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International Migratory Bird Day May 9

This year’s theme is Celebrate Birds in Culture

MADISON – Wisconsin, because of its location between the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes, plays an important role in meeting the habitat needs of a variety of migrating bird species, from waterfowl to warblers. International Migratory Bird Day on Saturday, May 9 will focus on the birds and their importance to our history and culture.

International Migratory Bird Day is held each year on the second Saturday in May to draw attention to the plight of migratory birds, millions of which make incredible journeys between their summer and winter habitats.

“International Migratory Bird Day is a time to reflect on the beauty and joy migrant birds bring us and how we can contribute to their successful journeys,” said Sumner Matteson, an avian ecologist with the Department of Natural Resources.

“Our efforts to conserve birds have never been more important than right now,” he said and noted the newly published nationwide “State Of The Birds” report found dramatic declines of grassland, arid land and sea birds. The report also documents a 50 percent decline in migrating shorebirds. In Wisconsin, 25 birds are listed as state endangered or threatened, though two—the Trumpeter Swan and Osprey—are proposed for removal from the state’s list due to successful recovery programs involving scores of partners and support of the state’s Endangered Resources Fund.

“The report leaves no doubt that birds are important nationally--economically, as a part of our natural heritage and as critical indicators of environmental health--and this is certainly true in Wisconsin as well,” Matteson noted.

Matteson also noted that Wisconsin has a large number of concerned citizens and partner groups working together through the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative (WBCI) and in support of DNR research, management, and monitoring efforts to ensure a brighter future for migratory birds. More information and a copy of the report are available on The Nature Conservancy Web site at my.nature.org/birds/report [exit DNR] and the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative Web site [exit DNR].

Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail

The DNR Endangered Resources program recently completed a series of five highway-based bird and nature viewing guides, each highlighting unique regional ecosystems of the state. Each guide links a set of waypoints, refuges and wild places that offer the best birding and wildlife watching opportunities and other nature experiences.

“We gathered information for the guides from a range of wildlife and natural history professionals and enthusiasts,” said DNR conservation biologist Susan Foote-Martin and coordinator of the Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail project. “Each site was nominated locally and evaluated as part of the regional project.”

Together, the complete set offers wildlife viewers 368 specific sites where they can view the best of Wisconsin’s wildlife in the habitats they depend on for survival.

The guides can be found on the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative Web site [exit DNR] and on the DNR and Wisconsin Department of Tourism Web sites. The five complimentary guides can also be ordered by calling 608-266-7012 or by emailing Heisley.lewison@wisconsin.gov.

International Migratory Bird Day activities

More information about International Migratory Bird Day can be found on the IMBD Web site at International Migratory Bird Day [exit DNR]. A number of International Migratory Bird Day activities and related events are being held throughout Wisconsin in May including (all links below exit DNR):

• Horicon Marsh Bird Festival May 8 – 10. Horicon Marsh is the site of the state’s oldest bird festival and is one of the premier spots for welcoming birds back to Wisconsin from their wintering grounds across the Western Hemisphere. Special at this year’s festival are activities celebrating the completion of the Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail. A complete list of festival activities can be found on the Horicon Marsh Bird Club Web site [exit DNR].
• Chequamegon Bay Birding and Nature Festival May 15 - 17. Held at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland, the festival features nearly 150 activities during the three-day weekend, including field trips, guest speakers, hands-on workshops, and youth programs. Program topics include bird ecology, landscaping for wildlife, dragonfly identification, black bear movement patterns, birdhouse building, fish hatchery tours, wildlife art and much more. More information and registration is available on the festival Web site [exit DNR] or by calling 1-800-284-9484.
• The Urban Ecology Center “Big Sit” May 9. Located in Milwaukee’s Riverside Park, the "Big Sit" is part of a world-wide event, the goal of a Big Sit is to count all the birds that can be seen and heard from within a 1- foot diameter circle within one 24 hour period. The center will also conduct bird banding in the morning as part of their celebration. More information on the Urban Ecology Center Big Sit is available at Urban Ecology Center Big Sit Web site [exit DNR]. For more information on Big Sits go to [The 2009 BIG SIT!™ [exit DNR].
• Other events are scheduled at the Crex Meadows [exit DNR], Wehr Nature Center [exit DNR].
• Milwaukee County Zoo has events scheduled on May 16 & 17. Go to: Bird Day [exit DNR], and Riveredge Nature Center.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Foote-Martin (608) 266-0545

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Rehabilitated, released golden eagle being tracked by satellite

EAU CLAIRE - Whitey, a broad-winged raptor with rakish good looks and a large fan club, had everyone worried. Satellites reported that for days on end Whitey had not moved.

