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Newsletter of the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society, Inc. May 2015

Upcoming EventsMay 9 ALAS field trip International Migratory Bird DayMay 16 ALAS field trip What’s Up on the Bluff? Birds and Blooms at Powers Bluff June 6 ALAS field trip Kestrels on the Grasslands

www.aldoleopoldaudubon.org

Wednesday, May 20

7 p.m.

Our Amazing Dragonflies and Damselflies

Lincoln Center1519 Water Street, Stevens Point

Bob DuBoisspeaker

Aldo Leopold Audubon Societypresents

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ALAS Field TripInternational Migratory Bird Day

Saturday, May 9 8:00-11:00 amExpert birders will lead a field trip on Saturday, May 9, for the International Migratory Bird Day. This field trip qualifies Stevens Point for the High Flyer Award for the Bird City Wisconsin Initiative. We will meet in the north parking lot of Iverson Park, next to the Plover River (just south of Hwy 66—old Hwy 10E, Plover River bridge). We will

spend about two hours at Iverson and will then drive to the Lost Creek Wetlands, where we will spend another half-hour or so. This event is free and open to the public and families with children 6 or older are especially welcome.

ALAS Field TripWhat’s Up on the Bluff?

Saturday, May 16 8:00 am-noonPowers Bluff is a prominent high hill about two miles southwest of Arpin in Wood County. Part of the bluff is in a county park, and about 80 acres of the park have been designated as a State Natural Area. The Natural Area includes one of the best examples of a sugar maple woods free of alien invasive species left in Wisconsin. The understory flora in May is spectacular. It is an almost unbroken carpet of trilliums, spring

beauty, trout lilies, bellworts, Dutchman’s breeches, and many other species. For our field trip to Powers Bluff, meet in the public parking lot on the east side of the Wisconsin River north of the Clark Street bridge and the Chase Bank at 8:00 AM to car pool, or meet the group at the parking lot near the shelter building at Powers Bluff at about 8:45. Bluff Drive, the road to the Park, is one mile south of county highway N, and runs between county highways E and T. We expect to complete the field trip at Powers Bluff around noon.

Upcoming EvEnts

Aldo Leopold Audubon Societypresents

Saturday, May 98 a.m.

CelebrateInternational

Migratory Bird Day!

Iverson ParkHwy 66 (Old Hwy 10E) entrance, Stevens Point

Information call Kent Hall, 715-344-8081

See songbirds, waterfowl, and shorebirds

Bring the family!

oUr AmAzing DrAgonfliEs AnD DAmsElfliEs

Natural Resources Research Scientist Bob DuBois will present Our Amazing Dragonflies and Damselflies at the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society’s program on Wednesday, May 20 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Center, 1519 Water Street in Stevens Point.

Du Bois will describe the biology and ecology of odonates including their flight, behaviors, important habitats and their unique mating wheel. He will introduce several species in each of the nine families of odonates that live in Wisconsin and provide information about observing and identifying odonates. He will also familiarize audience members with the Wisconsin Dragonfly Society, including website and Facebook group pages. Bob DuBois is an aquatic ecologist with the Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR). DuBois gives talks and leads outings and workshops that focus on Wisconsin’s dragonflies and damselflies (adults and nymphs). He leads citizen monitoring efforts for dragonflies and damselflies through the Wisconsin Odonata Survey (WOS), curates the WDNR Odonata collection, manages the WDNR Odonata website (http://wiatri.net/inventory/odonata/), and recently founded the Wisconsin Dragonfly Society. He has published the field guides Damselflies of the North Woods and Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Rocky Mountains. He has authored nearly three dozen scientific research articles on various topics related to the management, protection, and ecology of Odonata, aquatic Hemiptera, and stream trout fisheries. He has worked for the WDNR since 1983. and is stationed at the WDNR Superior Service Center in Douglas County.

Aldo Leopold Audubon Society programs are free and open to the public.

Aldo Leopold Audubon Societypresents

Saturday, May 108 a.m.

What’s Up at poWers BlUff?

Meet at Chase Bank parking lot, Water Street, Stevens Point at 8 am

For more information, call Bob Freckmann @715-344-0686Photo by Lora Hagen

This issue marks the end of another year of ALAS monthly programs and newsletters. We hope you have enjoyed them.The editor thanks all those who have contributed so generously of their time to make the newsletters possible.Watch your mailbox in mid-August for the start of another season of newsletters!

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DElightfUl BirDs i hAvE Known

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)Alan Haney

You can’t miss him. His loud, rich, repetitious phrases, each repeated two or three times, generally continue for several minutes. Sometime during the first week of May, I can expect to hear the Brown Thrasher singing from the very tip of a tall spruce tree that stands in the edge of my yard. For the next two or three weeks, until he has attracted a

mate and begins nesting, his song will dominate my front yard; thereafter, he will primarily sing in early morning, perhaps being too busy the rest of the day.

