Batty for Phenology!

Here's the scoop on what's happening outside this week:

• It’s time to put up bat boxes--Wisconsin’s bats will be waking up from hibernation soon! Click here for some bat trivia and some batty activities for your kids!
  
  
• The snowshoe hares are beginning to mate. Find out more here!
  
  
• If you look skyward, you might see a Canada goose arriving for spring. Learn some goosey facts here!
  
  
• Woodchucks are coming out of hibernation. Learn to identify them here!
  
  
• When the temperatures get above 40 degrees, maple sap begins to flow. Find out more at our annual Maple Syrup Fest on Sunday, March 25 from 1-3 pm!
  
  

 Wishing you a sunny week!

Robins, Budding Maples & Ants on Sidewalks!

Here's what to look for outside this week:

• As temperatures rise, the Wisconsin River opens.  The average open date near Baraboo is February 28th. It may be open already!
  
  
• Have you seen a robin yet?  Leopold family records note the first robin of spring as early as February 2nd.   
  
• Red maple buds fight through the cold and begin to swell for the approaching spring. 
  
  
• It’s more likely to see a groundhog this week as they begin to wake from winter hibernation.
  
  
• Ants slow down their activities in winter, but never actually stop.  With the coming of warmer days, keep an eye out for them on open places, such as sidewalks.  

Have a great week fellow phenologist!

Keep on Trackin Wonder Bugs Preschool Program

Dear Wonder Bugs,

I am sorry to say that I missed keeping track of the fun on Tuesday! I was home with a recuperating child but back in the saddle on Wednesday! Miss Sue showed us all of the wonderful track-makers we have at the nature center like raccoons, opossum, rabbits, and fox. Did you know they all make different tracks with different numbers of toes?

I heard you had a track-tastic time outside and discovered a whole bunch of different tracks like skunk! That is one animal that is more fun to see the track than the actual animal!

Check out these fun books:
Wild Tracks! by Jim Arnosky: This book is loaded with life-size prints that your wonder bug will love comparing. Have them make their own track and count the toes. (Use some washable paint and thick paper and let your wonder bug walk around! A tub of water and a towel at one end make for a fun clean-up station.) 

How to Be a Nature Detective by Millicent E. Selsam: This book is in story-form and walks youngsters through the act of questioning and tracking.. Grab your magnifying lens and detective cap for this one!

Before going home we sang a tracking song. It is a fun one to sing while you explore outside! Sing it as an echo song; your wonder bug can sing the italicized lines.

Who walked here?
By Miss Tara Von Dollen (all rights reserved)
(Tune: “Are You Sleeping?”)

Someone walked here. Someone walked here.
Who could it be? Who could it be?
Was it you? It wasn’t me! Was it you? It wasn’t me!
Who could it be? Who could it be?

Were they running? Were they running? Were they walking? Were they walking?
Was it fast? Was it fast? Was it slow? Was it slow?
Could it be a person? Could it be a person? Could it be an animal? Could it be an animal?
What’s the track show? What’s the track show?

Keep tracking in your own neighborhood! 

Take care,
Miss Tara

P.S. - Remember to join us this Saturday, February for our  Read Owl About It Wonder Bugs Family Day from 9:30 -10:45 am. Here's the scoop! This just in: nocturnal owls are being studied during the day! Owl pellets are dropping in! Masks and talons are on their way. Come be a part of the owl news!

The Truth of the "Fee-Bee" Bird!

Dear Readers,

Have you heard the call of the "fee-bee" bird? Growing up, each year around this time, my grandmother would take bring me and my sister outside to listen for the cooing call of the "fee-bee" bird--signally the very beginning of spring. 

She told us "Phoebe" was a friend of hers who came each year to tell her spring was on its way. Much more gullible than my older sister, I spent the springs of my childhood trudging in rain boots through the field in our back yard searching for this mysterious "Phoebe."

Although I never found "Phoebe," I did discover something else during my backyard adventures--the sense of joy and wonder that comes from exploring the changing seasons of nature. From the first green budding fern in the woodland, to the honking of geese over head as they return, witnessing the gradual transformation from winter to spring is something that awakens that sense of wonder is all of us. 

Yesterday I heard my first "Phoebe" bird of the season (actually the early spring call of the black-capped chickadees), and I could hardly believe that it was time to think of spring already, but there was "Phoebe" telling us it is on its way! There is still plenty of winter weather for us this year, but still, "Phoebe" is there to remind us that spring is coming soon!

 Here's what to look for outside this week:

• Listen for the spring "fee-bee" call of the "Phoebe" birds, black-capped chickadees.
• Step outside at night…Jupiter is one of the brightest objects of the February night sky.
• Wild turkeys are warming up for spring!  Listen hard and you may hear their calls. 
• Bear cubs are now one month old; safe, sound and warm in their dens. 
• Early geese (those that still migrate) begin to return.
• Find a warm, sunny area along a southern exposure and watch for brave spring flowers beginning to poke up.   

