Leopold Discovery Day

If you live in the Madison area, there's a good chance you've heard the name Aldo Leopold at some time or other. But perhaps, like myself, you're still curious about his life and legacy. Or, maybe you haven't heard of him, but the thought of outdoor fun and games mixed with some environmental exploration gets your heart a'pumpin'. Whether you're dying to know more, or languishing under the effects of winter-time cabin fever, Leopold Discovery Day is just the thing for you and your family!

Join us at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery for an exciting line-up of hands-on activities, games, and scavenger hunts that highlight some of Aldo's favorite pastimes like tree identification, fishing, and phenology (the study of the effect of seasonal climate on animal and plant life cycles).

Come on out this Saturday and discover Leopold!

Saturday, March 2, 2013
10:00am - 12:00pm
Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery
Participation is FREE!

Leopold Discovery Day

Bring the whole family to celebrate the life and legacy of Wisconsin’s premier conservationist, Aldo Leopold! Hands-on activities, games and scavenger hunts throughout the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery will highlight some of Aldo’s favorite pastimes such as, tree identification, fishing, phenology and much, much more.

• Search for birds in the Town Center Atrium trees!
• Go on an animal track identification hunt around the Mesozoic Garden!
• Enjoy author Nancy Nye Hunt's reading of her new children’s book, “Aldo Leopold's Shack: Nina's Story”!
• Dress up and pose for pictures at the "Look Like Leopold" station!
• Watch a screening of the Aldo Leopold Nature Center's "Learning from the Land" documentary and much, much more!

Leopold Discovery Day is sure to be a day your family will cherish, so mark your calendars now!

Date/Time: Saturday, March 2, 2013, 10 am - noon
Location: Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, 330 North Orchard St., Madison, WI 53715
Registration: No registration required. For more information, please call 608-221-0404.
Fee: Free

Tiki Torch Toboggan

Our Black Earth Campus, located in the Driftless Region, is full of hills and valleys waiting to be explored. Grab your sled (or snowshoes) and join us for an evening of fun in the snow!  Discover the winter flora and fauna as you sled, snowshoe or hike along the snow covered trails.  Finally, we’ll warm up around a roaring campfire with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy a treat in honor of Aldo Leopold’s birthday. ALNC will have adult and child snowshoes available on a first come first serve basis for use at this event. Participants are invited to bring dinner to cook over the campfire or eat in the cabin. Pre-registration is required.

Location:  Aldo Leopold Nature Center’s Black Earth Campus, 10648 Sutcliffe Rd, Black Earth

Date/Time:  Saturday, January 12, 2013   4 - 7 pm; registration closes January 10, 2013

Fee:  ALNC members:  $6/person or $20/family; Non-members: $7/person or $25/family

Information/Register: www.naturenet.com/alnc or 608-216-9371

Sprouting Grass...Hidden Ginger

Photo Credit: Althea Dotzour

Dear Wonder Bugs,Signs of spring were sprouting up all over this week!  Grasses, flowering plants, weeds, and even ginger were showing their green colors. It was fun to “plant” dandelion seeds by blowing on the seed heads! Creeping Charlie and mint had interesting smells that some of us liked better than the smell of wild ginger.

Wild ginger is a fun, native plant because the flowers are like little surprises. Wild ginger flowers hide under the tall, heart-shaped leaves right along the ground; you have to carefully push the leaves aside until you find them.  I wonder why the flowers would be so close to the ground and not up in the air like the dandelion flowers?

There are insects that like the flowers and use them for different reasons!  There is a certain type of fly that lives underground through the winter. When it emerges in the spring, the flowers provide a warm and dry place to hide during the changing and surprising spring weather.  Once the flowers make their seeds, ants are attracted to a special part of the seed that makes a delicious food for the ants. So the ants follow the scent to the wind ginger seeds, carry the seeds back to their homes, eat the special, fleshy part, and leave the seed. If everything goes well, the wild ginger seed will sprout the next year into a new wild ginger plant!But the fun doesn’t stop there! Wild ginger can also sprout from their special root called a rhizome. Wild ginger makes a great ground cover because of its spreading ability!

Find that spring in your step!  There is more sprouting than grasses, dandelions and wild ginger- you just have to get outside and look. Create your own scavenger hunt sheet or fill up a page by drawing what you find.  Or try to sprout some seeds inside and watch what happens.

Over and sprout,
Miss Tara 

Remember to join us to share the Wonder Bugs experience with your entire family at our NEW Family Camps! Here are the details:

Evening Family Campfires (2 days each)
Wednesday & Thursday June 20-21 OR Tuesday & Wednesday July 31 and August 1
6:30-8:30 pm

Family camp is NEW for summer fun with grandmas, grandpas, parents and all the kids! If you have found yourself jealous of your kids going off to camp each summer, this one is for you. Bring the whole family for 2 evenings of nature activities, singing, storytelling, and stargazing around the campfire on a summer weeknight. Can you think of a better way to spend a summer evening?

Overnight Family Camps (AT our Black Earth Campus)
Friday, July 20-Saturday, July 21 OR Saturday, August 18-Sunday, August 19
6 pm-10 am

Bring the whole family for an overnight campout at our Black Earth Campus filled with nature activities, singing, storytelling, and stargazing around the campfire on a summer night! Bring your own sleeping bags, pillow (required) and tent (if you have one). Please indicate when registering if you would like to use an ALNC tent (limited supply available) or if you will be bringing your own.

Call of the Chorus Frogs!

