A Sugar River Almanac - The Harbinger of Winter

10/19/2019


Dark Eyed Junco in our yard today

At this point in the year, it's dark when I wake. There are no birds at the feeders. The sun rises just after I have the kids ready for school. And it's fully risen when I walk out the door. Weekends become about the only time I can bird. And sadly from now for the next two months, each day will be darker than the last.

This morning presented the first time this year I've seen juncos visiting the yard. Three slate gray, Canadian sparrows descended on our Highbush Cranberry bushes before beginning their morning forage. The white V of their tail feathers is a dead giveaway as they zip in and out of the shrubs. They forage on the ground under the bird feeders and around the compost.

Their arrival is sequenced after the last of our summer migrants have left. It was just a couple of weeks ago when the wave warblers and grosbeaks made a last visit to our yard. We had one last Painted Lady and Cabbage White butterfly today along with a handful of bumblebees. The juncos visiting is a sure sign that the cold weather is soon to be upon us.

Oddly enough, I needed to snap a picture today. As common as they are; I hadn't taken a picture of a junco in years. They are frequent visitors in the winter and admittedly a bird I must take for granted. I sat down this afternoon with the latest edition of Living Bird which is focused on the loss of 3 Billion North American Birds. A graphic near the end of one article caught my eye; it was on declines in common bird species. Species that we not even notice are declining because sightings are still frequent. 1 in 3 Dark Eyed Juncos have been lost as part of this massive decline which affects many bird species including Blue Jays, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, and Baltimore Orioles.

The weather today was beautiful (sunny and 60 F) so after watching the juncos, we took the kids for a walk by Goose Lake. While our Quaking Aspen and Red Oak have not yet shed their leaves, the oaks and aspens along the trail were mostly bare. That made spotting a kinglet picking at the edge of branches easy. We'd hoped to see fancy ducks like Mergansers or Redheads, but instead we found Blue Heron, Double Crested Cormorants and Pied Billed Grebes.

The juncos arrival signals the start of the end of the year. Over the next couple of months, we'll watch for American Tree Sparrows, Pine Siskins, and Common Redpolls who are looking to escape the dark and cold of the Canadian winter. It's funny to think of the impending Wisconsin winter a warm weather destination for these migrants. We'll be sure to keep the feeders full in anticipation of our cold weather migrants, and as the leaves begin to fall; they should be easy to spot.

Everyone as Conservationist - 2050 Imagined

05/17/2050

It's a wonderful thing being retired. It's a Tuesday morning, and spring migration is in full swing. I decided to venture out early this morning. After a full night's charge our EV is ready to go (It really only needs about 2 hours of charge to be ready; it's just easier to remember to plug it in before bed). It has a range of 500 miles. I won't be needing the full charge for this road trip as I set out before sunrise to visit Horicon Marsh.

I back out of the driveway slowly watching for critters who are active before dawn. Over the last 30 years, the neighborhood has become more densely planted. Our oak trees now tower in the front yard. Throughout the neighborhood oaks, maples, aspens and birches line the streets. Lower growing serviceberries and redbuds decorate the street with white and pink blooms. The city sponsored a native plant initiative and encouraged property owners to more densely plant their yards, and the results speak for themselves.

The town now resembles neighborhoods which dotted the parameter of the UW Arboretum in the 2000's. It's commonplace to see Wild Turkey strutting across the street and Red Foxes make occasional appearances cutting across the road in the dark. Last fall, our acorns provided a sufficient food for turkey, jays, squirrels, and grouse. The spread of large deciduous trees throughout town has lead to a boom in woodpecker species; 30 years ago Downy and Hairy were common place but now it's not unusual to see Pileated, Red Bellied, and Red Headed Woodpeckers. In fact, with our close proximity to the retention pond a pair of Wood Ducks have been inspecting a hole dug out in our Bur Oak by woodpeckers two years ago.

My car rolls quietly in the dark past the retention pond. Signs have been posted warning drivers to slow down and watch for frogs, turtles and ducks in the road. I drive slowly, stopping to get out and usher a few Green Frogs across the street.

The sky is still dark as I speed down the highway out of town. In the distances, I can see the flash of red beacons marking windmills. The county is almost entirely powered by clean energy. Electric water heaters and heating are in most homes while a few still use natural gas. At this point it's somewhat unusual to use gas, like a lan line telephone in the age of smartphones.

Still cruising down the highway, I pass under a number of bridges spaced about every 15 or 20 miles. The bridges don't carry car traffic though. These are green spaces. These green corridors help connect mammals living on one side of the highway with another. The number of dead deer and raccoons on the side of the road has been drastically reduced.

The sun is just starting rise as I pull into the parking lot near the Horicon Auto Tour off HWY 49. It's been dubbed a scenic highway and traffic passing between the start of the Auto Tour and Cty Rd Z has a speed limit of 35 miles per hour which is strictly enforced by camera / radar enforcement. Tickets for speeding across this portion of marsh have triple the fine.

I walk the auto tour route in reverse, starting at the largest pond, knowing that flocks of American White Pelican are easy to spot here in the morning. I'm also keen to skirt over to the floating boardwalk quickly to spot the growing flock of Whooping Cranes who wade in the reeds between the boardwalk and the Old Marsh Rd. 30 years ago, I spotted a pair along the Old Marsh Rd, safe inside the refuge. Every spring since, the flock here has grown, and now it's not unusual to spot a few dozen birds here during migration.

The refuge continues to be an important habitat for all types of ducks. On my walk I spot: Blue Winged Teal, Ruddy Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Redheads, and Gadwalls. In case you're interested, people still hunt in the fall. In fact, members of the Audubon Society, Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited make up a significant green voting block which helped restore wetlands and forest across the state and encouraged cities across Wisconsin to take up native plant yard initiatives.

After the morning's successful birding adventures; I head to Waupun for lunch. Nearing the town, every building's roof is gleaming. The bright May sun is soaked up by solar panels which adorn most buildings. Wind and solar make up most of Wisconsin's power supply, and many property owners installed solar panels as way to offset their electrical use as EV cars become common.

The speed limit on this stretch of HWY 49 is still 55 MPH but the riparian buffers give me pause so I limit my speed to 45. In order to prevent soil loss and nutrient run off, farmers have adopted buffer zones which are largely comprised of native prairie plants. This stretch doesn't appear to have been burned this year so a tangle of dense brown grasses could hide any number of animals looking to cross the road. It's midday so I luck out and the critters remain asleep or hiding.

I sit down for lunch and do some people watching. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't eavesdrop on the conversations of the locals. I overhear them talking about the heavy snowmelt in March and April's heavy rains. They remark that none of the roads flooded despite the high cresting of the Rock River. In addition to restoring wetlands, rain gardens and rain barrels have become the norm and run-off from storms has been significantly reduced. Municipalities offered cost sharing plans to encourage the use of rain barrels and rain gardens as they ease the city's need to maintain and build storm water sewers and retention ponds.

I finish my lunch at the local burger place. I return my plate and cup to a tub so they can be taken back to the kitchen to be washed, and I throw my paper napkin away. There is garbage of course but for customers eating-in all restaurants have moved to using real plates, cups, and silverware. Beverages to go now typically come in an aluminum can or glass bottle, and yes that means I get charged for a second beverage. I take a root beer to go and start my drive back home.

As I pull into my driveway, I notice that the Columbine, Delphinium, Lupine, and False Indigo have started to bloom. I'm greeted by the buzz of bumblebees and the thrum of hummingbirds. Bees have made a huge comeback, their populations began to bounce back at about the time people's lawns stopped being so green. We still have some grassy lawn; it's practical for picnics and barbecues, and many other people have patches of it as well. It's just a little green. It's yellow and purple too with dandelions, violets, and creeping charlie. As I walk across the lawn, I stir up Cabbage White and Sulfur butterflies.

