Welcome to the Neighborhood Naturalists Network, where residents of Madison's East Side can share unusual or interesting urban nature sightings. To join, just send an e-mail message to introduce yourself, and I will add you to the list. If you see something outside that you would like to share, drop me a line and I will forward it to the list.

This page will serve as an archive of past news distributed via our e-mail network.

[ March 2002 ] [ February 2002 ] [ January 2002 ] [ Bird List ]

April 16, 2002

Out on the dog walk circuit this morning (Jennifer and Walton), I saw a Rufous Sided Towhee. ~ Maria Swift

April 15, 2002

We don't have to go far to hear more "spring peepers." There is a marshy area that runs along the railroad tracks between Milwaukee Street and Wirth Court Park (Dixon Street, Marquette Street). Those frogs have been chirping loudly, day and night, for about a week. Check it out!

Also, I've seen a single yellow-crowned kinglet recently, and we also had a yellow-bellied sapsucker for several hours one day last week, comfortably enjoying the sap from my neighbor's big maple tree. Many butterflies enjoy that tree this week, too. And watch out for toads -- I nearly stepped on one last night! ~ Cindy Cameron Fix

April 14, 2002

This morning (10 a.m.) I heard, then spotted, a flock of 10 sandhill cranes flying high over Lowell School, headed northwest. ~ Deana Hipke
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On Friday 4-12-02, I heard "spring peepers" raising a chorus of frog croaking in the marshes that line the road near where I work in Rochester, Wisconsin. The marshes are on both sides of Highway D, between 1/4 mile and 2 miles west of the Fox River. The time of day was 11:40 am. When enough of these frogs get going, it is almost sinister. They sound like they are going to take over the world.

With my ears primed by listening to the frogs in Rochester, I heard a few spring peepers while walking our dog on Oak Ridge St, near Welch, on Saturday, 4-13-02. But this was nothing like the volume I heard on Friday in Rochester. We need some more marshes around here!

Does anyone know the species of frog that is raising the chorus of croaking every spring? ~ Eric Johnson

April 12, 2002

I saw my first little brown bat last night at dusk! And have been seeing our yearly sapsucker buddy on the sugar maple in front of our house on Russell St. ~ Maria Swift

April 4, 2002

Thanks for all the wonderful sitings in our neighborhood. I'm really enjoying reading it all. I wanted to mention that we are certain that a sharp-shinned hawk has indeed spent the winter in our neighborhood (north of Milwaukee Street, behind McCormick Lumber, near Worthington Park). We've seen the hawk periodically all winter, and I even admonished my neighbors to keep their cats indoors because the mice I'm harboring in my yard are for the hawks and the owls! Speaking of owls, I believe it was Rita, who lives near me, that mentioned the screech owls on Union Street. We had a family of
screech owls visit us last Memorial Day weekend. Two adults and two juveniles spent the daytime in my purple ash tree, and by evening those little babies were hopping around my yard. (Gee, are they messy!) We put up a nesting box for them, but the squirrels are thick around here, so the owls haven't returned, although we hear them periodically. Also, someone on the list was puzzled about the Starkweather Creek freezing over. The branch that runs parallel with Clyde Gallagher freezes over every winter, and we've sometimes ice skated from our street (Hermina)all the way to Monona! Finally, I have a beautiful little red-breasted nuthatch that visits my feeders every day--so cute and not very bashful. Happy Birding, ~ Cindy Cameron-Fix
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My wife, Diane Austin, saw a flock of cedar waxwings, at Mound Park, Lakeside & Maple, this morning, 4-5-02. They were eating dried berries found on the local bushes. This would have been around 7 am, Midnight's first walk of the day. ~ Eric Johnson

April 1, 2002

On the glassy waters of Lake Monona this morning, I could see three Common Loons from the end of Schiller Court -- even better, two of them started calling to each other, and their yodels echoed around the lake.

There was also (at about 8:00 am) a dozen Canvasbacks gliding along just 50 feet off of Yahara Park.  Again, it was so quiet out that I could hear their voices -- very unducklike chirps and warbles!

Watch for Tree Swallows to appear over the lake any time now (saw my first at Indian Lake on Sat.) and listen for the "phee-bee" song of Eastern Phoebes in the trees along the shore.

My wife just alerted me to a pair of Horned Grebes cruising toward the north end of Lake Monona from Schiller Court. One of the birds is in beautiful breeding plumage. ~ Tod Highsmith

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