Here's this week's phenology post:

• Watch for wood ducks arriving—did you know their arrival coincides with the birth of wolf pups?
• Look for spiders crawling out from their winter hiding places.
• Mosquito larvae are drifting to the surface of puddles and small ponds.
• River otter pups are being born in their dens.
• Attempting to impress mates, red-tailed hawks dive-bomb toward the ground at 120 mph!
• Listen for Chorus Frogs and Spring Peepers as they begin their spring calls. Click here to hear it!
• Keep an eye out for muskrats and herons along the water’s edge. 
• The garter snakes are coming out of hibernation.
• Canada geese are starting to lay their eggs.

 

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!

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! 

Those Dancing Ravens!

Happy Monday Nature Nuts!

On an overcast, gray day like today it is easy to forget that there is still a bustle of life outside in and under the snow! Here's this week's phenology:

• Is it spring yet--don’t ask the groundhog!  Upon rising, they are only interested in mating, not the appearance of their shadow!
  
• Mice and rabbit are getting hungry and venturing out from under the snow. The owls and hawks are keenly aware of this change.
  
• We have gained back an hour of daylight since the Winter Solstice! 
  
• Watch for ravens performing air-borne mating dances.
  
• Look for bark flakes on the snow.  This may indicate a woodpecker has been searching for food above. 

Owl You Need is Love & Oak Leaves Falling Phenology Monday

Hooray! We finally have enough snow to start enjoying snowshoeing, sledding, skiing, ice skating, ice fishing and all the other fun activities that make winter in Wisconsin so special.

Just like us, the natural world is now is full winter mode and buzzing with new phenology to keep an eye out for. Here's what's happening outside this week:

 

• The last of the oak leaves finally begin to fall off.  
• We have gained back about 30 minutes of daylight since the Winter Solstice.  
• Listen for the songs of the cardinal this week, a “cheer, cheer, cheer” or “birdie, birdie, birdie”.  
• Forget about the frigid temperatures!  Red fox, wolves, beaver, owls, lynx and squirrels all begin mating this week.  
• Frogs remain in hibernation at the bottom of lakes and ponds.  Their blood contains natural antifreeze to help them survive the below freezing temps.

Phenomenal Phenology

The second week of January has arrived, bringing with it plenty to see and do outside!  Here's this week's phenology:

Please not however that this is what has been historically recorded through phenological records. Given the unseasonably warm weather we have been having, some of these occurrences may not be accurate for this week.

• Black bear cubs are being born in dens. 
• Raccoons and Skunk may venture out on “nice” winter days. 
• Look for sundogs, bright spots on either side of the sun, which can be seen on very cold days.  
• The constellation Orion is high in the southern sky. Look for it on clear winter nights.

For more fun outdoors, stop by the nature center this week (M-F, 9 am - 4 pm) and check out a Family Trailside Backpack, filled with activities to keep you and your youngster busy as you explore our prairie, woodlands, wetland, pond and savannas. The activities change with a new topic each season.  The backpacks are free for ALNC members, and $5 for non-members, but with family memberships available for just $35, why not become a member and enjoy free use of the backpacks all year long? Click here to find out more about the Family Trailside Backpack Program, and here to find out more about the benefits of becoming an ALNC Member.

Happy exploring!

New Year's Phenology

Happy 2012!

As I write this, a lazy winter sun is slowly creeping its way above the dense gray covering of clouds beckoning the in-between hibernators --skunks, bears, oppossums and the like-- to wake up and forage for food before the snow hits.

With the new year upon us, now is a great time to tune into the natural world and keep track of your own phenological observations as you observe and discover patterns of seasonal change. As you do, you may be amazed at the webs of connections you are able to find!

Click here for a great introduction to phenlology with tips on how to get started.

Wondering what to look for right now? Here are some ideas. This week:

• Step outside at night and listen for the ghoulish great horned owl mating calls. 
• Look for “Upsik” -- the Eskimo term for the blowing snow common in January.
• Search for antlers on the forest floor between now and the end of January. 
• While you're at it, look for signs of rodents who “snack” on fallen antlers to provide them with nutrients in the cold months.
  
  Wishing you a very happy new year!

Blustery Flustery Fall!

On a gray cloudy day like today, it is easy to imagine that Fall is a time for nature to rest. Gone are the colorful blooms of summer, the baby goslings have all grown and the green of summer has left us once again. 

 

But like the farmers who are busy harvesting their end of season crops, the natural world is buzzing with activity this time of year! From beavers hurriedly gathering their winter stockpile of twigs and sticks to migrating birds beginning their journeys south, the work of the season has just begun!

So, venture outside today and challenge yourself to find the work of fall! Here are some things to look for:

• Red-winged blackbirds forming large flocks.
• Colorful asters and goldenrod blooming.
• Muskrats and beaver are busily gathering food and building lodges in preparation for winter.
• Listen close...do you hear anything? If not, that is because the katydids, grasshoppers and crickets. have stopped calling!
• Tamarack needles turning gold and falling.
• Black walnuts falling from the trees and squirrels stashing them away for a winter treat.
• Cattails and milkweed pods bursting with airy, floating seeds.
• Ducks, Canada geese, woodcock, and snipe migrating south.
• The Big Dipper at the lowest point in the sky.

 Remember, to join us at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center to find out more about Fall and celebrate the season with us at Fall Fest on Friday, October 28th! Fall Fest is free for members or $35 for non-members--a price which includes a complimentary membership for your family! Tickets are going fast, so don't delay--click here or call 608-216-9371 today!