February 2011 All programs and activities are open to the public Vol. 31, No. 5

P.O. Box 184, Oshkosh, WI 54903 � Published eight times a year Editor: Janet Wissink, 7035 Mountain Rd., Pickett, WI 54964 � 920-589-2602 � wiss@centurytel.net

Check our website for up-to-date information: www.winaudubon.org

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Ice Cream Social and “Show & Tell”Ice Cream Social and “Show & Tell”Ice Cream Social and “Show & Tell”Ice Cream Social and “Show & Tell” Sunday, March 6 — 1:30 pm

Oshkosh Seniors Center, Oasis Room - 200 N. Campbell Rd.

This annual event is always fun, free and open to the public! The Audubon board will treat you to ice cream and a variety of toppings. We invite you to share your photos, slides, videos, DVD slide shows, and stories of your outdoor adventures, flowers, birds, nature, etc. To allow everyone an opportunity to share, please keep your presentation to around 10-15 minutes. A slide projector and LCD projector with a laptop/dvd drive will be provided. Please join us for an enjoyable "sundae" afternoon with friends and family - old and new!

Great Backyard Bird Count Workshop

Saturday, February 5 10:00 am

Oshkosh Public Library, 106 Washington Ave. (lower level meeting room)

The 2011 GBBC will take place Friday, February 18 through Monday, February 21. Please join us!

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds. Winnebago Audubon is pleased to again sponsor the GBBC in our local area and we encourage participation at any level. On Saturday, Feb. 5th, at 10 a.m., at the Oshkosh Public Library downstairs meeting room, we’ll have our annual presentation on how to participate with a special video presentation on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a special addition this year. If you want to learn more between now and then, go to the GBBC website at www.birdsource.org/gbbc/ . The beauty of this event is that everyone can participate by: watching your backyard feeder, driving to a special place to count, or trekking out into the country to look for birds. There are simple rules to follow to submit your results. Your efforts contribute important data regarding the movement of birds across North America. Winnebago Audubon encourages you to learn more and be a part of this annual citizen science project.

Calendar of Events

Check out the website for details as they become available and in future newsletters.

Feb 5 Great Backyard Bird Count Workshop (details at left)

Feb 18-21 Great Backyard Bird Count

Mar 6 Ice Cream Social / Show and Tell (details at left)

Mar 26 Easy Home Composting with Dave Misterek, 9:30-Noon, Coughlin Center Joint program with Wild Ones.

Apr 9 Spring Banquet

Apr 16 Annual Crane Count

Apr 16 Appleton ReStore Earth Day Event

May Birdathon Month

May 7 Oshkosh Celebrates First Annual International Migratory Bird Day 6:00 am-2:00 pm, Menominee Park

May 21 Frog Night Hike

May 28 Paddle Rush Lake More events are being planned for the summer months.

The March issue of the Lake Flyer will have your reservation form for our

Spring Banquet

Save the date:

Saturday, April 9 with a program about bluebirds.

A Kid’s Eye-View by Carmen Meuret

The sun is just beginning to rise and a bright crimson hue paints the soft rippling water. The tall bulrush and cattails sway in the gentle breeze as the sound of a mourning dove echoes above you. A spring peeper’s trill wakes the rest of the area and startles a great blue heron to flutter out of his resting spot. The mucky smell lingers near your nose but with all the wonderful, up close activity of nature around you, you hardly notice and just close your eyes and open your ears to soak it all in. For in reality, what you are experiencing probably won’t last too long if we don’t make a point to put wetlands on our political priority list. With our new governor, Scott Walker, the wetlands could be in great danger. According to the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, Gov. Walker would like to make it easier for developers and industry to destroy isolated wetlands in hopes of creating jobs in Wisconsin by creating exemptions from water quality certification and wetland mitigation requirements. But if we build over our environment, eventually we will build over ourselves. In 2001, Wisconsin became the first state in the nation

to establish protections on isolated wetlands after the Supreme Court unexpectedly removed federal protections. The public strongly supported this protection and the bill passed both houses unanimously. That is pure evidence that Wisconsinites surely care about their environment but if we don’t act now on Gov. Walker’s developing plan, all our hard work of saving those wetlands will be lost. In order for your opinion to be heard, the best thing to do is to write to Governor Walker and our representatives in the state senate and assembly explaining to them our concerns and of our disagreement with removing protections on isolated wetlands. All the citizens of Wisconsin should care about isolated wetlands, because no matter who you are or where you live, wetlands benefit your life. You can contact Governor Walker at Office of Governor Scott Walker, 115 East Capital, Madison, WI 53702 or e-mail at govgeneral@wisconsin.gov. Carmen is an eighth grader at Webster Stanley Middle School.

