The first draft of this message I was writing about some of the environmental problems we face today. As I read through what I had written I started to get discouraged so I turned my thoughts to some of the positive things that are happening in our area. Here are a few of those.
The process to get the Carney Fen designated as a State of Michigan Natural Area has begun. Although there is a lot of work ahead for us, at least we are moving in a positive direction.
On the Wisconsin side of the river we have a new state park and adjoining state forest. This area encompasses some 10,000 plus acres. Currently the master plan is being worked on for the state park. The master planning process for the new state forest will begin shortly. The draft vision statement for the state park reads as follows: Governor Tommy G. Thompson Centennial State Park provides an opportunity for present and future generations to enjoy and protect the unique character of this state park in synergy with the adjacent Peshtigo River Flowage and state forest lands. This park provides diverse areas for recreation and education in a serene, rustic, north woods setting.
Currently the Wisconsin DNR is involved in a process to protect some of the environmentally sensitive areas along the west shore of Green Bay. The initial stage of this project is to define where these areas are and the best way to protect them. As members of The Upper Green Bay Basin Partnership Team, both Wendel Johnson and myself are involved in the three Wisconsin issues. Ross Wolf is leading the Carney Fen project. If you would like to get involved in any of these issues or have suggestions or comments feel free to contact any of us.
How's that for positive!

Over 70 people enjoyed the thirteenth annual Environmental Awards Banquet held on March 28 at Schussler's. Kristen Berry, Senior Grassroots Coordinator for Audubon, based in Audubon's Public Policy Office in Washington, DC., presented a talk about the importance of becoming aware of environmental issues and expressing our concerns to our legislators. The Leroy Lintereur Individual Award went to Sparky Rosenberger for her hands on, outdoor teaching programs for children, part of Environmental Education at St Mary's School in Peshtigo. The Upper Green Bay Basin Partnership Team received the Business/Organization Award for its efforts in developing a plan for protection of the critical habitats along the west shore of Green Bay. The award was accepted by Doug Rossberg. The silent auction netted over $300. Proceeds will be used for the Chappee Rapids Audubon Society Special Projects Fund.

Special Thanks to the Following for Door Prizes and Silent Auction Items for the Banquet

Cornell University is looking for people to monitor cavity-nesting birds and participate in their research. Participants place an appropriate nest box in suitable habitat, monitor the box throughout the spring and summer, and record the numbers of eggs and nestlings. Data is sent in and results are compared online. The $15 registration fee includes a quarterly newsletter, a packet of information and access to the interactive database and email discussion group. Contact Judy Barisonzi at jbarison@uwc.edu.

Is this the politically correct name of a new golf team sponsored by the Club? No, it's our avian neighbors living on the power canal near the paper mill across the river. If you look upstream from behind the 18th tee you can see the nest in one of the large white pine trees near the far riverbank to the right of the mill. This nest, or aerie, has been used several years so it is more than five feet in diameter and four feet deep. Each year in late February or early March the returning pair of adult birds adds branches, grass, moss and other vegetation, sometime even cornstalks, to the nest. Often bald eagle nests become so heavy the limbs they are on break and the nest and all, weighing a ton or more, comes crashing down. Remember the "Eagles Nest" tavern, now the Pullman House? That nest came down in the forties but the white pine snag stood until the fifties. It was unusual being more than a mile from water; most aeries are very near lakes or streams big enough for eagles to catch fish.

After doing the usual spring housekeeping, this pair of birds laid eggs and was incubating on March 13 last year. Bald eagles mate for life and lay two eggs three or four days apart. They courageously guarded the eggs through the ice and snowstorms of March although several large limbs broke from the tree. Incubation lasts 35 to 40 days when at least one bird hatched; one young fledged from the nest in the end of June. The mostly brown flying juveniles stay with their parents several months before going off on their own. The young do not develop the white head and tail until three or four years old. The adults feed themselves and their young fish, waterfowl, rabbits and carrion; they capture and kill live prey with their long, sharp talons. Many eagles are hit by cars when feeding on road killed animals. There were only 80 pairs of eagles in Wisconsin in 1970 because of the effects of the pesticide DDT. Today there are more than 400 pairs nesting in the state.

Native Americans often called the eagle thunderbird, used it as a clan symbol, and worked the design into clothing, blankets and ornaments. The bald eagle became our national symbol when it was used as focus of the Great Seal of the United States in 1782. The seal is on the one dollar bill; the eagle was also on many US coins, until recently on the quarter.

Take a minute to observe our majestic neighbors when golfing or driving through Riverside Cemetery.
Bob Brisson

I've lived with birds in many different places: mockingbirds and chimney swifts in New Jersey; loons and seagulls in California; and, in Alaska, eagles and ravens in Sitka, chickadees and siskins in Kodiak, more chickadees and finches in Anchorage. When I move, it's always exciting to discover new birds and comforting to encounter old friends. I met the most elegant of birds-the Sandhill crane-in Homer, Alaska.