This reminds that Monarchs have rebounded as well. I won't expect to see them for another few weeks, not until our Milkweed has gotten much taller.

In retirement, I had planned to continue to blog, but there isn't really a need. Wisconsin was among the states that took the lead on green initiatives; this wasn't really a surprise given our historic roots passed down to us by Also Leopold and Gaylord Nelson. Momentum built and eventually the U.S. took the lead on global climate initiatives. The plastic garbage islands aren't totally cleaned up but the Navy has partnered with private industry and is making progress on the plastic problem. Given that most packaging has gone back to easily recyclable products like paper, glass, and aluminum; plastic has become less common.

The blog has become obsolete. Now everyone sees butterflies, bees, and migrating birds in their yards. Wildlife instead of being rare is common. Our children have had most of the heavy lifting to do, and they've helped us learn how to better live with nature.

Everyone as Conservationist - The Plastic Problem

I'd be remiss if I didn't touch on plastic. Plastic is the material of modern times. Plastic is highly versatile: it can be light and airy like grocery bags, shaped into cylinders, squares, and tiny cartoon characters, and it's great at keep things fresh, keeping out water, air, etc.

It's also cheap and convenient. Perhaps too cheap and convenient.

When we're done with a straw, drink lid, fork, bag, etc. We throw it away.

Some plastic is recyclable but not all of it. Knowing which plastics are recyclable is tricky business. NPR just ran a guide to help with the challenges of knowing which plastics are recyclable.

In the end the complexity of plastic recycling and that fact that it's often mixed with things which are not plastic recyclables means a lot of plastic ends up in the landfill; either because we just throw it away or because it's considered contaminated and non-recyclable.

Most plastic takes somewhere between an eon and an eternity to break down; it's not biodegradable. And it eventually escapes the landfill, blows around, gets caught in trees, ends up in the water, and eventually compiled in the ocean into giant plastic islands.

Animals like whales, sea turtles, and pelagic birds get confused and eat the plastic. And eventually die. And of course if fish and other critters are ingesting micro-plastics then we are too when we eat those fish.

In short, plastic (in particular disposable plastic) is a very real problem washing up on our beaches.

Like many of the problems we face, the plastic problem is our problem, and that means changes to our own behaviors are the solution.

5 Simple Things You Can Do:

1) Use cloth bags for shopping instead taking store plastic bags

2) Buy non plastic food packaging - look for aluminum, tin, cardboard or glass containers

3) Instead of baggies - use reusable containers like glassware or even long-life reuse-able plastic if necessary

4) No plastic straws - paper, metal, or just no straw at all 5) Bottled Water? - If you live somewhere, where the water is potable, you don't really need it. Use a reusable water bottle, stop buying tap water from somewhere else filled into 20 oz bottles

Bonus - If you are out for a walk and see a loose piece of plastic trash, pick it up and put in the garbage.

Wisconsin Nature at Home - More Asters with Bees and Butterflies

Took another video today as the sun warmed our asters. Probably just about the last we'll see of butterflies for the year.

A Sugar River Almanac - Visitors During Fall Clean Up

10/06/2019

Fall has come upon us in full force. We started the previous week with Monday's high just over 80 F. And the rest of week we barely got over 60 F with overnight lows in the 40s.

It rained almost every day. And until this morning, skies have been gray.

Next week's forecast is looking to continue the trend.

Fall things are happening. The neighbors' Maples are dropping leaves and yellow is creeping in where green once was. Squirrels carrying acorns and walnuts hop across the lawn, digging holes to bury their nuts for the winter.

So yesterday, I started cutting back some of the wildflowers. This is really an act of practicality. Ideally, I'd probably leave them all up until spring. This would allow them to seed themselves better. And leaving them up would give insects a place to overwinter. But real life is often far from ideal.

Cutting everything, given the number of flowers and flowerbeds, takes time. A few years ago, I waited until Spring, and it took 3 full days in the yard to get everything cut back and cleaned up. And of course the number of flowers has increased. So weighting a full time job, 2 kids and fall's limited sunlight, I now cut back some of the plants in the fall.

The garden path which I put in last Spring is now visible again. It had been totally covered by the surrounding Milkweed this summer. And Creeping Charlie successfully grew into mats across the sandstone path.

I try to leave as much Coneflower as possible. It's an excellent food source for the Chickadees and Goldfinches. I stayed small, sort of balled up, and close to ground. I heard the Goldfinches peeping around me while cut the plants back, each time I stood to stretch my back out; their party would scatter.

The tops of the Coneflower are brown or black at this point. The seeds are fresh for the eating. The dark balls of seeds have been picked over already in some spots, looking more like mohawks. As the flowers dry up for the fall / winter, the American Goldfinches descend them in bunches.

Only once did I rise quickly in surprise, scaring the finches off some distance.

As I was pulling out a mat of Creeping Charlie, a smaller, grayer neighbor skittered across my boot. Looking like two circular lumps of dark gray fur, I knew exactly what it was, but it's unexpected arrival and proximity caused me to step back out of crouched position quickly. The Northern Short Tailed Shrew scurried under an old log in the garden and disappeared.

Not the first time I've encountered a shrew in the yard this year. While weeding out a flower bed a month or so ago, I had a similar experience. Shrews are not rodents, but my experience with small mammals like Eastern Chipmunks in the garden is that they run away from humans. Perhaps on account of their poor eyesight, startled shrews seem to make a run for it right over my feet.

Shrews are a welcome sight in my garden as they like moles are excellent bug eaters and will prey on other critters such as mice and voles. The shrew has a unique tool for hunting; unlike other mammals, the shrew is venomous, and despite being small it's able to paralyze or kill it's prey. I take the shrews as a sign that the yard is healthy. If they are here then there is enough prey for them to make a living which means the yard is biodiverse.


American Goldfinch eating seed tops in our garden.


Old picture of a shrew eating safflower seed at our townhouse circa 10-ish years ago

Blog Update - New Widget - Park Search

Code change details. Now in addition to being able to search Cornell Lab for birds and Lady Bird Johnson for wildflowers; you can also search for nearby parks. Enter a city and state (like Milwaukee, WI) in the search box and click the Find Nearby Parks button. This will launch a google search for state parks and nature preserves near the entered city.

Blog Tools Updates

Code updates made to the ID My Backyard Bird tool to include more species. Code updates made to the birding calendar to change some suggestions about birds to watch for in which months. Feel free to check them out.

Everyone as Conservationist - Enjoy Nature

Alright here's a lighter thought. I want everyone to go onto Google or Bing and search your state. For me, this was searching Wisconsin. And click the Map option.

Wisconsin looks like this:


Wisconsin as seen on Google Maps


A closer look at the southern part of the state so you can see the smaller green places near our the state's urban centers.

If you have your map up, zoom in on your home town, just enough so that you can see about a 90 minute drive radius around your town.

Find the green places: State Parks, Forests, National Wildlife Refuges, Scenic Trails, Nature Conservancy properties etc.

Have you been there?

Aldo Leopold wrote about his concern for modern man being disconnected from nature and wild places, and it would be easy to make the argument that 60 years later and physically attached to our screens, we might be even less connected to nature.

A typical day might go like this: get up in the morning, have coffee, get kids ready for school, commute to work, spend all day at a computer, go home, make dinner, put TV on, put kids in bed, sit on couch texting or social media on our Smartphones, go to bed, start again.