Wishing you a week full of wonder,

Alanna Medearis, Development & Communications Coordinator

Learn more about phenology and our wacky weather with our upcoming Vacation Day Programs on Friday, February 24.

WACKY WEATHER
Friday, February 24, 2012
9:00am - 12:00pm
Registration Deadline: Tuesday, February 21, 2012
As March approaches, weather can be very calm (like a lamb) or it can be strong (like a lion), so it’s the perfect time to delve into learning about Wisconsin’s wacky weather. Join us as we record the daily weather conditions and learn what drives our weather. We’ll model how weather works by making clouds and tornados, study and enjoy the wind and sky, and explore the forces behind severe weather, like hurricanes and tsunamis and play some wacky weather games.
ALNC Members: $18/participant; Non-Members: $21/participant

LUNCH BUNCH
Friday, February 24, 2012
12:00 - 1:00pm
Registration Deadline: Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Your child will relax and enjoy nature stories read aloud by our naturalists while eating lunch. Afterwards, we’ll burn off some energy playing games outside with a nature theme! Please bring a sack lunch; we’ll provide water and lemonade.
Appropriate for children ages 5 and older.
ALNC Members: $6/participant; Non-Members: $7/participant

PHENOMENAL PHENOLOGY
Friday, February 24, 2012
1:00 - 4:00pm
Registration Deadline: Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Phenology is Phun! Aldo Leopold once wrote, “The months of the year, from January up to June are a geometric progression in the abundance of distractions.” We’ll learn all about seasonal changes, what to expect, and how to record and track our observations. Participants will leave with their own phenology list of things to look for and record as spring approaches. We’ll have many adventures as we trample the trails with magnifying lenses, binoculars and notebooks, in search of spring robins and even try to predict the “ice-out” day on ALNC’s pond.
ALNC Members: $18/participant; Non-Members: $21/participant

Sap on Tap, Frolicking Squirrels & Nesting Great Horned Owls!

Hidden in the gray outside, there's a fluster of activity happening in the natural world! Here's this week's phenology:

• Right now, the heartbeat of a hibernating bear is only about eight beats per minute.
• The February frolics that you watch from the window are actually gray squirrel mating rituals. 
• Maple sap is slowly beginning to flow! Remember to join us on Sunday, March 25 for Maple Syrup Fest to find out more!
• Great Horned Owls have begun nesting, just in time for Valentine’s Day. 
• White-tailed deer metabolism slows—they will primarily live of stored fat for the next month or two. 
• Watch for pussy willow twigs to show one of the earliest signs of spring! 

See What We’ve Been Working On!

By Brenna Holzhauer, Special Assistant to Nature Net and the Climate Education Center

Have you been wondering what’s going on behind the scenes at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center lately? Well you’re in luck – keep reading! 

You may have noticed the nature center’s recent green expansion (literally and environmentally) – and we’ve been working hard the past few months to fill it with awesome exhibits and technology to help us teach about the environment, climate, energy and sustainability. Now, we need your help to really get things up and running!

We’re gearing up for our grand opening celebration this spring (stay tuned!), but in the meantime, we’re looking for pilot groups of classrooms to help us test out our new programs and gadgets – including our Science on a Sphere, a huge high-definition global projection system, GlobalWarming: Facts and Our Future, a powerful interactive exhibit created by the National Academy of Sciences to introduce and explain scientific facts about climate change, and lots of fun interactive touchscreens. 

All this new technology really helps bring to life some of the complex and abstract concepts that we deal with when talking about climate, and it seems to really be engaging our younger visitors (yes, we spin our giant globe with Wii remotes!) Plus, we always include ALNC’s award-winning, hands-onoutdoor activities that will take you outside to explore our grounds, weather,wildlife, and the world around us. 

With fun (standards-based) fieldtrips like Brain Freeze!, Wisconsin’s Wacky Weather, Crazy about Climate, and May the “Source” Be With You!, we are excited use our new tools to help you learn about glaciers, weather, climate, renewable energy, and much more!

With February blahs setting in and lots of real-life wacky weather going on outside, now is the perfect time to try out one of these exciting new programs. It’s also an excellent way to gear up for this year’s National Environmental Education Week, Greening STEM: The Environment as Inspiration for 21st Century Learning.  Plus, it’s a great deal, and you get to be one of the first to experience the brand new interactive exhibits and programs! We can’t wait to show you and your students, scouts or other group of 4^th-8^th graders what we’ve been working on – register now!

Have questions? Call 608-221-0404 x1.

Hope to see you at ALNC soon!

* GLOBAL WARMING: FACTS AND OUR FUTURE was developed by the Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences.