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NON-PROFIT ORGUS POSTAGE
PAIDOSHKOSH WIPERMIT NO 90
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Winnebago Audubon Society Mission Statement: Advance the mission of the National Audubon Societyto conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit ofhumanity and the earth’s biological diversity through grassroots efforts of community outreach and advocacy.
AUDUBON SOCIETYMEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
q YES, I want to become a member at the chapterlevel and receive the Winnebago Audubon newsletter.I’ve enclosed a $20.00 check payable to WinnebagoAudubon.q YES, I want to become a member of the NationalAudubon Society, and the Winnebago Audubon Chap-ter. My membership dues entitle me to Audubonmagazine, and all chapter benefits. I am enclosing a$20.00 check payable to National Audubon Society.q I do not wish to receive correspondence or solicita-tions from National Audubon Society.
Name:
Address:
City/State/Zip:Chapter Code: Z12 7XCH
Mail this form with payment to:Pat Nichols, Membership ChairP.O. Box 184, Oshkosh, WI 54903
OFFICERSPresident: Janet Wissink 920-589-2602 [email protected] President: Pat Nichols 920-426-0261 [email protected]: Zaiga Freivalds 920-233-5914 [email protected]: Dave Moon 920-235-4429 [email protected]
DIRECTORSCarla Hansen 920-233-1129 [email protected] Underwood 920-426-0349 [email protected]
RENEWALS: Your mailing label includes your membership expiration date above yourname. If you are a “Chapter Only” member the word CHAPTER will appear after theexpiration date. Please renew your chapter membership by filling out the applicationform below. Thank you for helping us save on the cost of renewal reminders. If you are a member of National Audubon, you will receive renewal notices from Na-tional or you may renew by using the form below.
Welcome New Audubon MembersDoug Akey
Pat BernhardtThomas ColgroveNancy FlanaganJennifer Hadel
Bryan LeinweberThe Malouf FamilyMichael NowickiElizabeth OlsonCecelia OstertagBrenda Reese
Dexter SchaubsLawrence Weidner
John and Gail Ann Winkler
Be sure to take part in the Winnebago Audubon Societyevents that appeal to you. As a member of National
Audubon you receive membership in the local chapter. Weare happy to have you and hope that you find new
opportunities for supporting the environment through yourmembership. Please contact me if you have any questions
regarding membership or interest in becomingmore involved with the chapter.
Pat Nichols, VP, Membership Chair (email me at: [email protected])
NOVEMBER 2007 All programs and activities are open to the public VOL. 28, NO. 4
P.O. Box 184, Oshkosh, WI 54903 l Published eight times a yearEditor: Janet Wissink, 7035 Mountain Rd., Pickett, WI 54964 l 920-589-2602 l [email protected]
Check our website for up-to-date information: www.winaudubon.org
Owls - Birds of PreyThursday, November 15 - 7:00 p.m.Evergreen Retirement Community, 1130 N. Westfield St., Oshkosh - downstairs meeting room
Owls are the mysterious messengers that deliver mail to Harry Potter and the otherstudents at Hogwarts. We think of owls as wise, old birds. I love to hear the greathorned owls calling to one another from the pines out in back or even from mytelevision antenna. I welcome them to my yard, these birds of prey, because theykeep the rabbit population under control.
Winnebago Audubon in conjunction with Wild Ones Natural Landscapers welcomesyou to meet a great horned owl up close at our meeting on November 15. Birdrehabilitator, Ann Rosenberg, will bring a great horned owl, a screech owl, and a red-tailed hawk. Ann cares for these three educational birds of prey which cannot bereleased into the wild because of injuries.
Please join us in learning about these beautiful birds of prey. This program is freeand open to the public. For more information please contact Janet at 920-589-2602 or [email protected]
Upcoming Audubon EventsWatch for more details in future newslettersSaturday, January 26: Toward Harmony with Nature 12th annual natural landscaping conferencepresented by Wild Ones at the Oshkosh Hilton. For more information or to register on-line visit www.for-wild.org/chapters/foxvalley. Or contact Karen Syverson at 920-987-5587 or [email protected].
February: Great Backyard Bird Count and Birdwatching Workshop
March: Bluebirds
April: Crane Count, White River Marsh and Woodcocks, Earth Day, Frogs
May: Birdathon, Birds and Wild Flowers at Waukau Creek
June: Turtles
July: Bats
August: Monarch Tagging
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Needed: Citizen Monitors forWisconsin’s First Salamander Survey The Wisconsin Audubon Council, Inc. (WAC,) a coalitionof the state’s 14 independent chapters and two NationalAudubon centers, received a grant from the Citizen-BasedMonitoring Network of Wisconsin in August 2007 tocoordinate a statewide survey of salamanders. Members ofWisconsin Audubon chapters will serve as citizen monitors. Each monitor or volunteer family will place live traps inlocal wetland sites that experts have identified as potentialbreeding habitats. Volunteers will check the traps dailyover a two week period in early April and enter their catchresults on a data sheet. Wisconsin has seven salamander species. The surveyfocuses on four species that breed in shallow woodlandpools: the tiger, spotted and blue-spotted salamanders andthe central newt. This survey brings attention to thesesecretive creatures, gives wildlife managers’ much-neededdistribution data, and promotes the value of wetlands andwoodland pools. According to Randy Korb, WAC president and projectdirector, willing participants must belong to or join anAudubon chapter to become a salamander citizen monitor.Each chapter will have up to 5 monitors. No priorexperience is required and family members (parents andschool-aged children) are especially encouraged to join thesurvey. Monitors will receive web-based or workshop
training and receive traps and locations of monitoring sitesbefore the survey begins in late March 2008. Each chaptermust also have a coordinator that will communicate withmonitors, collect their data, and report back to Korb. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer salamandermonitor and/or our chapter’s coordinator, please contactJanet Wissink at 920-589-2602 or [email protected].