Leopold struggled with two opposing but important ideas. He recognized that urban folks were disconnecting from nature and believed that many of our national parks were too far away from cities (in particular in the East) for the average working person to reconnect with the wild on the weekend. He also had some concerns about our wild places getting over-visited (This totally happens at the really popular parks, where the volume of people and their garbage can be overwhelming.) Leopold was right about both.

He was correct that many of our national parks are far from urban centers, but odds are if you are willing to visit to a county park, a state natural area, a scenic trail, or some other kind of park; you can find opportunities nearby to reconnect with nature. You might even have a favorite place that you like frequent; it might even be one everyone else likes frequent (In Wisconsin this might Devil's Lake, in Illinois this might be Starved Rock), and you might even recognize that maybe your favorite spot is crowding in a way that makes it difficult to escape and reconnect with nature.

So your homework as you are looking at the map is to find a green spot which you haven't visited before and plan a visit.

Find a place where you can enjoy the leaves turning colors, where you can hear the birds, and where you can smell the green.

Nature is vitally important to your health, so much so that doctors are even writing prescriptions for park time for patients. You owe it to yourself to get out there. And maybe in your time out in nature, you'll find that you want to bring part of it home with you, and you'll find something worth saving.

Everyone as Conservationist - Yards as Wildlife Corridors

Wildlife corridors are not a new idea. All over the world people have managed to conserve plots of land (sometimes incredibly large plots of land) as parks and nature preserves. These parks can be far apart separated by highways, roads, houses, cities, farm fields, and other man-made obstacles.

The obstacles vary in difficulty depending on a species modes of transportation. Turtles, toads and snakes seem to have particular challenges crossing roads, but it's not uncommon to find faster mammals: deer, raccoons, opossums, etc along the side of the road. Over short distances, birds might fair better but their struggle navigating migration past light pollution and glass city-scape is at least as daunting if not more daunting than the movement of other animals.


Green Frog in the road near our house.


Wildlife corridors are intended to help connect the patchwork of wild places.

They have often come to the forefront of conservation efforts when helping large animals (Florida Panther, Grizzly Bear, Pronghorn) successfully connect to others of their species, mostly for the purposes of ensuring a deep enough gene pool and connecting individuals for the purpose of finding a mate.

A recent study being done to understand the impact of wildlife corridors in the Southern Pine Savannas confirms the benefit of the corridors and not just for the larger species.

Article from WPR

Article from Univ. of Wisconsin

The study shows that plant species and small animals also benefit from the corridors, and that the corridors help prevent extinction. The overall number of species increase as a result of the plant biodiversity improving.

Here's the cool part, the part not in the study, your yard can be a part of this. Take this example. On one side of town, there is prairie with a stand of oaks that is managed by the county. On the other side of the town, there is wetland and prairie (also with a stand of oaks) managed by the state. In between, there's the town: roads, bike paths, parks, houses, etc.

So if I plant plants which are similar to the plants found in those parks: oaks, asters, coneflower, bluestem, etc. Then my yard is effectively part of the greater ecosystem. My yard on its own isn't enough to be a corridor. My house is closer to the county prairie. Animals entering my yard would have a pretty long hike across town to get to the wetlands.

So imagine that it's not just my yard. What if it's the whole neighborhood? And now go bigger; what if it's my neighborhood and the next one over. If enough of us are planting with native plants through town, then people's yards become the corridor which connects these two parks.

We wouldn't have solved all of the problems. Animals would still need to successfully cross roads and birds would need to avoid hitting windows, but we would have made their journey easier by providing shelter, food, and generally familiar surroundings. And following the logic of the study; our town would be effectively preventing species from going extinct.

A Sugar River Almanac - Warbler Day

09/29/2019

It started a couple of years ago. The first wave that I can remember was on Sept. 11, 2017. Eastern Bluebirds, Yellow Rumped Warblers, Palm Warblers, and Flycatchers rushed our backyard that evening. They were in the Highbush Cranberries; they perched on the cable line, they darted into and out of the wildflowers.

A week or so later, we had a similar wave of birds. And again the same last year.

Like spring migration just in the opposite direction. These birds have spent summer eating, nesting, and now they are regrouping and ready to head home. For the juvenile birds, it will be their first migration. They'll need to fly back to places like Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

It's a Sunday. And it's raining. Always raining. It'd been raining since late on Saturday night. When it's not raining; it's misting.

Sitting, eating cinnamon rolls and drinking coffees; there were first the year-rounders: House Finches, Morning Doves, American Goldfinches, and our juvenile Cardinals.

Each time the rain let up, the insect eaters came out. Small birds, smaller than the leaves on our Redbuds; birds about the size of the leaves on the Highbush Cranberries. Jumping, flitting, hawking to catch tiny insects.


Ruby Crowned Kinglet in our Redbud.


Yellow Rumped Warbler in our Highbush Cranberries


Palm Warbler - yellow under the tail is the give away


Common Yellow Throat in our wildflowers.

This is probably the last of these little guys we'll see this year. The weather this week is expected to get colder, and fall migration always seems to be a bit shorter than spring migration. With a lot of luck, they'll return to warmer places safely and find their forests or wetlands still intact and ready to sustain them over the winter. In about 6 or 7 months time they'll return to Wisconsin just as the leaves are first starting to appear. And we'll be here watching to welcome them back.

Wisconsin Nature at Home - Bees & Butterflies in New England Aster

Trying out video here for the first time. Here's a look at the bees and butterflies in our New England Aster this afternoon.









It's very hard to understate the importance of Asters as a food source for pollinators in late summer or early fall.

A Sugar River Almanac - Fall Visitors and Losses

09-28-2019

Fall set in nicely this morning. After a day of storms in what's been an unusually wet year, the morning was cool and gray and dank. The yard is full of berries, many of which appeared this summer. Nannyberries, Cockspur Hawthorne, Black Chokeberry, and Red Twig Dogwood in the front yard. Washington Hawthorne, Black Chokeberry, Pagoda Dogwood (mostly eaten at this point), Allegheny Serviceberry (totally gone by mid summer), and Highbush Cranberry in the back.


Northern Flicker foraging on the ground

Birds abound. We first noticed fall migration when in early September Northern Flickers took up residence in the neighborhood, making regular trips to forage in our yard. Unlike most woodpeckers, the Flickers don't seek out their meals in the trees above. They move somewhat awkwardly on the ground hunting for insects. If seen from the side, they may appear a drab brown, but in flight, golden yellow feathers are revealed as is a snow white rump. Flickers were present this morning in the back along with the usual suspects: House Finches, House Sparrows, American Goldfinches, and Black Capped Chickadees.

The front yard revealed two visitors of particular interest falling in and out of the Nannyberry bushes. Their flight was some what disjointed. We were surprised to see two juvenile Cedar Waxwings in the yard. We were aware of the Northern Cardinals who successfully nested, and we had seen 3 young cardinals foraging in the yard before. We watched Robin's fledge in the late spring but immature Waxwings were new. Could there have been a nest in the bushes or the nearby Oak which we were unaware of?


One of the Cedar Waxwings hiding under our bushes.

Our assumption was that perhaps like the Cardinals who only recently fledged that maybe these youngsters were late in the season fledglings, perhaps still learning to fly. We've heard and seen the large flock of Waxwings in the neighborhood. They frequent the bright orange-ish red berries of a neighbor's Showy Mountain Ash each fall. We left for a planned engagement; the Waxwings were hiding under the Nannyberry bushes when we left. We returned 2 hours later to find that both birds had died. Both on the ground under the bushes.

I can't say for certain how long they'd been out there in the gray and wet weather, perhaps since the morning or maybe they'd struggled all night in the rain. We'd initially thought to leave them be in hiding under the bushes like we would have done for a Robin fledgling, and now I'm left to wonder if that was the correct call. In doing some googling, it seems more likely that these young birds may have been intoxicated and may have perished from exposure or alcohol poisoning.