“The most recent data is cause for concern…This usually means the radio fell off or the bird was unable to move,” read the April 17 update on Whitey’s Web page where the wandering bachelor is more formally known as Golden Eagle 42.

The eagle had been released, with great fanfare and media attention, on a cold afternoon in late March on a high wind swept field just east of the Buffalo-Trempealeau county line. The mature male had been caught in a coyote trap in early November, not far from the release site.

For researchers seeking to understand the golden eagles that winter along the high bluffs of the Mississippi River, this was a stroke of good fortune. Attempts to trap a golden eagle under a state Department of Natural Resources permit this past winter had not yet yielded a study “volunteer.”

Raptor expert Scott Mehus of the National Eagle Center has been watching these golden eagles for 14 years and he thinks he recognizes this one. He’d been calling it Whitey because of the cast of the feathers on the back side of its head.

At the release site in March, Whitey was fitted with a GPS radio transmitter. Once an hour the device powers up and records its position. Every seven days, it uploads its information to a satellite. It’s part of a three-year project being undertaken by the Wisconsin and Minnesota DNRs, the National Eagle Center and Audubon Minnesota. The plan is to trap two golden eagles a year and fit them with transmitters. The goal is to find out where these eagles are coming from, what kind of habitats they use, what prey they eat and what conservation methods might best be used to protect them.

After its release, Whitey headed north and within three days the satellite pinpointed the bird in northern Chippewa County. It had been generally thought the golden eagles seen in western Wisconsin each winter were migrating east from the Rockies. But Mehus and others, including DNR biologist Kris Johansen of Alma, think they are migrating south each winter from breeding grounds in Ontario. So the northern route made sense.

But then, on March 29, Whitey turned around and cruised back south to Buffalo County. Then it jumped the river and spent the early days of April hunting the bluffs of Minnesota. By April 14 it had crossed the river and moved north again, to the southwest corner of Dunn County. And that’s where it stopped moving.

“We thought we’d lost him there,” said Johansen.

A search team scoured the area and found no golden eagle, no transmitter. They did find a deer carcass surrounded by a large quantity of mutes (raptor poop).

This is intriguing. It would explain why the eagle stayed in one location for three or four days. But in all his years of watching golden eagles, Mehus has never seen an adult golden eagle feed on carrion. This distinguishes them from bald eagles. Goldens prefer fresh meat, swooping down on squirrels, rabbits and the occasional wild turkey.

“It’s all speculation as to what he’s doing,” Mehus said. “You never know what a bird that’s been in captivity is going to do. We’ll have to wait till we get a couple more birds in the system and do the research.”

The good news is Whitey is moving again, hanging around Dunn County. By now, the other golden eagles are already on their breeding grounds. Could it be Whitey didn’t have enough strength after six months in rehab to migrate north, or enough fat stored for the journey? Or does he know, instinctively, that a late arrival isn’t going to be welcome at the nesting site?

Johansen believes the eagles come to Wisconsin each winter because they are attracted to a specific kind of habitat – high, south and west facing “goat prairies” along the river bluffs. Even in the dead of winter, snow melts quickly off these sun-warmed bluffs, making them ideal for winged hunters.

Unfortunately, these habitats are slowly disappearing as red cedar and birch trees invade the once open bluffs. Before European settlement, American Indians would burn these prairies to maintain the open spaces and native plants that attracted so many wild animals. Some settlers did too, Johansen said, but that practice ended long ago.

High prairies are critical habitat for other plant and animal species, as well, Johansen said, but unlike the bull snake or the race runner lizard, the golden eagle just might have enough charisma to convince landowners to take action.

Such is the case with Dale Dierauer who owns farm land in Buffalo County and some of the steeply sloped prairies being overtaken by spruce, cherry, elm and sumac. His girlfriend, Emily Johnson, is one of Scott Mehus’s volunteer eagle spotters. Dierauer has already cleared one prairie by burning and cutting. It’s hard, back-breaking work, he said.

Why did he do it?

“The main reason is Emily likes the golden eagles, and this draws them in,” he said.

People Interested in tracking Golden Eagle 42 can do so through information and maps that are updated weekly by Audubon Minnesota [exit DNR] and the a href="http://nationaleaglecenter.org/">National Eagle Center [exit DNR].