Slightly larger than a Blue Jay, with a very long tail and long, slightly down-curved beak, the Brown Thrasher is one of two species of mimids frequently nesting in central Wisconsin, members of the Mimidae family, whose songs tend to mimic phrases of other birds. The other is the Gray Catbird, whose song includes far less mimicry. A third mimid, the Northern Mockingbird, is infrequent in Portage County, but common in southern Wisconsin. Six other thrasher species, all closely related to the Brown Thrasher and similar in appearance and behavior, occur in North America, but all of them are Southwestern in distribution. With his bright rufous back and tail, and conspicuous black-striped breast and belly, our Brown Thrasher is an easy bird to recognize. I sometimes think “Wood Thrush” when I see him on the ground in heavy cover, but it takes only a quick glance to see the difference. Of course, the Wood Thrush would never sing from the top or a prominent yard-tree, and you’d have to be near deaf to confuse the ethereal song of the Wood Thrush with the loud, harsh phrases of the thrasher.

The Brown Thrasher is yet another bird exhibiting a troubling population trend. Historically, perhaps in the late 1800s, after Wisconsin was first settled, the Brown Thrasher became a common species during the summer nesting period, but became uncommon in much of the state by the beginning of the 20th century. It was during this time that the Brown-headed Cowbird population increased, and the Brown Thrasher is the largest passerine species parasitized by the cowbird. Although data are

spotty, there is some evidence that Brown Thrashers recovered somewhat in the early 1900s, but from 1966 on, when the Breeding Bird Survey began providing consistent data, their population has slowly declined by nearly 3% per year in Wisconsin, somewhat faster than in Minnesota, but slower than in Michigan. The continuing decline in the species is range-wide, from the Rockies to the Atlantic.

Thrashers like to nest in heavy brush, especially thorny bushes; thus, their prime habitat is forest edges and fencerows that have been allowed to grow up, or overgrown abandoned fields. On our Ohio farm where I grew up, they nested in multiflora rose along fencerows, where we also had several pairs of mockingbirds. My Brown Thrashers nest in juniper shrubbery, or prickly-ash thickets in forest edges. Modern agriculture, with clean fencerows, and fewer fallow fields, coupled with more cowbirds, probably accounts for the continuing decline of Brown Thrashers.

Brown Thrashers over-winter along the coasts, from Maryland to Texas and into Mexico. However, this past winter, Anne and Larry Graham had a Brown Thrasher, at their place just west of Stevens Point, regularly visiting their feeder. Some thrashers remain near the coast year-round, whereas most move north with warmer weather, reaching Wisconsin by late April or early May. They are weak flyers and seldom move very far at any one time. The male and female cooperate in building a bulky nest of grass, roots, and other fibrous plant material. It is sometimes on the ground, but more often in heavy shrubbery or dense foliage or a tree such as spruce or juniper. Three or four eggs are typical, and the couple share incubation duties, although it is the female that spends the most time on the nest. Young thrashers sometimes fledge as quickly as nine days, but more often 11 or 12 days. Parents continue to protect and feed the fledglings for another two or more weeks. Second broods are thought to be uncommon. Cowbird parasitism notwithstanding, Brown Thrashers are aggressive defenders of their nests, and will sometimes physically strike a person or animal perceived to be a threat. They sometimes remove cowbird eggs from their nests, but often rear cowbird babies at the expense of their own.

Foraging on or near the ground, using their long beaks to sweep through litter, Brown Thrashers search for a wide variety of invertebrates, fruits, and nuts. They sometimes will consume small frogs, lizards, or snakes.

My yard would be a much poorer place were it not for the lively, raucous song of the Brown Thrasher. I have the good fortune of having pairs of both Brown Thrashers and Gray Catbirds nesting near the house. If I can only attract a pair of Northern Mockingbirds, I’ll have a “royal flush” of mimids. That’s the kind of Good Morning America I prefer.

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Officers

President Maureen Brocken 677-6772Vice-President Gerry Janz 340-3834Secretary Joe Schultz 341-5521Treasurer Larry Graham 344-0968

cOmmittee chairs

Bird Seed Sale 344-0968 Anne Graham/John MunsonConservation Kent Hall 344-8081Education Karen Dostal 592-4706

Field Trips Stan Skutek 544-0572Membership (Mailing list) Barb Munson 341-1208Membership (Recruitment) Bob Lane 824-3978Newsletter Lora Hagen Programs Larry Graham 344-0968Web Wizard John Zach 252-8532

DirectOrs

Eric Anderson 592-4423Ned Grossnickle 693-6095Sue Hall 344-8081

Alan Haney 592-6949Jean Klein 341-5389Carol Kropidlowski 677-4831Debbie Manthey 341-6897Pat Perzynski 252-2100Jan Seiler 344-0168

emeritus DirectOrs Bob Freckmann 344-0686Anne Graham 344-0968 Bob Juracka 824-5339 Loretta Klingenberg 824-5475 Donna Martens 457-2276Nancy Stevenson 341-0084Toni WanserskiJen Zach 252-8532

alDO leOpOlD auDubOn sOciety

Yes, I would like to join the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society. My check for $25 is enclosed. I will receive the almanac newsletter and invitations to ALAS programs and activities. My dues will support local chapter activities and environmental studies exclusively. ALAS will notify me when my annual membership is due.