I was just getting off from work at the Homer Public Library one autumn afternoon, when I heard an unusual squawking, squeaking, singing. I looked around but didn't see anything that could be responsible for this unique sound. Giving up, I drove home but could still hear the noise from my house. From this new vantage, however, I could see them. About 25 Sandhill cranes were spiraling up on a thermal, higher and higher, talking to each other. It was one of the most incredible sights and sounds I had ever experienced! As the cranes ascended to a height only they could determine, each crane would fly southward, one by one, until they were all on their way. I had seen the Sandhill cranes before in Homer, but never in such a large group like this. The town is situated on a strip of land facing Kachemak Bay with a 1200' bluff behind it, which, at the top, flattens out and extends north. I had seen the cranes arrive in pairs and circle their nesting areas in the spring. Some cranes lived in pairs scattered here and there in the area between the bluff and the bay, but most of the cranes I saw lived up on the bluff where there were larger open fields.

As the seasons passed, my family and I found ourselves leaving Alaska and being transferred to Wisconsin. None of us were looking forward to leaving our friends or the land we had come to love. The openness of Wisconsin and the lack of mountains left us feeling vulnerable and obvious. We considered ourselves fortunate when we found and bought a small house in Porterfield on a couple of acres, half of it wooded. The tall trees around the house and across the street felt benevolent and protective.

One of the first mornings in our new house, at sunrise, I woke up to a familiar sound-Sandhill cranes! I went outside and looked up but didn't see any. The song of the Sandhill crane, however, is unique, and I was certain that they were somewhere close by. After exploring our neighborhood, I found them: a group of cranes in a field about a mile and a half from our house. I pulled my car over and watched them for a while, as they strolled over the land, and picking up tidbits. I had no idea that they would be in this area in August. Each morning I heard the cranes and assumed they were moving from their sleeping area to where they spent the day, since they always flew from east to west. But I never was able to find out more about their lifestyle here.

It wasn't really important to me, though, to know in what specific fields they spent their evenings or days. What was important to me was that they were here, a part of my Alaskan home flying over my house each morning. And as the southward migration began in the autumn, I wondered if any of the cranes I saw were my friends who started their journey on the thermals of Homer, Alaska

March is a long month. The creators of our modern calendar allotted it the maximum thirty one days but really it is much longer. Steely gray skies, stiff east to northeasterly breezes and precipitation ranging from stinging hard rain to soft heavy snow characterize many of its days. I am sure you can think of many weeks in April that should have been called March! Looking back through my notes revealed that this year's statistics are remarkably similar to 2002. A long mild early winter period, followed by seasonable cold and snow hung on till mid-March then, a slow laborious process towards spring. Bud swell and bird returns are averaging about a week behind last year at this time.

A review of our winter birds shows nothing too remarkable. The boreal visitors tended to stay boreal. Many of the temperate zone migrants such as robins, juncoes, red tails, kestrels and many more I'm sure stayed with us throughout the area. Cedar waxwings appeared the third week of February and are still cleaning up the winter apples now joined by large flocks of robins and bluebirds- both coming in March 15th. Sandhill cranes and killdeer arrived on March 16, grackles on March 17 and redwing blackbirds on the 19th. It is interesting to contrast this with the reported arrival of redwings at Detroit on March 6th. My husband Bill is credited with the first woodcock of the season here on the farm on the 25th. I noted song sparrows on the 23rd and white crowns on March 31st. Both Bill T. and Andrea Sorenson have observed bald eagles mating this last week of March, prospects for a good year?

Most of our migrant and hibernating friends are yet to arrive. I expect frogs will come about the 10th of April along with tree swallows, brewers blackbirds and the smelt run. As of this writing the Bay and most inland ponds and lakes are still iced over so waterfowl movements have been slow except for Canada geese and a few great blue herons. Eastern chipmunks appeared in Menominee about March 20th but none here at Wallace yet. Gray squirrels are in good numbers and I am seeing an increase in the black variant along the Menominee River. I am also starting to see fox squirrels on a regular basis in Menominee Co. The whitetail deer herd seems to be in great numbers as usual but I have noticed more underdeveloped yearlings than usual this spring.

Warm weather or not the days are growing longer and by week's end we will change our clocks to daylight savings time...so we will have more time? Each year as I do this I recall the words of my grandfather, a very openly opinionated man of rural America, back when this practice became law. " @#$%, why do folks have to mess with things, they'd make the day night and the night day if they thought they could!" he would declare, and now I chuckle to hear this in my mind knowing we are only fooling ourselves and our employers. I thought of this again today as I watched the first returning turkey vulture floating and gliding his way headlong into a March gale. The bird was flexible, working the airwaves with uncommon grace and an easy pace. Life for our wild neighbors is not about controlling the forces of nature but working within them to find their advantage. Last year the final snow of the season fell on May 20th.....or was that March 81st? Make the best of each day!