In our 8 years living here, I think I've retrieved 4 dead birds; two House Finches before this and now two young Waxwings. Death is also part of nature. And so in supporting a host of wildlife, occasionally things will die too. There's a fine line in knowing when human interference is helpful and when it is not. Without a necropsy I can't say exactly what happened to these birds, but the situation did start a conversation with my three year old about what exactly dead is.

I placed the Waxwings in the compost, lying them next to each other and then took a walk through the yard. Other fall visitors had arrived. Our Asters are full of bees today, a Painted Lady Butterfly has stopped by as well. The coneflowers in the back were busy with Goldfinch activity and a Common Yellowthroat pair hunted for insects just below where the finches fed.


Female Common Yellowthroat back by our coneflower.

Warblers passing back through the yard is a sure sign that fall migration is in full swing. I typically encounter the Yellowthroats in the local marshes during the summer; if they are in my yard then they've since left the wetlands and are back on the move. They'll soon be back in Mexico or Central America, and instead our yard will have visitors from Canada for the winter.

Everyone as Conservationist - Economic and Political Power

As I've work through these Everyone As Conversationist posts I've tried to reflect on the power that each of us has individuals. While vacationing this summer, I read a host of Aldo Leopold's essays, and it strikes me that over the years he observed many traits of humanity that still exist today:

1) It is very easy for people to fail to notice nature (Like folks who jog or bike down Military Ridge Trail failing to notice Osprey or Bald Eagles.)

2) Individual property owners can make good or bad choices which bring about preservation or destruction of the environment and ultimately these choices either help or hurt their own property in the long run

3) Bad environmental policy makes for a bad environment

While working for the U.S. Forest Service, Leopold noted, documented, analyzed, and critiqued a variety of forestry regulations, practices, metrics, and procedures. Throughout his essays he notes the various positions of different kinds of interested parties who had a stake in environmental policy from visitor's bureaus to politicians to sportsman to farmers and ranchers.

The power we hold as an individual goes beyond wielding the shovel to create and restore nature on our own properties. Arguably the two most powerful tools in your tool belt are your purse strings and your vote.

While gridlock, ignorance, denial and complacency plague politicians and prevent governmental bodies from taking meaningful action to restore the environment. Corporations are showing interest in going green. We could imagine or assume that big corporations are finding ways to go green simply for the good of the planet, and in some cases that might just be the truth. More realistically however many are interested in going green when it makes them some green. If it's less expensive to generate power with wind farms or natural gas, then a power company will choose these methods over coal. Likewise if people are interested in purchasing electric or hybrid cars, then Detroit is happy to manufacture them.

If policy isn't the going to be what causes corporations to change how and what they produce, then eco-conscious consumers have to wield the power of the purse strings. There are a lot of ways to do this. Some of which I've touched on before but here are some quick thoughts:

1) Buy products made of recycled goods
2) Buy products which come in limited or easily recycled packages (not plastic)
3) Drive high fuel economy or electric vehicles
4) Shop and buy local (reduces the carbon foot print of your purchases)
5) Consider your groceries (sustainable fish? organic? local? packaging?)
6) Use a reusable bag when shopping
7) Consider solar panels
8) Buy LED bulbs (even if the federal government wants to roll back standards)

This leads me to a different but equally valid point. In addition to control over your wallet, you wield the power of your vote. If you are looking for your local, state, or federal government to take action on water pollution, air pollution, climate change, land preservation or protecting endangered species or resources, then you need to vote for candidates who will act on these things. It would be unfair to suggest that the government is incapable of doing good environmental work. It just needs the right people in place.

Before the Clean Water Act (passed in 1972), the Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969 because it was so polluted, and it was far from the only river in rough shape. Through the Clean Water Act a number of rivers and lakes have been dredged, restored, and detoxified. The Manitowoc River is an EPA Superfund site, years of aluminum production and ship building had contaminated the river. Coordinated efforts of governmental and non-governmental organizations have been hard at work restoring the river and lakeshore. Today it's possible to hike along Lake Michigan on the Maritime Trail, visit the Woodland Dunes Nature Preserve or see Pelicans and Terns resting on the breakwater which is being turned into habitat and dog park space.


Pelicans and Terns on the breakwater in Manitowoc, WI

In addition to the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act should be recognized as a major success. Birds of prey like Bald Eagles have seen their populations rebound very successfully as have other protected species. Government intervention like the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Endangered Species Act and various state hunting regulations have successfully conserved species which could have been wiped out like American Bison, Whooping Cranes, Wild Turkey and many species of duck. As a child, I saw exactly 0 Bald Eagles in the wild. I first encountered a wild Bald Eagle at the age of 25 or 26 while in Wittenberg, WI. After that, sighting weren't common but were possible, and often required some work like traveling down by the Wisconsin River in the winter. Now, we see them pretty regularly, and having just seen a juvenile eagle fishing at our local retention pond, my children don't believe me when I say I never saw at their age.


Bald Eagle soaring above Military Ridge Trail near Madison in 2018.

Citizens who care enough about the environment to be good stewards of it are the key to getting corporations and governments to change how they handle it. How you choose to spend your money, and how you choose to vote is just as powerful as the choices you make at home. While it may seem like the effort of one person doesn't matter, keep in mind there are many others who care about the environment as much as you, and just like Captain Planet's Planeteers, it's when our energies combine that there is true power.

Everyone as Conservationist - Citizen Scientists (That’s us)

In my "Everyone as Conservationist" posts my goal has been to illustrate two things:
1) Many of the environmental problems faced by the world are caused by human behavior
2) Because they are caused by human behavior, changes to our behavior can solve them.

In others words we are uniquely qualified.

We are also uniquely qualified to be scientists. So what if you don't have a lab coat, safety goggles, or advanced degrees? Do you have eyes to wield the powers of observation? A passion about some part of nature? Or maybe you're just curious. Ok, you'll do.

I supposed that I can't speak for all kids, but I think I can say with confidence that many if not most kids are fascinated by nature. They love animals; they want pets; they love the zoo and the aquarium. They pull flowers and blow dandelion seeds. They pick up yellow and red leaves in the fall and collect pine cones and acorns from the ground.

You were a kid once too. Maybe you chased butterflies or made a bouquet of weeds. Maybe you had a rock collection. Odds are at some point you had a passion for science even if it wasn't memorizing the periodic table.

Scientists, as part of a number of universities or non-profits, need our help. Not so much for experimenting but mostly in data collection. So find something you are passionate about. Get outside on occasion and take part.

Citizen science is voluntary and many of the opportunities are seasonal, some are one-offs, and some are ever present and ongoing. Here are some which may grab your interest.

Timing	Type	Project
Anytime	Birds	ebird.org
Migration	Hummingbird, Butterflies, Migrations etc	Journey North
Migration	Butterflies	Monarch Watch
Specific Dates	Birds	Great Backyard Bird Count
Specific Dates	Birds	Midwest Crane Count

The above list is just a tiny fraction of what's out there. Do some googling, and you'll find many others. Interest, scale, and skill necessary may vary. You may want to get involved collecting water samples to monitor phosphorous in your watershed or join a group helping to remove invasive species from a local trail or arboretum. You can even get your kids involved.

A couple of weeks back, we traveled as a family to Horicon Marsh. Early Saturday morning, I set out to photograph birds and count what I could, logging what I found to ebird. In the afternoon, the whole family joined scientists from the Wisconsin DNR to catch and tag monarch butterflies. While our family was only successful in catching a Viceroy (Wrong but similar species), other families caught the correct butterflies and many were tagged to aid research into their migration to Mexico. Not only was our time spent valuable to the DNR and butterfly researchers, but it was fun. It got the kids outdoors and engaged with nature. While we weren't successful in catching a Monarch, we did see Painted Turtles, Leopard Frogs, White Pelicans, Painted Lady Butterflies, and a lot of other wildlife.