I’ll help conserve resources, protect the environment, and save postage! Please send my newsletter via email.

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ALAS will not distribute your contact information to any other organization.

Please make all checks payable to: Aldo Leopold Audubon SocietyMail to: Aldo Leopold Audubon Society Membership PO Box 928

Stevens Point WI 54481-0928

Donations to the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society EndowmentPlease consider making a donation to the ALAS endowment to support our work. Please also consider including ALAS in your estate planning.

Purple Finch $25 Snowy Owl $500-749 Cedar Waxwing $50-199 Bald Eagle $750 and up Ruffed Grouse $200-499

Donations to the ALAS endowment can be made online by going to the Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin www.cfcwi.org/give/make-a-gift.html Please be sure to designate ALAS as the donor recipient.

To join the National Audubon Society, go to www.audubon.org and click “Join” at the bottom.

ANNUAL ELECTIONSThe nominating committee* of the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society presents the following slate of Officers and members of the Board of Directors for 2015-2016. Officers serving two-year terms and Board members serving one-year terms will be elected by the members present at the May Annual meetingOfficers:President: Gary Janz, Vice President: Eric Anderson, Secretary: Joe SchultzBoard of Directors:Ned Grossnickle, Sue Hall, Alan Haney, Jean Klein, Carol Kropidlowski, Debbie Manthey, Pat Perzynski, Jan Seiler, Brad ZindaCommittee chairs are appointed by the President, approved by the Board of Directors and have full voting rights.*Nancy Stevenson, Jean Klein, Sue Hall

NCCT Field TripSpring Event at Lost Creek Wetlands

Saturday, May 30 10:00 am

Join North Central Conservancy Trust for a Spring Event at Lost Creek in Portage County.

Lost Creek is a Wetland Mitigation Site currently owned and managed by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. From 10:00 until 11:30 am, Gerry Janz and Nancy Stevenson will lead an educational program on the birds present and the habitats they occupy at this unique site.

ALAS Field TripKestrels on the Grasslands

Saturday, June 6 9:00 am-11:00 am

Come join us on the Buena Vista Grasslands for an introduction to the American Kestrel. Visit nest boxes with field biologists Janet and Amber Eschenbauch, enjoying a unique opportunity to handle and help band on of Wisconsin’s most colorful raptors. Learn about kestrel biology and techniques in raptor research while experiencing the beauty of the Buena Vista Grasslands. We will

be meeting at the Kiosk near the intersection of County Hwys F and W. Dress appropriately for the grasslands and don’t forget your camera! If you have any questions, contact Maureen Brocken at 715-677-6772.

North Central Conservancy Trust

Spring EvEnt at LoSt CrEEk

NCCTwww.ncctwi.org 715-344-1910

Join North Central Conservancy Trust for a Spring Event on Saturday, May 30 at Lost Creek in Portage County. Lost Creek is a Wetland Mitigation Site currently owned and managed by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. From 10:00 until 11:30 am Gerry Janz and Nancy Stevenson will lead an educational program on the birds present and the habitats they occupy at this unique site.Nancy Stevenson is a naturalist and former licensed bird bander. She is the former Director of Children’s Programs and Summer Naturalist at Jordan Park Nature Center in Stevens Point. Nancy conducts birding workshops and has taught Elderhostel classes in birding and nature study. Gerry Janz has a biology degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and is an active member of the Aldo Leopold chapter of the National Audubon Society, serving as Vice President. He credits his knowledge from being “a student of birds and the world around me” for most of his life. Gerry and Nancy teach a course at the Clearing Folk School about bird identification and behavior.Join NCCT members, learn something new, and enjoy a beautiful day outside!

Date: Saturday, May 30, 2015 10-11:30More information: Betsy Kerlin 715 344 1910 email: edncct@gmail.comDirections are available on our website: www.ncctwi.org/category/events/

Aldo Leopold Audubon Society presents

Kestrel Bandingwith

Janet & Amber Eschenbauch

Open to the Public, Free admission

Meet at the Kiosk, corner of Cty Hwys W and F, south of Stevens Point

More information: Maureen Brocken 715-677-6772

Saturday, June 6 9:00 am

Bring the Family!

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