Swallow Nest

In Wisconsin Oriole Feeders Feed More Than Orioles

A common misperception is that Oriole Feeders will only feed Orioles. They contain fruit, jelly, and / or nectar of some kind, and I have found that a number of species will come visit our Oriole feeder as the migrate back to Wisconsin in the spring.

I hang our Oriole feeders at the start of the last week of April (often w/o any visitors), but then leave it up through the month of May (typically by the end of May we have no more Oriole visitors). During this time, the feeder is visited by a number of birds.

House Finches come and eat the orange wedges which are available.

Black Capped Chickadees drink from the ant mote.

Ruby Throated Hummingbirds eat the nectar.

Summer Tanagers eat the grape jelly.

Both Baltimore and Orchard Oriole come by for visits.

And I am told Gray Catbirds will visit Oriole feeders, but while we have had Gray Catbirds in the shrubs we've never seen them at a feeder.

Summer Tanager visiting our feeder.


Rose Breasted Grosbeaks visit with Baltimore Orioles.


Hummingbirds usually come for a visit too.

Yellow and Orange Bugs in my Wildflowers

For the last two summers my wildflowers have been covered in some brightly colored insects. One is orange and found mostly on my Butterfly Milkweed. The other is yellow and found mostly on my Black Eyed Susans and Prairie Coneflower. I don't do anything to control either.

The orange bug is Milkweed Bug. It shows up about the time my Milkweed of seed pods and covers the seed pods almost entirely. The bug is interested in eating the nutrients stored in the seeds. No apparent damage is done to the plants themselves although this may prevent them from spreading. I'm not particular concerned by this as my garden is quite full, and my existing plants have come back each year. I haven't observed any birds eating them and suspect that may not much of in the way of natural predator. Much the like monarchs, they essentially become inedible as they store toxins from the milkweed.

My Black Eyed Susans attract a number of a yellow and black bugs most of which are bees. However some time in August, there is another yellow and black bug I find zipping around from flower to flower. The Soldier Beetle or Leatherwing Beetle seems particularly interested in my yellow flowers. After running some searches on "soldier beetle" and "Black eyed susan" it appears that these guys are feeding on the pollen. It also appears that unlike the Milkweed Bugs, the Soldier Beetles are food for predators in my backyard ecosystem, and they don't really do any damage to my plants. Perhaps they are the reason for my encounter with a Common Yellowthroat who seemed to foraging in my flowers and grasses.

An Understory Story

Those who have had a chance to read The Living Landscape by Rick Darke and Doug Tallamy, are aware of the importance of layers in a landscape. The book breaks landscape into a essentially 4 layers: Canopy, Understory, Shrubs, and Herbaceous.

Many backyard landscapes have a Canopy (a tree or two) and a Herbaceous layer (your flowers and grass). The current state is that a layer in between the two may be relegated to some evergreen bushes planted up against the house. It's possible to create a more diverse and interesting Understory.

Many plants fit somewhere between the category of Shrub and Understory. Two of our neighbors have large Maples (ie Canopy) along these sides of the yard, we decided to plant an Understory of Eastern Redbud, Pagoda Dogwood, Allegheny Serviceberry, and Highbush Cranberry. Our Understory provides excellent white and pink color in the spring and in a few weeks, we expect to have vibrant fall colors.

Most importantly, our Understory provides cover and food for wildlife. Early in the summer the Serviceberries provide fast food for our Eastern Bluebirds who found competition from American Robins. Now at the end of summer, the Highbush Cranberries are red, the Dogwood and Sumac fruit is ripe. The ripe fruit has brought back our Eastern Bluebirds, attracted a pair of Northern Cardinals, and yesterday a Brown Thrasher came to visit.

This part of our yard is popular with the Eastern Gray Squirrels, the Black Capped Chickadees, Jays, and Thrushes.

Swainsons Thrush visiting in the Spring


Serviceberries in bloom with white flowers.


Highbush Cranberry Viburnum fall color.


Hermit Thrush paying a visit.

A September Morning

Today was my birthday. I woke before my alarm at 6:10 or so. It was dark. Thunder rolled in the distance. Rain poured down and out of the gutters. It was too noisy and too dark for 6 o'clock in the morning.

