It's that time of year again. Your Chappee Rapids Audubon membership needs to be renewed. Dues help fund educational efforts, environmental projects, the newsletter and operational expenses. Consider renewing at the Supporting or Contributing level.

Dues may be paid to Treasurer Joan Campbell at the September meeting. Or you may use the enclosed envelope to send in your check along with the renewal form on the back of this newsletter

Things are really starting to move along for the Chappee-Webber Learning Center this year. Over the summer we received grants from the Riverside Charity Classic and the Greater Menominee Women's Club. These funds combined with the *generous* donations of Chappee Rapids Audubon and Menominee County Historical Society members have enabled us to schedule delivery of the gravel for our parking area for mid-September, weather permitting.

Currently, the committee is planning to run the same educational program as last season. The sessions will be offered to local fourth grade classes during the last two weeks of September. Most days the programs run from nine o' clock till eleven thirty. We are in great need of volunteers to assist the students from one presentation to the next on these mornings. The children LOVE being out of doors on a school day and are quite a lot of fun! If you would like to help out on one or more of these days, please call Denise Taylor at 906-863-7397. Thanks again for all the support so far! Hope to see some of you at the River
Denise Taylor

Eight of our members volunteered to monitor our bluebird trail on Shore Drive this summer. After looking at the records it looks as if we fledged a total of 41 birds, 20 tree swallows and 21 bluebirds. This is a much higher percentage of bluebirds to swallows than a typical year. Most years the bluebird to swallow ratio is 1:4.

The increase in bluebird numbers may be due to the un-pairing of nest boxes. Research is finding that the pairing of boxes, once thought to give an advantage to bluebirds, has done more harm than good. We un-paired our boxes two summers ago. Thanks to all the volunteers. Hope more can come out next year.
Trygve Rhude

The International Sandhill Crane Count was held on Saturday, April 21. Twenty five volunteers counted cranes at twelve sites in Marinette County from 5:30 until 7:30 A.M. The morning was clear, with a temperature of 44 degrees and a light east wind.

Volunteers included 16 students from Paul Matty's Environmental Science class at Crivitz High. A total of 73 Sandhill Cranes were counted.

Halley's Comet Returns... in Bits and Pieces

The annual Orionid meteor shower peaks the weekend of October 21st. Full article available at Nasa's Website

Artist Duane Hilton created this picture of an Orionid meteor streaking over a clump of golden aspens near Bishop, California.

Terry Gardon of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will talk to us at our September meeting about the proposal by Wisconsin Public Service to sell 9,500 acres of its property along the Peshtigo River. In order to sell this property, WPS will have to get The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to allow them to withdraw the land from their license agreement. If WPS is allowed to sell the property it is hoped that the DNR will be able to purchase it.

Terry will explain all the details of this important land sale to us. He is involved in this issue as well as the new centennial state park. Both of these beautiful resources are located in the northern portion of Marinette County. The meeting will be held on Thursday, September 20 at 7:00 P.M. in Room M-110 at the UW- Marinette

Governor Scott McCallum has vetoed our very own State Representative John Gard's proposal to split the Department of Natural Resources. The Governor stated, "I've studied and studied this provision in the budget and I have made my decision based on what is in the best interest of the state. I object to the duplication of efforts and reduced accountability to the public for management of Wisconsin's world-class natural resources. In many aspects, creating a separate department would perpetuate some of the same problems the proposal is trying to solve.

The Governor received 20,000 comments on the entire budget bill. Of that number, 3,250 comments were received apposing the DNR split. This means that the most heavily advocated issue, the DNR split, accounted for one out of every six public comments, with 30 to 1 apposing the split.

Rep. Gard is very unhappy with the Governor's decision, stating, " If he thinks the Sierra Club is going to get him elected, good luck.

Senate bill # 219, drafted by Senator James Baumgart of Sheboygan, has been referred to the Environmental Resources Committee. This bill would stop construction of new billboards, raise money to fund selective and gradual purchase and removal of billboards and provide priority for a billboard user to qualify for a smaller tourist oriented directional sign if their billboard is removed.

Count the billboards on Hwy. 41 between Marinette and Peshtigo. If you do you will be amazed to find 54 of them. There are currently 20,000 billboards in the state and that number is growing by 300 to 400 per year. Alaska, Hawaii, Main and Vermont have stopped the proliferation of billboards. Wisconsin should be the next state to do so. Wisconsin's scenic beauty needs to be passed on to future generations.

It is very difficult to write a short essay on the natural events at this time of year. Here, as summer nears its close, the fullness of the season hangs in the air before the first frost. Warm amber heads of goldenrod sway in the breeze and bright asters peak out at the edges of the fence rows.

Woodbine and wild grape clusters hang in royal purple .. as yet untouched by avian marauders. Jewelweed, heavy with morning dew, glistens in the sun along the streamside. Sunflowers both native and escaped stand regally ripening their crop. We perceive that life is slowing down, going to rest or another cycle. Not true! At least not yet!

This summer started in good form back in early June. Temperatures were"normal" and moisture adequate. June 3rd brought a freeze in rural areas that took out the sensitive ferns, sumac growth and many terminal buds on ash trees ( to say nothing of my vegetable garden!). Bird life seemed unaffected, probably due to the adults being on the nest as opposed to still laying eggs. Robins nested in good numbers this year, as well as catbirds and hermit thrushes. Bluebirds were average and seem low in numbers currently. Martins and swallows were VERY low in my area. Song, Savannah and grasshopper sparrows were numerous. I had no observations of Henslows or Lecontes this year. On the raptor front, redtails are increasing in mid-Menominee, marsh hawks are a little down and broad wings are doing well nesting in most woodlots I visit. Cormorants as well as terns were noted as low in numbers by many observers. This may be due to natural population dynamics and it will be interesting to watch and see what happens next year.

The earliest of migrants are well on their way, with swallows leaving around August 20th and nighthawks moving starting on August 8. I saw only a few by Labor Day. Sharp-shins and Coopers hawks are abundant along roadsides and fields. A few "kettles" of buteos have been spotted and vultures are also riding the thermals southward. While in the woods on August 27th I heard a large wave of migratory warblers overhead in the canopy- too many leaves for me to tell what kind! Flycatchers are moving throughout early September and hummingbirds seem to be leaving as I write ( Can frost be far behind?). I am watching for flickers and blue jays to start moving anytime. Robins and other thrushes are just getting started and should continue through October. Many wild fruit crops did well in spite of the drought and that should bring in good viewing of these birds. Meadowlarks clear out about the first of November. Sandhills are in average numbers and should start gathering in large flocks very soon- one of my favorite sites!

As we head into September it seems the season changes each time the wind shifts. A warm, moist southeasterly smells of summer. A cold front passing suddenly can make one race out of bed in the night to bring in the last of the houseplants on vacation outside. Soon this year's fawns will lose those spots that have endeared them to us. Chipmunks will bed down till spring. Bears will no longer be a hazard to drivers, but rather we will be watching for ice! The last monarchs will emerge and almost instantly begin migration as nectar supplies dwindle. As the leaves come down, the awesome structure of the forest takes on new meanings. Then, as I sit by the fire in the long evenings, will I have time to reflect on the season past. I hope you do too!