Nuclear Knowledge: Exploring Space Through Radiation

By: Amanda Lamm, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Writing Intern

With spring still a chilly month or two out of season, a stellar way to spend a Saturday night would be attending one the Chippewa Valley Astronomical Society’s (CVAS’s) monthly astronomy talk in Hobbs Observatory. Just across the road from the Beaver Creek Reserve Wise Nature Center, you enter the Observatory by way of a quick walk among the beautiful pines, guided by a luminous red path (this lack of bright or white light helps to keep the skies stark for stargazers). Each third Saturday, the Chippewa Valley Astronomical Society (CVAS) hosts a themed astronomy talk (sometimes accompanied by a demonstration- our most recent involved a Geiger Counter! - or a look through the telescope). Last Saturday, February 16th, gave an enlightening session centered around "Exploring Space Through Radiation". 

This topic may sound broad or even intimidating to astronomical novices, such as myself, but I can promise you, if you have the slightest interest in how this all works (the universe, etc.), you (and kids, too) will come away with infinitely more curiosity and at least a few new nuggets of space knowledge. 

During the talk, members from the CVAS covered: charges (static and dynamic), fields (electrical and magnetic- I learned that you can't have one without the other), waves, the color spectrum (ironically, a star that gives off blue light is on the hotter end of the spectrum, while red is on the cooler), and much more, all brought to you with that science-teacher level of passion and humor that we all know and love.

If you still think astronomy might not be your thing, just remember that opposites attract, so keep an eye out on our event calendar for the third Saturday of many months to come. And keep both eyes out for the Lunar Eclipse on March 13th! 

Beginning in May, there will be public telescope observing every Saturday night until October, granted the skies are clear. To keep up with the CVAS, check out their website.

Northern Saw-whet Owl Banding Season Recap

By: Claire Molina, AmeriCorps Avian Field Technician

Our Northern Saw-whet Owl (NSWO) migration banding season went off with a bang. On October 4th, we started off our season by catching 7 owls and it only went up from there. After 15 nights of banding owls, we had 180 captures and processed 154 individual owls.  144 of those captured were new birds and 36 were recaptures. 13 recaptures were originally banded at other stations while 26 were banded here at Beaver Creek Reserve. So far, we know that we caught a bird that was banded last year in 2023 in Michigan and one of our own from the 2023 season as well. We are still waiting to hear back about where the rest of our recaptured birds were originally banded.

We caught 137 females, 2 males and 15 unknown owls. Females made up 88.9% of our captures and males made up .01%. New research, targeting the banding of male Northern Saw-whet owls, may get us one step closer to understanding why we see this disparity between sexes at banding stations. The smallest bird we caught weighed 75.4 grams and our chunkiest bird weighed 116.2 grams. For reference, a stick of butter weighs about 113 grams.

We hosted 3 public programs to share knowledge about our banding program and to explore the behavior, habitat and obstacles that the Northern Saw-whet owl faces. We reached over 80 people through our outreach efforts and hopefully inspired those who joined us for our owl banding evenings.

25 new banders went through the Beaver Creek Reserve Northern Saw-whet owl training and put in over 800 hours of volunteer time throughout the season. Thank you to all of our amazing volunteers and landowners, we could not do this work without you! Another great season in the books, we look forward to the next one!

What a Thrush!

By: Luke Trittelwitz, AmeriCorps Avian Field Technician

Beaver Creek Reserve’s Citizen Science team was busy in the field during the month of June! Aside from Kestrel banding, bluebird monitoring, and MAPS banding, our CSC team joined a range-wide study to look at the life cycle of a bird listed as a special concern in the state of Wisconsin. The Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) is a medium sized thrush related to the Robin and the Bluebird. Found in dense wooded areas and known by their iconic song, Wood Thrush are part of the newest research at the Citizen Science Center! For the next two years, Beaver Creek Reserve has joined the Missouri Fish and Wildlife Service on their Wood Thrush study. This summer, our bird banding team captured and banded ten Wood Thrush using mist nets and audio lures. Once captured, the birds were equipped with a United States Geological Survey aluminum leg band, and on the other leg a blue plastic color band to help distinguish them from other Wood Thrush. The birds are also fixed with a small telemetry antenna that sits on their back. These antennas transmit information to any MOTUS tower the Wood Thrush fly past on their migration routes.