Staring out the back window, eating breakfast.

There were visitors today. A surprise. The feeders and shrubs aren't typically busy in poor weather.

Sitting up on a cable line above the Staghorn Sumac, a gray bird with blue tail feathers. One of the Eastern Bluebirds juveniles from this summer.

No. Not one. Something flies out of the Sumac and into the grass then back up. Another two exit the Pagoda Dogwood. Then diving Bluebird activity begins between the Sumac and Dogwood.

I didn't inspect the Dogwood. I suspect that had I, I would have found no berries left. There had been many.

And other visitors this morning. A pair of Northern Cardinals, a Downy Woodpecker, a White Breasted Nuthatch, dozens of House Finches. Two Blue Jays interrupt the feast at the feeder. The peanut feeder is empty before 6:30.

In my need to connect with nature and seemingly to anthropomorphize my backyard companions, I tell myself the Bluebirds came back this morning to wish me a happy birthday perhaps as a thank you for providing them a good nursery. In reality, this morning's weather probably made foraging difficult so they returned to the place where they could count on a healthy cache of berries.

While I am very conscious of their comings and goings and feel an affinity toward them as though they are somehow my Bluebirds; the truth of the matter is that the wild things of my yard are relatively unaware of me so long as I leave them in peace. The same is true of yours of course. There are some exceptions, the Blue Jays seem to recognize me as the peanut provider, but as I watch the birds while eating my breakfast, I am confident that while they ate theirs, they never saw me lift my spoon.

Echoes of Leopold: The Spread of Invasive Species

Thus the English Sparrow, rendered innocuous by the shrinkage in horse was succeeded by the starling, who thrives in the wake of tractors. The chestnut blight, which had no passport beyond the west boundary of chestnuts, is being followed by Dutch elm disease, with every chance of spreading to the west boundary of elms. The white pine blister rust, stopped in its westward march by the treeless plains effected a new landing via the back door, and is now romping down the Rocking from Idaho toward California. Ecological stowaways began to arrive with the earliest settlements...-Aldo Leopold (Sketches Here and There)

What's remarkable about this statement is that it was true 1949 and remains true today. If nothing else the purchase and use of cheap bird seed with millet and cracked corn have benefited the House Sparrow and the Starling. Leopold missed the Japanese Beetle introduced to the U.S. in 1916, and he wasn't here to see the introduction of the Emerald Ash Borer or the European Oak Borer. Native plants are under constant attack which can be likened to the spread to the European diseases amongst Pre-Columbian native peoples in the New World. Trees and plants native to the Americas have no or little defenses from these invaders, and we risk losing them because of our landscaping and agricultural behaviors.

Leopold wondered in the 1940's if the West would get a handle on managing Cheat Grass. This also seems to be a battle lost by native plants. The question remains whether or not we have learned anything in 6 plus decades.

Leopold dedicated a good portion of his life to reclaiming the landscape for native plants. He worked on the Curtis Prairie restoration and his famous farm alongside the Wisconsin River. This challenge us to reclaim landscape for native plants is passed down to us and has new standard bearers. Each time we make a decision about which plants put in our yards, which ones to remove, we are having the same effect. Leopold described it as having the same powers as God, the ability to create (via shovel) and the ability to take away or destroy (via axe).

Douglas Tallamy is one of these standard bearers. The author of Brining Nature Home challenges to landscape native plants to the benefit of native insects, birds, and other wildlife. It was in reading Bringing Nature Home that I first felt a moral or ethical obligation to give back my land, to make my yard a viable habitat. If you aren't sure where to start take a look at Bring Nature Home or The Living Landscape, and then also check out the National Wildlife Federation's Gardening for Wildlife program for ideas.

Forget the Blue Spruce, Go with a Midwestern Evergreen

I encountered something strange recently. Folks had homes built in a fairly typical mixed Oak, Pine forest in Wisconsin. They had removed most of the trees to put in turf grass, and then replaced the Pines and Oaks with Colorado Blue Spruce. I haven't quite wrapped my mind around bringing the suburbs to the wilderness, but here's a thought for Midwestern homeowners: forget the Blue Spruce and plant something that would naturally occur locally in your yard.