Citizen science isn't just about you participating to help some researchers. It's an opportunity for you to reconnect with nature in a way that is meaningful to you and hopefully have some fun doing so.



Actual Monarch Butterfly at Horicon Marsh - not the butterfly we caught.

Everyone as Conservationist - #BringBackBirds

Birds make up some very large part of the wildlife we observe. They are colorful, curious, and they sing. They can be lured into view with feeders. And many of them aren't just our birds; they travel. Birds which appear in Wisconsin in the spring have traveled both short flights like Robins and Blackbirds from the Southern U.S. and incredibly long distances like Baltimore Orioles and Indigo Buntings coming up from South America.


American Redstart in our Cockspur Hawthorne

A recent study published by Cornell Lab and others indicates that in the last 40 years, North America has lost 3 billion birds. While efforts to protect waterfowl and birds of prey like Bald Eagles have been successful in bringing species back from the brink; songbirds, neotropical migrants and grassland birds are now in decline.

A variety of challenges plague these birds. Habitat loss, climate change, declining insect populations, and modern construction are just some of the causes of species declines.

When we think of backyard birds, we often think of Cardinals, Chickadees, and Blue Jays. Feeder birds. It's important to be aware that most birds are not feeder birds. Insects are the primary food source for many birds. That's part of why they migrate.

Migratory birds move north with the specific aim and intention to take advantage of booming insect populations as spring and summer warmth spreads north. Even for non migratory birds, insects are an incredibly important source of protein for birds like Woodpeckers and Chickadees. Warblers, thrushes, swallows depend on the availability of insects as a food source both as they make pit stops on their way to their nesting grounds but also when they arrive.

Climate change makes timing these arrivals tricky or can make the the availability of food unpredictable. Birds arriving in Northeastern Canada in the summer of 2019 met unusually cool temperatures and wet weather which persisted long enough to cause declines in the inspect populations. Warbler populations took the brunt of the problems and birds died of starvation after reaching their summer home.

As discussed in the previous post, insect populations have also declined. Pesticides and the lack of the necessary plants have hurt insect populations. Insects are just about the bottom of the food chain. Without the insects, there can be no birds. The bugs need to be there when the birds arrive so they can survive and successfully nest.

Assuming the landscape is full of shelter and food when they arrive, the journey itself is perilous and has become more so. Light pollution can confuse migrating birds which often migrate at night to be safe from predators. There are a number of videos showing clouds of birds being attracted to the 9/11 spotlights as an extreme example when generally light pollution is the problem. Glass also poses a significant risk to birds; they simply don't see it or understand it. Reflections of sky or trees look to a bird like a great place to fly. With their hollow bones and slight frames which allow flight, striking a window or building is typically fatal.

The other major challenge is habitat loss, in particular grassland birds. Prairie Chickens, Sage Grouse, Meadowlarks, and many others require acres of open grassland. Not cultivated land, not neighborhoods, but prairies and sagebrush.

Again many of theses problems are caused by human behavior, and we are empowered to make changes that can bring birds back. Let's start with food. You can feed birds. Traditionally people feed birds seed. Seed rich in oils like Black Oil Sunflower are particularly good choices. Seeds acts as a good way for a host of birds to top off their tanks and can be a real lifesaver in the winter. At this point, we typically hope to have 15 different species of bird in our yard between January and March. Most of which are feeder birds looking for something to eat in the winter snow.


Baltimore Oriole and Orchard Oriole squabble at our orange and jelly feeder.

You can also feed non-traditional foods like oranges and grape jelly for Baltimore Orioles, Orchard Orioles, and Gray Catbirds. Meal worms and suet can also be good ways to provide protein at your feeders. But the best meal you can provide for birds in your yard is gardening.

Gardening tips for birds:

1) Avoid pesticides, let the birds eat bugs

2) Plant native plants which provide food like berries, nuts, and seeds. (Serviceberry, Dogwood, Hawthornes, Chokeberries, Viburnums, Oaks, Beeches, Coneflower and Black Eyed Susan)

3) Nectar Plants for Hummingbirds (Columbine, Cardinal Flower, and Delphinium)

Beyond food, songbirds also need shelter. As neighborhoods displace grasslands and woodlots, the birds need somewhere to rest during migration and somewhere to nest. Turf grass again fails here. Trees and woody shrubs are excellent for shelter in your yard and otherwise we need to defend and preserve our wild spaces.

Here are some tips for providing shelter in your yard:

1) Plant in layers. Tall trees (Oak, Maple), understory trees (Serviceberry, Redbud), lower shrubs (Dogwoods, viburnums)

2) Plant prickly things (Hawthornes, Pines, Junipers, Spruce, Cedar)

3) Add birdhouses to your landscaping

You can even protect birds from urbanization. Adding UV light reflective stickers to windows can help birds see the glass in their path. Some companies now also make bird friendly glass which can be used on homes or applied in larger scale to help make bird friendly buildings like the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Cities are also finding ways to monitor lights during migration, including spotters assigned to the 9/11 memorial lights who shut them down when birds are drawn in.


Baby bluebirds in our nestbox, two years ago I think.

Birds are really great because there are a lot of things we can do to help them, and many of the things we can do to help them also benefit other species. Since 2012, we have tracked the number of different bird species we see in our lawn as we've continued to plant more trees, shrubs, flowers, and place bird houses on our quarter acre lot. In 2012, we observed 31 different species of bird. In 2018, we observed 62 different species and so far in 2019, 57. We've nearly doubled the types of birds which move through the yard. We now expect to have birds like House Wrens, Black Capped Chickadees, Eastern Bluebirds, and American Robins successfully nest in our yard every year. If this is what one lawn can do, imagine what a neighborhood or a city could do? The power is yours!

Everyone as Conservationist - Float Like a Butterfly Sting Like a Bee

Bees often visit our asters in late Sept and Oct.

As noted by Greta Thunberg yesterday, we're at the beginning of a mass extinction event. (If you missed the speech, click here)

We've known for some time, at least a decade that honeybees were in decline. We've known that fisheries are being depleted. We've become aware that monarch butterflies are disappearing. Whale populations which had been on the rebound (Orcas in the Northwest and Wright Whales in the Northeast) are struggling. And the even more recent news of a 3 Billion bird decline since the 1970s is just latest evidence of an impending extinction event.

There was a time when human caused extinction and extirpation were caused by direct and intentional human behavior; a time when mankind simply hunted animals to the brink.


Classic image of overhunting (from Cornell Labs)

Many of the species losses now aren't quite so direct. They are still however the result of human behavior. Habitat loss, herbicides, and insecticides which are tied to agriculture and landscaping.

Pollinators are of particular interest, perhaps because so much information has been shared about bee and butterfly declines. Perhaps we show interest because butterflies are beautiful. And of course it turns out that pollinators are a necessary part of the food chain.

Probably the greatest irony of pollinator declines is that agricultural use of pesticides in particular neonicotinoids have devastated bee populations. Bee populations on which we depend for pollinating the crops of your favorite fruits and vegetable are hurt this very production.

Initially the population declines were first reported in honeybee populations as Colony Collapse disorder. In more recent years, wild bee populations have struggled as well. In 2017, the Rusty Patched Bumblebee was the first bumblebee species to be listed as endangered. Both honeybees and wild bees are impacted by agricultural pesticide use but unlike honeybees (which are shipped around the country to pollinate fruits and vegetables) wild bees are local bees, so their struggles go well beyond agriculture.