You may remember last year,  Beaver Creek Reserve installed two MOTUS towers. One tower is on top of the Wise Nature Center and the other tower is at our research property. The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is an international research collaboration that uses automated radio telemetry to track animals across the world! Listed as a species of decline in 25 states and Canada, tagging and tracking Wood Thrush allow scientists to understand their life cycle, their breeding and migratory ranges. Upon completion of this project, Beaver Creek Reserve and all of the other collaborators in North America will have deployed over 600 Motus tags on Wood Thrush. A project of this size that encompasses a species' whole life cycle will help scientists understand the areas of greatest conservation need for the Wood Thrush along with the potential threats that are causing its decline across North America. 

Beaver Creek Reserve is honored to work with the Missouri Fish and Wildlife Service. Thank you to Carpenter Nature Center for asking Beaver Creek Reserve to partner with them as the Wisconsin cohort. We would like to thank Eau Claire County Parks and Forests, local birders and the many private landowners who helped us achieve our goal of finding, capturing and tagging ten birds this June.

To learn more about the project or about MOTUS see the link below. This project is a two-year project. Next year, if you notice Wood Thrush on your property within 15 miles of Beaver Creek Reserve, we would love to have you join our project! Please reach out if you are interested. The links below can be used to learn more about Wood Thrush and Motus. 

Learn More about Wood Thrush: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Thrush/overview#

Beaver Creek MOTUS Blog: https://beavercreekconnection.blogspot.com/2023/07/its-bird-its-plane-its-motus-tower.html

Learn More about the MOTUS Program: https://motus.org/about/

Spring Migration

 By: Alex Peterson, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Writing Intern

The first day of spring was on March 19th, and as we move toward the season of new beginnings, the world around us begins to change in many ways. The weather gets warmer, animals are coming out of hibernation, and flowers begin to blossom. Birds are an interesting group of animals to view during this changing time, which is made easier due to spring migration. If you’re looking for a place to take an exploratory bird hike, test your knowledge on our hiking trails or sign up for a guided bird hike on our program calendar to witness these changes for yourself! 

During the spring, birds begin to migrate back north from their southern adventure to grace us with their presence. Among the first to arrive in the north are many waterfowl, such as ducks, geese, cranes and swans, according to Kenn Kaufman from the National Wildlife Federation. In southern states, this process begins earlier, but in Wisconsin, migration typically occurs from late March to early May. 

Nesting and courting also begins with the arrival in the spring, as male birds come first to claim their nesting territories. Our Citizen Science Center has been busy watching the bird feeders during their weekly bird banding sessions, and participating in local bird hikes and crane counts as they observe the return of our feathered friends. Our AmeriCorps Avian Field Technician, Luke Trittlewitz, shared information: “The males begin singing and the females will choose a male based on how well they sing, court, and the location they have selected and defended for the breeding season.”

Donna L. Long’s “Spring Bird Migration for Beginning Birders” provides great information for beginning birdwatchers interested in spring migrations. Long says that songbirds fly by night and rest, eat, and sleep during the day. They can be spotted where they rest, which can be anywhere from forests to feeders in your backyard. If you are more interested in spring migration and birdwatching, check out our program calendar for upcoming gatherings! We have events on bird watching and bird banding, where you will have a fun experience learning about birds and connecting with nature.  

Free Events, in the Spirit of Sustainability!

By: Alex Peterson, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Writing Intern

Happy Earth Day! It seems that spring is finally upon us. Now that it has warmed up outside, do you find yourself wanting to go out and explore? Well, look no further, Beaver Creek has you covered. As part of our Earth Month celebration during the month of April, we are invested in providing and hosting activities for the community to participate in, which will entertain and educate those who attend. Events that we are hosting coming up at the end of this week include the Earth Extravaganza, Bird Banders Thrift Sale, and Earth Week Open House!

Earth Extravaganza & Bird Bander Thrift Sale

When? April 20, 10am-3pm. Where? Beaver Creek Reserve, S1 County Rd K, Fall Creek. Cost? The event is FREE to attend, with no registration required, thanks to our many sponsors. For those who are interested, guests are welcome and encouraged to take part in building Bluebird boxes, the fee is $15 per box, which includes the tools, supplies, and instruction. 

During the Earth Extravaganza event, you can help us celebrate Earth Day by exploring Beaver Creek with family or friends. Connect with nature while you take a walk on our hiking trails and learn about plants, animals, and pollinators. Browse through our thrift sale to help promote sustainability! All proceeds go to our Avian Monitoring Program.

Earth Week Open House

When? April 25, 4pm-8pm. Where? The Brewing Projekt, 1807 N Oxford Ave, Eau Claire. Cost? FREE, no registration required. Earth Week Open House is an event where you can learn about the basics of sustainability from the 40+ vendors. Explore booths, learn about sustainability, and win prizes!