Volunteer monitors will survey wetlands for blue-spotted,spotted and tiger salamanders.
Falconry Demonstration Draws a Crowd Falconer Randy Stoeger of Menasha introduces Myra, hisHarris hawk, to Winnebago Audubon Society members andguests (above). Myra has been trained in the legendary art offalconry by Randy. Falconers can use their birds to hunt rabbitsand gray squirrels year-round but must abide by all other gamelaws to pursue other species. Falconry is heavily regulated, withstate and federal testing and licensing required. Myra allowed us to tag along for an afternoon of hunting.We flushed at least seven rabbits for her by walking in acrooked line through the tall grass and briars, but she justwasn’t hungry enough. Still, she looked sleek and beautiful,whether perched in the treetops or gliding gently overhead. No one was disappointed, however, because it wasn’t aboutgetting the rabbit, it was about being a part of the naturalworld, if only for a short time.
FOR SALE: Sturdy, Cedar
Leopold BenchesAssembled: $75.00
or Kits: $65.00(Pre-drilled, hardware & instructions included.)
To purchase your bench, just contact Dave at 920-235-4429 or [email protected]
Magenta, Mauve and Rose
The gentle back-country ride home from “up north” isspecial this late October afternoon. Winds are calm. Theair is cooling as the temperature dips after an unusuallywarm October day. Autumn colors are in full display. Thecountryside seems asleep as there is little avian or animalactivity to catch my attention. But that is to be expected asthe spurt of renewed growth and the time-absorbingbusiness of perpetuating the species is completed foranother year. Then I hear the familiar raucous rattle of sandhill cranes.Looking up, I discover several small flocks winging lowoverhead, traveling the same direction as we are. Thesegraceful, four-foot tall birds are flying effortlessly with slow,rhythmical yet powerful wing beats. They are catching andovertaking us. We all seem to be heading to Lund’s swamp, our namefor a special wetland in Navarino Wildlife area. Rimmed bywhite pines, colorful red maples, burgundy-hued oaks andyellow-leafed aspens, this swamp is our favoritedestination to witness Wisconsin’s abundant wetlandwildlife. Whether it be a bald eagle perched on a deadsnag or black terns upset with our presence or matingdragonflies or “peenting” woodcocks, each time we visit,the swamp shares a secret or inspires a special memory.Today is no exception. The sun is sinking below the horizon but is obscured bya scattering of low-scudding clouds. The disappearingsun’s gift to us is a glorious sunset. The cloud bottoms areawash in magenta brilliance, changing in coverage andintensity as the minutes slip by. Then shafts of magentalight rise from the horizon—backlighting tall pines andcomposing a truly stunning picture. With the ever-changing kaleidoscope of color, it’s difficult to look away.Yet I turn to the east and there is the half moon peekingbriefly from behind a cloud, its white surface becomingbrighter as evening deepens. Noisy sandhill cranes continue to converge on theswamp, winging in from several directions. Lund’s swampis a safe place for them to roost for the night. The early
arrivals do low fly-by passes, then gain altitude, bank andreturn to fly by once again. A few birds eventually landwith quickening wing flaps and extended legs. Theydisappear into the distant tall vegetation. Additionalsandhills arrive from neighboring fields while others seemundecided and fly off to unknown destinations. It seemslike chaos in the sky with several hundred birds flyingevery which way. The birds talk constantly, their hauntingcalls carrying in the stillness. Sandhill crane talk is musicI’ll always cherish. The sun has departed. Cloud bottoms are once again
steely blue-gray but now the western clouds part revealinga sky colored with many hues of magenta, mauve androse. A distant flock of twelve sandhill cranes passes bywhere the sun had been only moments before. Their darksilhouettes against the colorful sky enhances an alreadystunning picture. With my camera at home, it becomes anindelible image captured only in my memory. Finally, the sandhill cranes settle in for the night.Squawking diminishes. Darkness overtakes us. The moonis as bright as ever in the clear northern air. Stars twinkle.It’s time to go. The beautiful magenta afterglow stays withus for many miles. Then it too slips into the peacefulnessof night.
The perfectgift for the naturelover in your life.
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