The modern yard receives almost quarterly treatment of herbicides to prevent the growth of dandelions, creeping charlie, violets and other weeds. These other plants are key nectar sources for wild bees. Neighborhoods and towns made of turf grass do nothing to support local bee populations. If there isn't anything for them to eat, they'll move on or starve.

Butterflies also struggle in the absence of weeds. Butterflies don't just need flowers with nectar to survive, their caterpillars typically mature while eating specific host plants. For example, Red Admiral butterflies use Stinging Nettle as a host plant for their caterpillars. Violets are host plants for fritillaries. And of course monarchs need milkweed for a host plant. In other words a weed free world is a world devoid of butterflies.

Gardners and property owners are in a unique position to help pollinator populations rebound. There's been a lot of movement on the milkweed front. People are growing it in their gardens, watching for caterpillars, and some are even captive rearing the caterpillars (although it remains to be seen if this is beneficial). Here are a few other things you can do to help pollinators:

1) Plant flowers which flower at different times from spring to fall. One of my favorite later flowering plants are asters. They draw in a ton of bees and butterflies as a last chance for nutrition as summer comes to a close.

2) Plant host plants. Asters, milkweed, fennel, dill, wild cherry, oaks, and willows.

3) Avoid pesticides or herbicides on your lawn. Let the weeds grow. They are remarkably helpful to the early spring pollinators.

4) They also make a variety of bee house or pollinator hotels which try to provide shelter for pollinators like solitary bees.

Like many of the challenges discussed here; the root cause is human behavior, and the good news is we have the ability to change our behavior and do better by the living things around us and by extension ourselves.


Swallowtails, Red Admirals, and Monarchs often visit our flowers


Monarch caterpillar on our milkweed.

Everyone as Conservationist - Let's Talk Carbon

I spent the past couple of posts musing on various human impacts on water. Water's the easy one. Let's talk carbon.

Since the dawn of time, man created carbon emissions. Prehistoric man burned wood or dry dung to cook, for light, for heat. Early humans burned grasslands to hunt. Fire was used to fashion tools from the Stone Age through to the Iron Age. Kilns fired pottery and bricks essential to the development of civilization.

The Industrial Revolution and urbanization brought increased carbon emissions. The burning of coal for heat and cooking as well as steam power to drive machines, trains, and ships. Whale oil lit lamps. Similar technologies were used to turn turbines at coal-fired power plants. Later petroleum pumped from the ground and burned for driving our automobiles, airplanes, and modern industries. As industrialization has spread to all continents, the need to consume fossil fuels has only increased. Even "cleaner" burning natural gas which can be used to heat homes, create electric energy and warm water heaters still puts green houses gasses into the atmosphere.

Since the time of the Industrial Revolution forests have been felled at a rate earlier generations couldn't have imagined. A Paul Bunyan story I remember from my childhood pits the legendary lumberjack against a steam powered saw which narrowly defeats the giant. The point being that industrialized outfits could take down forests much more quickly than before. Old growth forests in the United States were largely wiped out by 1900s. Most of the forests even in heavily forest covered states like Wisconsin are less than 125 years. Reforesting was a core a mission of the CCC during the Great Depression.

Increased production of greenhouse gases coupled with the loss of forests is devastating to the atmosphere. Trees are amazing at taking carbon out of the atmosphere. Forests are a key part of carbon sequestration or containment. The carbon is fuel for growth; it ends up in the wood and in the roots.

The current burning of forests in Brazil, Bolivia, and Indonesia is hugely problematic. Not only are we losing an important tool for capturing carbon, but as the forests burn tons of carbon are put back into the atmosphere. At the same time studies indicate that we are losing urban trees in the United States as well.

Loss of urban trees isn't really surprising. Woodlots are cut down to develop property. Invasive species like Emerald Ash Borer have devastated native tree populations. Anecdotally from driving through newer neighborhoods, yards don't have many trees. Trees were once part of the American yard; they were important sources of fruit and shade. Planting shade trees to the south and west was as an important way to keep your house cool. Tree lines to the north helped break winter winds. Now many yards have an ornamental tree or two as decoration and homes are cooled and heated by HVAC.

So there are two high level actions you can take:

1) Plants trees and shrubs in your yard to help sequester carbon. Trees and shrubs and other woody plants sequester significantly more carbon than turf grass. Likewise other deep rooted plants like Big Blue Stem will sequester more carbon than turf grass. But seriously trees, big ones.

2) Reduce your carbon footprint. There are a lot of things you can do here. Some cheap, some expensive. I'm not going to enumerate everything. But here are some thoughts:

    A) Look at your transportation. Is it time to go EV or Hybrid? Or even just a really efficient car like a subcompact? Can you use public transportation? Carpool? What about biking, walking, etc? Or moving closer to where you work / shop to reduce driving?

    B) Look at your energy use at home. Are things getting turned off when not in use? What's your thermostat set to? Can it be set warmer in the summer so the AC doesn't run so much? Can it be set cooler in the winter? Can you use a more energy efficient water heater like one that heats on demand? Are you efficiently using natural light where you can?

    C) The big one. Can you generate your own power? Solar panels are becoming less expensive. Even if you can't completely go off the grid, solar is a pretty good way to create power. In some places, heat pump technology can be an effective means to climate control your home as well.

The solutions here are varied, and when put together constitute a total change in lifestyle. We need to be planting trees. Lawns needs to look more like savannas and forests and less like golf courses. Transportation use and options must continue to evolve, and we must be onboard. There are many expenses we'll encounter along the way as we consider replacing water heaters, installing solar panels, and driving electric. With some luck there will also be savings as well in the form of spending less at the gas pump and hopefully writing fewer checks to the electric and gas company.

These are daunting challenges, but just as with the previous posts, we have the ability to take action and make different choices. We've tried plant our yard heavily. We have 11 trees, 21 woody shrubs, and host of prairie flowers and grasses.


Eastern Redbud Tree in our side yard with an American Goldfinch.


Pagoda Dogwood in our yard with a Swainson's Thrush.


Highbush Cranberry with a Gray Catbird


Nannyberry in our frontyard with an American Robin.

Everyone as Conservationist - Water Conservation at Home

My previous posts on water focused primarily on rain fall and the destinations where your rain ends up. I started here because the Upper Midwest received plenty of rain this year, and flooding has become a recurring problem. The last year with significant drought in Wisconsin that I can recall was 2012; however other parts of the country have had repeated years of significant drought in the past decade.

Conservation in the United States started as a movement intended to direct the smart and efficient use of natural resources. Managing them in such a way that they'd be there for the use of future generations. Freshwater is a natural resource in limited supply and a tricky one to own. Rivers may flow through many states, or lakes may border many municipalities so there is always some politicking involved.

Water politics and management should be of great interest to folks living in drought prone areas like the Southwest but also to city dwellers as many large cities draw their water supply from where beyond their local borders.

Step 1: Everyone should know where their municipal water comes from. This should fall into the bucket of google it.

Step 2: Be a good steward; the hard part. This isn't so much about paying attention to your meter and paying your bill on a regular basis. (Note - Both are good things to do.) It's more about are you smart about how you are using your water?

One of the simplest ways to reduce wasted water is to avoid using it on your lawn and garden. There are some simple things to keep in mind for lawn water usage:

1) What's the climate where you live? Should you even try to grow turf grass there? Regardless of whatever the local lawn guy or hardware store is selling, the fact is turf grass just isn't meant to grow everywhere. You may need to look at working with other types of ground cover or limiting how much lawn you intend to have.