Earth Week Open House is being hosted by Beaver Creek Reserve, JONAH Environmental Task Force, and Eau Claire County Office of Recycling and Sustainability. We encourage everyone to celebrate Earth Day with us in the spirit of sustainability. See you there! 

Extra Earth Day Activities!

If you can’t make it to Earth Extravaganza and Earth Week Open House, here are some other alternative activities to participate in to celebrate Earth Day:

• Get outside! Monday April 22 is the LAST DAY for FREE parking at ALL Eau Claire County Parks and FREE admission to Beaver Creek Reserve!

• Submit a photo to our Earth Week Photo Contest (see website)

• Stop by Red Fern Café in Fall Creek after your visit to Beaver Creek and show your admission sticker for .50 cents off your drink!

• Pick up a bag of trash, take a selfie, and show your picture at Red Fern Café for a FREE drink!

• Donate your unwanted metal clutter to Alter Metal Recycling in Eau Claire! 100% of the value of the metals you drop off through April 30 will be donated back to Beaver Creek Reserve and MATCHED!
  

A special thanks to our sponsors for the Earth Extravaganza and Bird Banders Thrift Sale:

• City of Eau Claire

• Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce

• Eau Claire County Parks & Forest

• Eau Claire Energy Cooperative

• Eco-Minded

• Festival Foods

• Mayo Clinic Health System

• Paint Creek Nursery

• Scheels

• Xcel Energy

Earth Day is All Month Long at Beaver Creek!

By: Alex Peterson, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Writing Intern

Here at Beaver Creek Reserve, we love to celebrate everything nature! So much so, that celebrating Earth Day on a single day is hardly enough, which is why we celebrate Earth Day all month long! During this time we host weekly events with the chance to win prizes, and introduce eco-friendly programs to inform the community on various different topics ranging from bird and plant identification to making paint out of natural materials. 

Earth Day is all about bringing attention to our environment and finding new ways to support our planet. Ever since 1970 when Wisconsin governor Gaylord Nelson founded the holiday, Earth Day has been bringing people together in order to concentrate on improving the quality of the environment. One simple thing anyone can do to help the environment is taking sustainable actions. Sustainable actions are anything that prevents more waste and pollution from entering our environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, sustainability is “everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment.” 

Some easy tasks you can do to be more sustainable:

• Reduce waste by using more eco-friendly products, such as metal straws, cloth napkins, and reusable shopping bags
• Save Energy by turning off and unplugging extra appliances
• Reduce pollution by carpooling with friends and coworkers 
• Recycle, by recycling you reduce the amount of garbage in landfills

These practices are an easy, good start to becoming more sustainable and, in turn, helping improve our environment not just during Earth Month, but all year. If you want to learn more about Earth Day, you can visit Earth Day’s website, which provides a more extensive history of the holiday. Visit our event calendar to see what events we are hosting for Earth Day this month. 

A great way to learn about what eco-friendly vendors are in the Chippewa Valley is our
 Earth Week Open House event co-hosted by Beaver Creek, JONAH Environmental Task Force, the Eau Claire County Office of Recycling and Sustainability and the Brewing Projekt. 

Morning at the Feeders

By: Alex Peterson, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Writing Intern

Looking to increase your bird identification knowledge? Consider signing up for one of our Morning at the Feeders program! This program is hosted by our Citizen Science & Education Director, Jeanette Kelly, and our AmeriCorps Avian Field Technician, Luke Trittlewitz. As the temperatures increase and we get closer to spring, less birds are coming to the feeders. This is due to food being  easier to find naturally. However, we can still see a large variety of other bird species that visit our feeders!

During the program, attendees are provided with binoculars to use and a bird book to reference. Luke assisted in pointing out the birds, and gave tips on different ways to identify them.  Three of the species that were popular at feeders during the last program were different species of woodpeckers; Hairy woodpecker, Downy woodpecker, and Red-bellied woodpecker. Hairy and Downy woodpeckers look very similar, except the Downy woodpecker’s beak is about half as long as its head, whereas the beak of the Hairy woodpecker is twice as long. 

Other birds that made an appearance at the feeders were Blue jays, Mourning doves, Northern cardinals, American goldfinches and Dark-eyed juncos. At Beaver Creek Reserve, we also see a lot of American goldfinches, and they are the most common bird that is banded here during our weekly bird banding on Tuesdays. If you’re interested in attending our next Morning at the Feeders program or any of our other bird related events, visit our program calendar for upcoming opportunities!