The Colorado Blue Spruce is a very popular conifer. They have vibrant color, and spruces planted together make excellent wind blocks. However, their native range is a corridor of the American West, and Blue Spruce has little ecological value in the Midwest. It's even become somewhat invasive in places where it's grown for Christmas trees, having escaped some plantations in the Northeast.

There are a number of evergreens native to the Midwest which are commercially available including: Eastern White Pine, White Spruce (sub species - Black Hills Spruce), and Eastern Red Cedar which should be considered in place of planting Blue Spruce.

All plants bring some value to our yards; that's why we plant them. In some cases, it's aesthetic like color or texture, in other cases it's functional like shade or barriers for privacy. All of the plants in our lawns also have some ecological value and function, some more, some less. All of these evergreens will establish roots that will help with water infiltration, and all provide cover for wildlife including nesting birds.

Eastern White Pines can be found in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and northern parts of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. These Pines have good wildlife value and are a food source for both birds and mammals. Pine Warblers, Crossbills, and Pine Siskins, Chickadees, Nuthatches, and Woodpeckers can all be found foraging in Eastern White Pines. White Pines have low salt tolerance and are not necessarily good candidates to plant along roadsides.

White Spruce (subspecies Black Hills Spruce may be easier to find commercially available) is native to the northern part of the Midwest including parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. White Spruce is an important food source for many animals including Red Breasted Nuthatches, Evening Grosbeaks, and Pine Siskins. White Spruce is also an important part of the Red Squirrel diet, and Snowshoe Hares rely on White Spruce as a winter food source. White Spruce is a salt tolerant species and can be planted along roadsides.

Red Cedars procedure "berries" which a host of birds eat, most notably Cedar Waxwings. These berries can be an important food source in late winter or early spring especially for birds like Robins who may arrive to find colder than expected conditions. It is also a fairly salt tolerant species so it can be planted along roadsides.

When next you decide to plant an evergreen, consider one of these three before you purchase the Blue Spruce.

Feeding Hummingbirds the Natural Way in Wisconsin

In Wisconsin the only hummingbird one is likely to encounter is the Ruby Throated. In order to foster encounters with these tiny birds people often opt for hanging a hummingbird feeder, perhaps not realizing that their own lawn can be an effective all natural food source.

Amongst our variety of native plants, three plants grow which were explicitly planted for the hummingbirds.

Columbine

Bee Balm

Cardinal Flower

The tiny birds show interest in other flowers, but they focus on these for a few reasons. Firstly each of these flowers (in our yard) is red (Note: We have red and pink Bee Balm). Just like the feeders and feed are red, hummingbirds really key in on the color red. Each of these flowers bloom at a different times of the year as well, in this order:

Columbine will open in May; they are one of the first to open in our yard every year.

Bee Balm blooms through most of the summer. It gets going around the time the Columbine is slowing down.

Cardinal flower blooms later in summer and with some luck will still have flowers in September.

By planting this combination of plants, the yard is pretty well set to provide a meal for hummingbirds for most of the duration of their stay. These flowers are all pretty easy to grow, and both Columbine and Cardinal flower will do well with some shade. In fact, my Columbines just get morning sun light, they spend much of their time in the shade. My Cardinal Flowers which are exposed to truly full sun seem to struggle a bit more than their neighbors which get some some shade.

Bee Balm can be found in a few different colors. We have red and a pink color which is similar to the color of Wild Bergamont another member of the Monarda genus which is also good for attracting hummingbirds.

Throughout the summer we have regular hummingbird visitors in the yard. We've even had some aerial combat this year. Planting for hummingbirds is pretty easy and adds splashes of vibrant colors to your lawn.

Backyard Apex Predators

Take a minute to think about the wildlife which lives in your backyard. What comes to mind?

Eastern Cottontail Rabbits

Eastern Gray Squirrels (Maybe Fox or Red Squirrels)

Finches and Sparrows

Maybe some insects like ants or crickets.

Have you ever wondered about the food web of your yard? Or as Disney put it, "The Circle of Life"?

To put it more plainly, who is eating who in your backyard?

Who is at the top of the food web in your yard?