2) What plants are native to where I live? This is a good one, if you decided to put in a tree or shrub or flowers that are native to somewhere else (perhaps more tropical) than where you live; you may need to do more watering. Different kinds of plants have different watering needs. The good news about native plants is that they are adapted to handle whatever precipitation typically falls where you live. In my experience, I typically only need to water my flower beds and trees in the 1st year to get them established (and only if there isn't consistent rain).

3) If you aren't watering your turf grass (or you haven't planted any turf grass), and you are working with native plants for your trees, shrubs, and flowers; the other way to eliminate waste is to be clever about where your water comes from. I'll plug rain barrels here again. They can effectively capture some rain fall to use later on if you go through a dry spell. I've found I can often use rain barrel water captured in April / May in June or July. (Not this year, it's been raining all the time, so there's no need.) Another method used in places that have had significant struggles with water supply is to capture and reuse gray water (such as from a shower or bath) to be used to water your plants.

4) Beyond monitoring your outdoor use, paying attention to indoor use, in particular leaky pipes or running toilets are good things to mend to make sure that you are making efficient use of your water. Many things have been suggested over the years such as bathe less and when you do choose to shower, install a water saving shower head, turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth, and there are a variety of options around toileting including flush less often, dual flush toilets, displacing water in your tank to reduce volume, and a whole variety of things you can find online.

None of these methods will prevent major droughts but they should help you save money on your water bill (and who doesn't like a little extra cash in their pocket?) as well as conserve some of the freshwater in your towns reservoir, aquifer or whatever type of source it is. As cities continue to grow and populations may grow faster than the freshwater capacity can keep pace, it's important for everyone to be good stewards of the local water supply.

Everyone as Conservationist - Where the River Ends

The Mississippi River starts in one of the 10,000 lakes of Minnesota. Lake Itasca is one many lakes which speckle the maps of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Other lakes in the Upper Midwest are larger (Lake Winnebago), deeper (Green Lake), but this small glacial lake marks the start of the 4th largest watershed in the world with water from 32 states draining into it.

The Mississippi runs from the North of the Continental 48 States and flows to it's South, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. It practically splits the nation in two. It starts like many other less remarkable rivers and streams in Minnesota and Wisconsin and grows into a behemoth as other mighty rivers flow into it. Waters from the west flow into the Missouri, crossing the plains states and spilling into the Mississippi's muddy water carrying with them dirt and debris from as far away as Montana. The Ohio River runs southwest out of Pennsylvania and converges with the Mississippi just south of Illinois carrying with it any pollutants it snagged along Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky.

In short, most of the rain which falls or toilets which are flushed between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains eventually flow into the Mighty Mississippi.

For a whole lot of Americans, no matter which watershed you live in, you are ultimately tied to the Mississippi River which means you are also tied to the Gulf of Mexico.

In the previous post, I touched on localized flashed floods within our own watersheds and what actions property owners can take to help reduce flash flooding. All of these same methods apply when talking about recurrent flooding as seen along rivers like the Mississippi.

And this makes sense. If reducing localized flooding takes everyone in a neighborhood making different choices to prevent local floods; then it also means every watershed needs to make better choices to prevent rivers flooding downstream. Rivers experiencing recurring hundred year floods is at the very least just the downstream net effect of many watersheds struggling with flash flooding. In other words if a million watershed eventually empty into the Mississippi, and million watersheds are struggling with flooding then naturally the Mississippi is also struggling with flooding.

The impact of recurring flooding is felt most heavily by river communities like those in Western Wisconsin.

Beyond recurring flooding, the Mississippi is also emptying into an increasingly growing dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Similar to the toxic algae blooms we experience in the lakes in our local watersheds, the dead zone is conceptually similar on a grander scale.

In our lakes, nutrient-rich waters, largely full of fertilizers from agricultural or lawn application which run off into the watershed, feed the local algae blooms. Now imagine collecting run off from across the Great Plains, the Midwest, and the South and funneling it all into a single river which flushes into the ocean at the Gulf of Mexico.

In the gulf when the algae blooms die off and are broken down by bacteria, oxygen in the gulf is depleted. Aquarium owners know the importance of keeping your tank oxygenated so that your fish can breath (and may even install bubblers when necessary). The same concept is true of fish in the ocean; without enough oxygen in the water life can't survive. No little fish to eat, means no big fish, and no big fish means no other stuff like sharks, whales, dolphins or even sea-faring birds.

The Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River are a clear and present example of how our behaviors (even those which may seems small like fertilizing your lawn) can be compounded in nature. This case holds true even with other watersheds which don't flow into the Mississippi because all water eventually flows into a greater body of water be that the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, the Bay of Fundy, or the Long Island Sound. Chemicals, pollutants, nutrients and debris are carried by water from small bodies to larger.

The good news is that means the actions discussed in the previous post hold true as good ways to help our planet. But it also means that there are larger and other solutions which must also be considered.

First and foremost, nutrients must be contained. The easiest solution for property owners: avoid using fertilizers and clean up after your pets. Keeping yard waste like grass clippings and fallen leaves out the storm water gutters (and therefore out of the watershed) also helps reduce the amount of nutrients entering the rivers.

Agricultural production must also find ways to reduce the amount fertilizer used and find ways to keep it and animal waste contained. Containment of nutrients can be approached in a few different ways beneficial to rivers. As in the previous post, the key is water infiltration. Buffer zones at the edges of fields, property lines, and along streams help contain nutrients and other pollutants. These buffers function like wetlands. When filled with deep rooted native plants, the buffers are both an effective erosion control and can also filter and use pollutants and nutrients keeping water clean. These areas are known as Riparian Buffers.

To repeat a previous theme. Restoring and protecting natural wetlands is the best method. Natural wetlands are the most effective buffer zones. Wetlands slow the flow of water allowing sediment and pollutants to drop out, clarifying the water. Wetlands are also capable of breaking down nitrogen fertilizers to remove them from the watershed altogether.

In short, you and I and everyone are capable of saving the oceans (Pause for a second because that's a powerful thought!):


Minke Whale in the Bay of Fundy

By: 1) Avoiding fertilizers
2) Cleaning up after our pets
3) Keeping yard waste out of the storm sewers
4) Containing nutrients on site by using native plants as buffers
5) Keeping buffer zones along streams, ponds, rivers, and lakes intact
6) And protecting and restoring natural wetlands.


Salt Marsh preserve at Irviing Park near St. John, NB


Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, Waupun, WI

Everyone as Conservationist - Where the Rain Flows

In my previous post, I discussed the importance of knowing which watershed you live in. So we'll build from there.

I suggested that it's a worthwhile exercise to map out where your water goes starting with the rain which hits your roof. Falling rain encounters two possible surface types on its way down: permeable or impermeable. Permeable surfaces absorb rainfall like a sponge, impermeable surfaces like most roofs and pavement prevent the water from soaking in and force it to run off.

Run off is remarkably problematic. It's the root cause of a number of watershed problems, including: flash flooding and algae blooms.

Run off is increased by human development. Anytime construction creates new impermeable surfaces: buildings, roads, sidewalks, parking lots, etc; we've reduced the ground's capacity to absorb falling rain. In addition not all ground is equally permeable. Certain soil and plant combinations are more capable of absorbing rainfall than others.

Natural wetlands filled with reeds, willows, and tall grasses are incredibly effective at preventing floods and acting as buffer. Each time, these wetlands are drained, removed, and then built upon; not only is their significant risk that the newly constructed buildings will flood but the risk of flooding nearby also increases. Building in flood plains and wetlands should be highly discouraged. This is where you can get involved either by voting or raising concerns with local government decisions made by groups like planning or zoning commissions.