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Kris Johansen - 608-685-6222

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Gypsy moth aerial spraying to start soon

MADISON - With the emergence of leaves comes the hatching of gypsy moth caterpillars, a destructive pest that feeds on the leaves of many species of trees and shrubs in Wisconsin.

To combat the caterpillars, aerial spraying will begin in May in several counties under two state programs. Spraying typically begins in southern Wisconsin in mid-May and ends in northern Wisconsin in mid-June.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection operates a Slow the Spread Program (STS) and the Department of Natural Resources operates a Suppression Spray Program.

“The STS program generally sprays in the western part of the state where gypsy moth populations are low and emerging,” said Chris Lettau, STS program coordinator. “The objective of the program is to slow the spread of the gypsy moth westward. Spraying usually takes place in rural, forested areas.”

“The DNR Suppression Program serves the eastern part of the state where counties are quarantined for gypsy moth. In these areas of the state, gypsy moth populations are well established and areas are treated to prevent damage from very high populations of the pest.” said Andrea Diss-Torrance, suppression program coordinator. “This is a voluntary program that works with landowners and municipalities in spraying to manage this invasive pest.”

Under the STS program, the following counties and sites are scheduled to be sprayed: Bayfield, Chippewa, Clark, Crawford, Dunn, Eau Claire, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Rusk, Trempealeau, Vernon and Washburn.

Under the suppression program, sites in the following counties are scheduled to be sprayed: Adams, Brown, Columbia, Dane, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Jefferson, Kenosha, Marathon, Marquette, Menominee, Milwaukee, Outagamie, Racine, Rock, Shawano, Walworth, Washington, Waushara, and Winnebago. Spraying is also planned within the Dells of Wisconsin State Natural Area and in portions of the following state parks: Big Foot Beach, Devil’s Lake, Governor Thompson, Lake Kegonsa, Mirror Lake, Roche-A-Cri, and Rocky Arbor.

People can view maps of the specific areas scheduled for treatment on the state gypsy moth control program Web site [exit DNR]. People who do not have access to the internet, can request to have spray maps mailed to them by calling 1-800-642-6684.

Residents living in or near spray sites can expect to see and hear low-flying planes beginning at around 5 a.m., weather permitting. Spraying is weather dependent and could be done on weekends as well as during the week.

“Spraying starts early in the morning because the humidity is higher and the winds calmer. These conditions allow for the best application of the product on the leaves,” Lettau said.

Planes will work in the area until the completion of the day’s spray plans and as weather conditions allow, into the late morning or afternoon.

Most sites will be sprayed with “Foray,” containing Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki, or Btk, which is a naturally-occurring soil bacteria that kills gypsy moth caterpillars when they ingest it. One formulation of this bacterial insecticide used by the state’s cooperative gypsy moth program has been listed with the Organic Materials Review Institute as acceptable for use in organic food production. Five sites in Sauk, Waushara, and Menominee Counties will be treated with a gypsy moth-specific viral insecticide to prevent injury to a rare butterfly or moth species.

“Btk is not known to be harmful to people, pets or other wild animals,” Diss-Torrance said. “To avoid direct exposure to the spray, some people with severe allergies may wish to stay indoors or avoid areas to be sprayed on the day that spraying occurs.”

Suppression program sites receive one application of Btk. On average, this reduces the gypsy moth population on treated sites by 90 to 95 percent and prevents damage to trees due to severe defoliation. Some suppression sites will receive two applications of Btk to assure that late-hatching caterpillars are killed and westward spread is slowed. The second application will be applied seven to 10 days after the first application, depending on weather conditions.

The STS program will also use a mating disrupter from late June to the end of July. This pheromone interferes with the ability of male moths to find female moths in low, isolated populations. The suppression program does not conduct mating disruption treatments, because the populations it treats are much too high for this technique to have an effect.

More information about gypsy moths, the control programs and maps of the spray sites are available on the state gypsy moth Web site [exit DNR]. Or, call the toll-free gypsy moth hotline at 1-800-642-MOTH (1-800-642-6684) to hear a recording of the programs’ most up-to-date spray plans or talk to staff.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Nkauj (pronounced ‘gow’) Vang, DATCP - (608) 224-4591, or Andrea Diss-Torrance, DNR - (608) 264-9247

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Songs Raise Awareness about Aquatic Invasive Species

MADISON – Wisconsin anglers and boaters will get music with a message as the University of Wisconsin-Madison launches a trio of rock, rockabilly and folk songs about preventing VHS fish disease, zebra mussels, and other aquatic invasive species from spreading to new lakes and rivers.