Neighborhood cats

Hawks or Owls

Foxes

Raccoons

Let's get one thing out of the way. Cats. Cats can be beneficial animals to have around, for example, on a farm to help control rodent populations. There is a neighborhood cat who frequently hunts in my yard, from watching him he's mostly interested in rodents and lagomorphs and other small mammals. The house cat is an introduced apex predator. This post is not going to address the environmental the complications of house cats on the ecology of a landscape; it is merely sufficient to say that cats are often our apex predators.

Many of the other animals near the top of the food chain are birds. Coyotes, foxes, and raccoons certainly make their way into towns, and you may even have some in your yard. However to of the most common backyard predators are hawks. Red Tailed and Coopers Hawks seem to do rather well where there are people.

Two Red Tailed Hawks hatched in our neighborhood this summer and spent a fair amount of time pursuing local rodents and stalking my bird feeders. While Red Tails are truly small mammal specialists, they are also well known opportunistic generalists. They attempted a number of occasions with more or less success to hunt birds in the yard.

The Red Tails were never terribly successful at taking down other birds, but the Coopers Hawk with its smaller build and longer tail proved once again to be an effective Morning Dove hunter.

When your yard is able to sustain more forms of life, the local food web becomes more apparent. Even if I had no bird feeders stocked full of seeds, the network remains intact. Our yard is now home to around 30 different species of native plant, many of which attract insects either as larva or later when nectar or fruits are available. In response, birds like House Wrens, or this evening, a Common Yellowthroat spend time amongst the plants eating the insects. If they are lucky they remain top of the food chain but of course a larger predator like a Coopers Hawk may prey on the birds.

We don't often think of birds like Robins as being the top of the food chain but in many cases they might be. It is also important for us to keep in mind that if we are planting natives to attract butterflies and songbirds, we must also be prepared to accept the rest of the food chain. While the butterflies are beautiful they may be eaten, just as the songbirds may be silenced. We ought to consider the return of apex predators like hawks and owls a success and be confident in knowing that if our yard is healthy then its biodiversity with support all kinds of life even predatory kind.

Bluebird Summer 2015

4 years ago when I started planting native flowers and shrubs, I also mounted my first bluebird nest box. I was told that the chance of getting bluebirds to nest in town were slim. In the first year, Black Capped Chickadees established themselves before a male Eastern Bluebird came to inspect the lone house. My neighbor commented that he'd never seen Bluebirds in town before. This brief visit gave me hope that such a thing could be done; it was quite the wait, but this summer it was worth it.

During the second summer, I picked up a couple of extra nest boxes, one for Bluebirds, one for Wrens. The Chickadees established themselves in the original box only to be pushed out by some House Wrens, who successfully fledged three and then moved on apparently to my neighbor's bird house. By the end of the second summer we had 2 Bluebird houses and 1 Wren house which had produced three Black Capped Chickadee chicks and three House Wren chicks but no Bluebirds.

The third saw Tree Swallows come to inspect but no birds took up residence in our nest boxes, but the Wren house was lost due to wasp infestation. Noting that the house was very near the rear entrance of our home, and we had other wasp related infestations that year including yellow jackets in our basement.

Down to two boxes, I went about my wait this spring. Through April, I destroyed every attempt the House Sparrows made to use my nest boxes and eventually they settled in the house they use every year in my neighbor's garden. This actually worked somewhat well in that they did a good job scaring off other House Sparrows who came to close. May rolled around, and I was worried that like the previous year we wouldn't have any nests. In the last week of May, Mama and Papa Bluebird arrived and started building.

They built nests in both boxes and used the older of the two boxes. 5 little blue eggs later, the weather got unusually cool and Mama Bluebird was regularly found elsewhere in the yard, not on the nest. We were the worried the eggs would not be viable. A week or so later, came out to find 5 little naked chicks in the box. All of which fledged.

I cleaned out the bird house very shortly thereafter, closed it up, and waited. The babies and the parents had seemingly disappeared. We didn't see them in the yard for about two weeks. Then construction began again in earnest. This time they only built one nest, and we only ever saw 4 eggs.

The really remarkable part was that some days, we'd spy the 2 adults and up to 3 of the juvenile birds from the previous nest. The juvenile birds spent a lot of time around the nest box and in our Black Chokeberry bush. They helped dive bomb Brown Headed Cowbirds and Blue Jays. It was really rewarding to watch them feed amongst the native plants we've established in our gardens.