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Seeking Nominations for Environmental Award

Each year Winnebago Audubon recognizes an individual (or an organization) who has worked to achieve the Society’s objectives with the Katherine D. Rill Environmental Award. Nominees must be from our area and have shown a dedication to preservation or restoration of habitat; conservation of birds; engagement in citizen science; or education of others about natural systems. Please send a letter detailing why your nominee qualifies by March 18, 2011 to Winnebago Audubon Society, PO Box 184, Oshkosh, WI 54903. The award will be presented at our Spring Banquet on Saturday, April 9. You will find more information on our website, or you may contact Janet at 920-589-2602 or wiss@centurytel.net.

The Future of Winnebago Audubon Depends on YOU! Join our Board...

It’s barely February, but it is time to be looking ahead to our chapter’s new fiscal year that will begin in May. Our board of directors has a passion for the environment and enjoys working together to bring worthwhile programs and events to our community. We would welcome the energy and ideas of additional VOLUNTEERS and BOARD members to help us continue that tradition of over 25 years. Please consider volunteering to help with an event or to serve as a director. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about the responsibilities and time involved, so give me a call or send an e-mail. - Janet

Winnebago Audubon &

Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity

With a $5,000 TogetherGreen Innovation Grant, we will work to plan and implement a model community wood waste recycling effort and significantly reduce unnecessary disposal at local landfills. Despite the progress made in recent years to recycle paper, glass, and plastic, landfills still make up a significant part of our landscape, with reusable items such as wood, accounting for nearly 20 percent of municipal waste. Megan Thiel of Habitat for Humanity reports that the majority of her work thus far has been research. She is looking into current wood waste recycling practices nationwide and internationally. The ReStore would love to focus its recycling efforts on wood waste from construction and demolition sites that is "contaminated" with paint, stain, glues and other unclean materials. This has proven to be a bit more difficult than recycling clean wood or scrap lumber. Clean wood can be chipped and used as mulch or remade into other lumber, or even reused. "Unclean" wood has chemicals that must be handled in a more environmentally sound manner. In the next couple months she hopes to have a feasibility study in the works that will be completed by an outside company. In the mean time she will continue her research and work with members of the recycling community to find a creative environmentally safe solution to the wood waste problem in our area. Both of our organizations feel very honored to have been awarded this planning grant from TogetherGreen, which is a dynamic and innovative Audubon initiative funded by Toyota.

CONE CONNOISSEURS

Frigid temperatures, penetrating winds and deep snow can make winter bird watching in the north woods challenging. Slick, snow-glazed roads require constant vigilance. Layers of clothing, bulky jackets, boots and mittens make getting in and out of vehicles cumbersome. Numb fingers struggle with stiff-focusing binoculars. Inconveniences for sure. But the rewards, the unexpected sightings, the silence and gorgeous scenery are worth the effort. I never tire of seeing purple finches, evening grosbeaks, pileated woodpeckers, red-breasted nuthatches and common redpolls in their natural surroundings. The real thrills are chance encounters with the more elusive pine grosbeaks, gray jays, boreal chickadees, Bohemian waxwings and spruce grouse. Included in the latter group are red crossbills and white-winged crossbills, both nomadic species that could turn up anywhere, anytime, in cone-laden evergreens. Crossbills are plump, six-inch finches with fairly long, pointed wings and short, notched tails. The males of both species are red with dark wings. Females are a dull mustard yellow with female white-wingeds showing some indistinct brown streaking. Brown-striped juveniles display a wash of yellow. Separating the two species is easy. White-winged crossbills, Loxia leucoptera, sport two broad white wing bars which are clearly visible whether the birds are flying or perching. Red crossbills, Loxia curvirostra, lack wing bars. Crossbills are birds of evergreens as they are primarily cone feeders. As most cones are on the tippy-tops of trees, that is where crossbills will be. There they move about on short legs and cling parrotlike to the upper branches and cones, often hanging upside down to feed. Many cones in winter have not yet opened so how do the birds extract the seeds? That is the uniqueness of crossbills. As their name implies, the bill tips cross over each other, looking much like deformed bills though they are not. This adaptation is a perfect tool for prying open tight cone scales which allows the tongue to slip inside