Recordings of the songs are available on the UW-Extension Web site [exit DNR].

“These songs were created to encourage behaviors that will protect the quality of our lakes and rivers for future generations,” said Dr. Bret Shaw, the UW assistant professor of Life Sciences Communication who directed the project [exit DNR]. “Research shows music can influence how we respond to messages, affecting memory, emotion, attitudes, and even behavior.”

Shaw, also environmental communication specialist for University of Wisconsin-Extension, has been working with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, UW-Extension Lakes Program and the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant to help shape outreach efforts to inform boaters and anglers about the steps they need to take to prevent accidentally spreading VHS fish disease and aquatic invasive species.

Shaw recruited a group of award-winning Wisconsin songwriters to focus on preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species, which are threatening lakes in the state.

The songs have received exposure on a number of radio stations throughout the state, and are also being distributed with help from the UW Extension Lakes Program, the DNR and the Wisconsin Association of Lakes.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Bret Shaw, UW (608) 448-9958; Julia Solomon, DNR (608) 267-3531

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Sandhill learn to deer hunt applications still available

BABCOCK – Youth and beginner adult deer hunters have until the end of May to apply to participate in a special youth and beginner adult learn to deer hunt programs this fall at the Sandhill Wildlife Area near Babcock.

The program consists of a one-day workshop that includes information on deer biology and management, instruction on compasses, scouting for sign, firearm safety, hunt rules and regulations, and hunter ethics. Those who complete the workshop are allowed to return for a special hunt on November 7-8 at Sandhill State Wildlife Area.

The youth workshop is offered to young hunters, 12 to 15 years old. Each child must be accompanied by an adult, 21 years or older, who acts as chaperone and teacher. Mandatory workshops are held in early August.

A one-day beginner adult workshop is offered to people 16 or older who have never hunted deer with a gun before. Beginner adults must also be accompanied by an adult chaperone. The Beginner Adult workshop will be held on Saturday, September 26.

To qualify for the program, all participants must either be enrolled in a Hunter Safety course or must possess a valid Hunter Safety Certificate. Students will be required to have a license by the time of the hunt. Previous participants are ineligible.

Chaperones should have some deer hunting experience and are expected to attend the workshop as well as the hunt with the student. Their primary role is to assist the beginner in developing the skills necessary to become a responsible hunter and outdoors person. The chaperone will not be allowed to carry a firearm during the hunt. The Skills Center can provide a chaperone volunteer if an applicant cannot find a person with deer hunting experience.

Applications for the Learn to Deer Hunt Workshops are available on the Sandhill Outdoor Skills Center page of the DNR Web site. Applications must be postmarked on or before May 31, 2009. Enrollment is limited to 154 students. Applicants will be randomly selected and successful applicants will be notified by June 19. A fee of $40 will be charged to enter program. Fee waivers are available for those unable to afford the fee.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandhill Outdoor Skills Center - 715-884-6333

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EDITOR'S ADVISORY: EMERALD ASH BORER INFESTED TREE REMOVAL DEMONSTRATION

[EDITOR'S ADVISORY: EMERALD ASH BORER INFESTED TREE REMOVAL DEMONSTRATION - Media representatives are invited to observe removal and onsite processing of emerald ash borer infested trees at Fireman’s Park in the Village of Newburg on May 8, 2009 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Wisconsin Arborist Association will fell infested trees as part of the organization's voluntary annual in-service day and the trees will be processed on-site in a demonstration of how infested trees can be utilized for beneficial purposes. Trees will be processed using methods designed to prevent spread of the insect through movement of infested wood. In addition to equipment used to fell the trees a portable sawmill will cut logs into lumber on site and at a nearby site a large chipper will process remaining wood for eventual use as compost or a biofuel. The demonstration is part of a broader effort in southeastern Wisconsin to find the most economic and resourceful uses of dying ash trees in the event the emerald ash borer infestation spreads. Representatives of WAA, Department of Natural Resources, Town and Country Resource Conservation and Development Inc and local officials will be on hand to answer questions about EAB management and beneficial wood utilization. For more information contact: Eric Petersen WAA (262 )432-0789; Jane Cummings-Carlson DNR (608) 275-3273.]