A few weeks ago now, I took a day trip with my daughter. When we returned that evening, gray Bluebirds were falling somewhat gracefully from the bird house and into the Black Chokeberry. From the kitchen we saw 2 eventually take off from the bush and into the neighbor's Maple. I insisted we go out to see them and opened the door, she bolted towards the Chokeberry while I grabbed a camera. By the time, I was out the door, she was next to the bush and baby #3 was mid flight into the neighbor's tree. We sat on the deck waiting for baby #4, he only peered out of the box. It got dark. We went to bed.

By the late morning the next day, the box was empty.

We didn't see any Bluebirds, no Mama or Papa, no babies.

Last night, the House Finches and Mourning Doves fed at our feeders in a frenzy. A small gray bird jumped out of an Eastern Red Bud and landed in the grass and hopped about chasing some moths. Then another gray bird appeared. When the flew up to a nearby cable wire, their blue streaks gave them away. They were bluebirds. Before it got dark, the most I had counted seeing on the wire was 4, and I am certain I heard calls of others. I can't be certain it was our babies but I'd like believe it was.

New Birding Calendar

I've added a little tool to side where you can find some suggestions about birds to watch for in Wisconsin in any given month. The list isn't exhaustive, and it's largely based on when we've had different species active in our own yard. Feel free to take a look, all you have to do is select a month and click "Get Birds".

Enjoy.

Midwest Crane Count 2015 - The Plan

Each year the International Crane Foundation organizes the Midwest Crane Count as the cranes complete their return migration. Any day now, folks in Central and South Central Wisconsin should expect to hear migrating crane calls as the Sandhill and Whooping Cranes return.

Whooping Crane hunting at the ICF.

In preparation for the event, I spent part of yesterday afternoon scouting the Sugar River Wetlands to find the best place to observe the cranes. I didn't actually see much any wildlife while out their yesterday, but hopefully my luck will be better in a month's time.

The crane count is on April 18 and runs in theory from 530 to 730 am. Noting that sunrise isn't until 606 and the state recreational areas do not up until 600; I think I'll end up with a slightly delayed start.

Upcoming Bird Counts

There are two upcoming birds in which I plan to participate. Here are the details in case you interested.

The 2015 Midwest Crane Count

This count is done all over the Midwest, it's a pretty major event. Results of the count are logged in Ebird.org. The event is intended to count the number of Sandhill and Whooping Cranes and to help identify the number of breeding pairs.

My plan is to get up early and head out to a local DNR run wetland to participate in the count.

The 2015 International Crane Foundation Bird-A-Thon

The bird-a-thon is a fundraiser for the ICF. The idea is pretty simple, a bird or a team of birders spends a 24 period looking for different bird species. They document each one. Before the bird-a-thon begins they look for people to donate to cause. Folks can donate money per species identified, for example if someone donated $1.00 per species and a team found 40 species, the total donation would be $40.00.

My plan is to use a day in mid-May to do my counting starting with my backyard and then spending most of my day in a local county maintained prairie.

2014 Species Diversity in Review

Each year, we count the number of different birds, mammals, reptiles & amphibians, as well as bees & butterflies which we can identify in the yard.

We started doing this hoping to see that as we planted more native plants, we'd expect to see the yard become more diverse.

Here's what we saw in 2014.

Year	Birds	Bees & Butterflies	Mammals	Reptiles & Amphibians
2014	40	15	7	1
2013	40	14	7	1
2012	31	13	5	1

2015 has frankly gotten off to a slow start, but perhaps things will pick up in the spring.

Some highlights from last year include:
• Hermit Thrush
• Golden Crowned Kinglet
• Orchard Oriole

New Wisconsin Backyard Bird Search

New in 2015, you'll find a widget on the side of the page to help you identify your Wisconsin backyard birds. Just enter a color and a bird type. For example, you have a red finch like bird come to your feeder, and you'd like to find a list of likely birds; just select "Red" and "Finch or Sparrow" and then click "Find Bird". A list of birds will appear. Click any of the names to be taken to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's article on the species.

Please note, this is version 1.0, I'll add other birds to the tool as the year goes on. This first version covers 36 different species likely to be encountered in your yard.