and extract the seed. Crossbills can be messy eaters. Cone parts scattered upon the ground may be evidence that the nomadic birds are or have been around, so look up. The bills of red crossbills are proportionately larger than those of their white-winged cousins, consequently they are capable of feeding on the larger cones of pines, firs and spruces. With their smaller bills, white-wingeds prefer tamarack, hemlock and spruce. The birds are often silent when feeding and can be easily overlooked. However, they do call in flight. If you can recognize the “jip-kip” call notes of red crossbills and the chif-chaf” call notes of the white-winged crossbills, look up and follow

their undulating flight up to a tree top. As often happens, they provide only fleeting glimpses as they quickly disappear over the woods. Both crossbills spend most of the year north of Wisconsin. As boreal forest dwellers, they nest in conifers with white-winged crossbills preferring tamarack-spruce bogs. A few isolated pairs may nest in extreme northern Wisconsin. Interestingly, a pair may nest any month of the year but the vast majority nest

from May into July. One brood is raised per year. When not nesting, they may wander in search of cones. Realistically, the only season we have a chance of observing them is winter. Their Wisconsin visits are sporadic; each year, they may or may not come. Rarely do the two species travel together. Many years ago, in my early years of bird watching and feeding, I was surprised and delighted to host several white-winged crossbills at my feeders. In my naiveté, I expected them to return each year. They haven’t been back since. So I must travel north in hopes of seeing and hearing them. Even though the likelihood of encountering them is minimal at best, I will not forego my forays into the north woods. Actually, I must admit, this winter lover enjoys the rigors of winter birding. Challenges beget unexpected sightings and shared experiences with fellow birders resulting in tales of adventure to be shared and retold in the future. Even if the birds are absent, the trips are never a disappointment. Yes, the birding is cold, but hot chocolate never tasted better.

Badger Tracks Badger Tracks Badger Tracks Badger Tracks by Anita Carpenter

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Lightning Tree Preservation Update

Two support piers were installed last November by Frank Zuern and his crew: Len Place, Jerry Draws, and Frank’s grandson, Ben Seidl. The posts were secured in concrete and crushed gravel. The structure blends in with its surroundings and should weather nicely. It will keep the lightning tree from settling into the ground and delay the decaying process, so that it continues to educate the school children who visit Sullivan’s Woods.

Oshkosh Recognized as a Bird City

As a member of Bird City WI, Oshkosh will host its first annual International Migratory Bird Day Celebration on May 7. The planning committee includes reps from the City, Winnebago Audubon, Oshkosh Bird Club, Oshkosh Zoological Society, and UW Oshkosh. We are planning a day of activities for everyone to celebrate the joys and learn of the perils that birds endure on their annual migrations. Watch for details to come!

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Winnebago Audubon Society Mission Statement: Advance the mission of the National Audubon Society to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity through grassroots efforts of community outreach and advocacy.

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OFFICERS President: Janet Wissink 920-589-2602 / wiss@centurytel.net

Vice President: Pat Nichols 920-426-0261 / jvnichols@earthlink.net

Secretary: Zaiga Freivalds 920-233-5914 / zaigam@charter.net

Treasurer: Carla Hansen 920-233-1129 / carlajhansen@sbcglobal.net DIRECTORS Dave Hanke 920-688-2907 Dana Hartel 920-582-4498 Evelyn Meuret 920-573-7828 / meuret@uwosh.edu Dave Moon 920-235-4429 / djmoon@northnet.net

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Welcome to Winnebago AudubonWelcome to Winnebago AudubonWelcome to Winnebago AudubonWelcome to Winnebago Audubon If you joined National Audubon, you are a member of our local

chapter, Winnebago Audubon. We invite you to participate in our activities to make the most of your membership. We are a group

of like-minded individuals interested in the natural world. Our activities are offered to educate the public and our members and

engage people in citizen science.

If you are new members of National or the Chapter and haven’t

seen your name here in the last couple of months, please contact Pat Nichols, VP, Membership Chair

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