Run off that has nowhere to go allows for our streets to become rivers during significant rain events. And if we've had an above average rainy season, the limited permeable surfaces such as our yards can become super-saturated effectively rendering them impermeable as well.

The rain which falls on our property encounters other things along its journey. Rain which runs off the driveway may pick up motor oil, gasoline, sidewalk chalk or coolant. Rain which runs off our yards may pick up dirt, fertilizers, and pesticides. Fast moving water erodes our lawns, roads, and agricultural fields carrying with it a whole variety of debris and chemicals.

The clearest illustration of what the rain carries with it can be seen in the winter. The charcoal gray lumps of snow and ice along the side of the road show us exactly what kind of debris is carried in the watershed.

When too many nutrients like phosphorous from fertilizers end up in our lakes; our behaviors are to blame.

There are a number of simple things home owners can do in their yards to help prevent the problems caused by run off.

1. Avoid using fertilizers and pesticides on your lawn or garden. It will end up in the watershed.

2. Pick up after your pet quickly. Bacteria and nutrients from dog poop absolutely gets carried by the rain and snowmelt.

3. Check your gutters and downspouts, if possible make sure that they empty onto a permeable surface. For example, we had a gutter which emptied onto the driveway, so we extended it to empty into the yard instead.

4. Trap some of the rain on your property - rain barrels are great for this.

5. Make your yard more permeable. Turf grass has short roots which don't really help that much with water infiltration (remember not all plant and soil combinations are created equal). You can put in rain gardens near your gutters. You can let weeds like dandelions which have long tap roots grow in your yard. You can put in gardens with native trees, flowers, and grasses which have longer, complex root system to help make your yard more of a sponge. You can also look at replacing some of your pavement with permeable pavers.

A number of the actions you can take will cost little or nothing like stop using chemicals and let some weeds grow; others will be more expensive like replacing current pavement with permeable pavers. The take-away is that there are actions each individual can take. If together our neighborhoods spawn toxic algae blooms in the local lakes then together our neighborhoods can end them as well.

Reflecting on yesterday's post, when I think about the Bald Eagle eating fish from the neighborhood pond or the cranes raising their colts there; I hope that we are being good stewards and not poisoning the home we've left for them after building our neighborhood. Tomorrow, we'll look a little further downstream; for now I'll end with a few other pictures taken at our neighborhood pond.


Blue Heron wading the local retention pond.


Mallard Duck swimming in the local retention pond.

Everyone as Conservationist - Watersheds

Water. Two hydrogen atoms, one oxygen atom. A unique gift on our planet. It supports life. It covers most of the planet's surface. We need it for drinking, bathing, cooking, manufacturing, and bathrooming.

And we find ourselves in a series of ongoing water crises.

Recurring floods.

Record droughts

Cities with tainted water

Cities without water

Toxic Algae Blooms

Plastic Garbage Islands

Coral Bleaching

The Gulf of Mexico's Deadzone

The above is a major list of problems for such an elemental part of life. Many of these problems come down to two root causes: human behavior and climate change.

Many of the above problems are local problems. All of us live in a watershed. And we probably don't even know which watershed we live in. So what's a watershed?

A watershed is a geographic area where water flows to the same place. And it can play a big part in water politics. For example, if you live in Waukesha, WI you are in the Milwaukee suburbs. Milwaukee is part of Lake Michigan's watershed. Rain which falls in Milwaukee eventually flows into Lake Michigan. In Waukesha, the water doesn't flow back to Lake Michigan. Instead it flows into the Fox River. The Fox River flows south into Illinois and into the Illinois River. The Illinois River flows into the Mississippi River and exits into the Gulf of Mexico.

So step one for you is to identify what watershed you live in.

Next you need to understand how your watershed works and understand where your water goes. We'll call this a water map. For those of us in the Midwest, most of our rain eventually makes it to the Great Lakes or Gulf of Mexico. Here's a framework for you:

Rain hits your roof, flows into your gutter.

Some exits your property and into your street.

From the street it goes into the gutter or storm sewers.

And then into the local retention pond.

Eventually back into the storm sewers and then back into a creek, stream, or river.

From the smaller river into a bigger.

And then into a greater body of water

You are connected to something much greater than yourself, and you are connected to a body of water on which we all rely; be that a Great Lake or the ocean.

The last step, get involved.

A lot of watersheds have some kind of community organization. For example, Clean Lakes Alliance is non profit group supporting the Yahara River and Lakes watershed in Madison, WI. These are typically volunteer organizations who monitor the health of the watershed and advocate for its health. Take the time to find out if your watershed has an organization; you know take 15 seconds and google it.

Find out what other communities are in your watershed.

Get outside and explore your watershed.

What does getting involved with your watershed look like?

I've attended a number of talks at our local library. City officials discussed plans to dredge the local retention pond. One was on the surprising biodiversity and health of our local retention ponds. Another was on the cranes living in nearby wetlands. In addition to learning about my watershed; it's where the kids and I go looking for wildlife.


Green Frogs in our retention pond.


Family of Sandhill Cranes with 2 colts visiting the local retention pond.


This juvenile Bald Eagle caught a fish in our retention pond.

Water from my yard and my neighborhood ends up in that pond. The health of that pond and the animals who call it home depend on us. And this pond is just the start of the water's journey before it is eventually released in the Gulf of Mexico.

Everyone As Conservationist - Intro

Sixty or so years ago, Aldo Leopold, wrote the "Farmer as Conservationist" outlining a variety of steps that farmers could take to better support populations of waterfowl and game, noting that other species would benefit as well. In earlier essays Leopold worried over the development of roadways, the loss of wild places, and damage done to watersheds caused by agricultural practices of the time. Leopold could not have imagined the Herculean task which lies before us.

Leopold did not imagine pollinator declines with massive losses in butterfly and bee populations which today threatens our agricultural industry in addition to all flowering plants which rely on pollinators for reproduction. He did not imagine islands of plastic garbage in the oceans nor did he imagine the growing and massive deadzone in Gulf of Mexico. He did not imagine that habitat loss, climate change, pesticides, glass construction, and light pollution would decimate migratory bird populations.

Leopold did however provide an intelligent and thoughtful warning to us. He urged us to develop and use methods to protect watersheds like streams and rivers. He urged us to learn from the tragedy of Horicon Marsh and to restore our wetlands. He encouraged the restoration of wild places. And clearly outlined how man acts as god, wielding the shovel to plant and create or the axe to destroy. He demonstrated for us at his shack near Baraboo how restore to wilderness on private land and how a depleted landscape can be rejuvenated.

Today, we seem to lack a visionary who is able to so boldly call out and describe our own follies and paint a picture of path forward in plain language. Perhaps, Doug Tallamy's books present us with the clearest pictures and evidence of what good we can do. Ultimately Tallamy's work expands on the ideas shared by Leopold and puts the onus on all homeowners and not just farmers to help restore wilderness. Tallamy provides fantastic scientific evidence for the benefits of gardening with native plants. Tallamy's work has been a personal inspiration to me as noted repeatedly on the blog, and this bears repeating here.

The recurring, discouraging news about a climate in crisis can make us feel helpless, but it should instead be seen as a call to action. And if our local, state, or federal government is unable to take action, then it is empowering to know that an individual carrying a shovel holds the power to create. So as Captain Planet said, "The power is yours!"

Future posts will both identify actions you can take at home to help as well share some of our personal successes. The goals will be to tackle issues of water pollution, species declines, and climate change and may be amended to include other or more specific topics. Solutions will include do it yourself projects as well as encourage getting involved in citizen science or environment organizations.

Here are a few links which may help you get started on your journey.

3 Billion Birds.org

National Wildlife Federation - Wildlife Garden Program

Million Pollinator Garden Challenge