Holiday Crafting for Kids

By: Claire Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Writing Intern 

On Saturday November 18th, Beaver Creek kicked off the holiday season with their annual Holiday Crafting for Kids event. With the help of volunteers from ECLIPSE (a group from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire) and our AmeriCorps Environmental Educators, the Nature Center was transformed into a room full of holiday spirit and excited kids ready to make fun, naturey holiday-themed crafts. 

At this event, kids were able to explore multiple different craft stations at their own pace where each station was stocked with recycled and reused materials.

The first craft was ornamental corn cobs that were decorated with construction paper, hole punched leaves, and lentils. 

The second craft was jingle bells made out of egg cartons. Kids were very creative at this station and added pipe cleaners so that their jingle bells could hang on their Christmas trees.

The third craft gave kids the opportunity to make toilet paper roll snowmen which they got to decorate with fun, sustainable materials. Some kids even made earmuffs and scarves for their snowmen!

Christmas tree pinecones were the fourth craft, and although there were lots of messy green hands, the trees looked beautiful with sequins, sparkles, and pompoms!

The fifth craft was paper cup owls where they used real feathers making the owls look very realistic. They also added eyes, legs, and beaks!

When the kids were finished with their crafts or needed to take a break so their creations could dry, they enjoyed hot chocolate and popcorn while listening to holiday books at storytime. This was a relaxing and fun way to get into the holiday spirit!

The event was a huge success and everyone was able to bring home new holiday crafts to decorate. If you missed this event but are interested in attending another crafting program check out our events calendar for more information.

Our First Motus Tower Ping!

By: Jeanette Kelly, BCR Citizen Science and Education Director

Last month you heard about Beaver Creek Reserve joining forces worldwide in bird conservation by taking part in an international research network called Motus. Motus Wildlife Tracking System uses automated radio telemetry to track birds. Captured birds are tagged with a small transmitter (Motus tag). A Motus tag can be detected by Motus towers worldwide! The towers can detect birds with Motus tags up to 20 km (12 miles) away. This summer we erected two Motus towers. There is a tower on top of the Wise Nature Center, look up before you enter the building, and one located at our Henke Acres Research Site.

Huge news! We have had our first ping! A ping occurs when a tower detects a bird that has a Motus tag. On October 10, a Virginia Rail (#45778) flew over the Wise Nature Center. I assumed the first bird picked up by the towers would be a Grosbeak, Crossbill, Redpoll, or Woodpecker, not a Virginia Rail. A Virginia Rail is a chicken like marsh bird somewhat larger than an American Robin. Virginia Rails are secretive and spend their days walking through the cattails of freshwater marshes searching for snails, crayfish, and frogs to eat.

Macaulay Library, ML 29069861, by Evan Lipton

By reviewing the Motus site, here is what we learned about Virginia Rail # 45778. On April 20, 2023, this Rail was trapped and banded with a Motus tag at Swan Bay in Oak Park, IL. From there it promptly traveled 115 KM (72 miles) to Dixon Waterfowl Refuge – North, located in Hennepin, IL. Number 45778 was not detected again until it pinged a Motus tower in Havana, IL, 117 km (73 miles) from where it was last recorded. Four months and 508 km later, this Virginia Rail flew over the Wise Nature Center. Why did it decided to head 315 miles our way? Why is it moving north in October. The more information we collect, the more questions we have. 

As winter nears, we do not expect a lot of activity on our Motus towers, but will keep our fingers crossed from spring migration. We will keep you posted.

Owls Under the Stars

By: Claire Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Writing Intern

Banded and recaptured Saw-whet Owl,
identified as an After Hatch-year

On Friday, October 20, I had the opportunity to attend Beaver Creek Reserve's (BCR) and the Natural Resources Foundation (NRF) of Wisconsin's program, "Owls Under the Stars." This program included looking at stars and planets with members from Chippewa Valley Astronomical Society (CVAS) and learning about the process of Northern Saw-whet Owl banding with Beaver Creek's Citizen Science Center. We started the evening with a presentation all about owls and other raptors found in Wisconsin. Our presenter and BCR's Citizen Science and Education Director, Jeanette Kelly, discussed the process of owl banding, what data is collected, and its importance to scientific research. During the presentation, Jeanette shared that recently a Barn Owl nest was found in Lacrosse Wisconsin, and it was the first nest found in 30-35 years in the state. 

Next, we headed out to Hobbs Observatory to look at the stars and different planets with members from CVAS, Lauren Likkel and Mike Brown. My group started inside the observatory's dome to get a better look at the moon, which we saw in greater detail than what can be seen with the naked eye. Then we went outside and looked through another telescope and saw Saturn, a planetary nebula, a star cluster called M13, and the Andromeda Galaxy called M31. When viewing Saturn at high levels of magnification, I was able to distinguish the rings and some of the moons. The other group saw Jupiter and a few other star clusters. Following looking at the different astronomical features, we went back inside to watch a presentation about stars. CVAS members described the way stars move through the night, and through the year.  I found the Andromeda Galaxy especially fascinating! This galaxy is 25 million light years away, which means that what we are looking at now is the same way it was 25 million years ago. It’s appearance is compared to a stretched out cotton ball. Thinking about how far away these entities are and how vast our universe is, is astonishing.

Saw-whet Owl identified as a 
Second year, being aged using a UV light

After the presentation, we waited in the Citizen Science Center to see Northern Saw-whet Owls get banded. It was nearing the end of the session when they caught two owls! One of the owls caught was a recapture, meaning it had previously been caught and banded by a banding team before. The other owl was identified as a female, second year, which means this owl is in its second year of life.

In order to attract the owls, the banders play a recording of the spring mating call of a male Northern Saw-whet Owl. This lures owls to the mist nets set up by the bird banders, and they are checked every half hour. Sometimes, the nets capture non-targeted species. For example, the banders have captured an American Woodcock and a Barred Owl in the past.

The bird banders showed us the process of measuring and weighing the birds, as well as determining the age and sex. The bird banders use a chart that determines the sex based on the size of the owl and the length of their wings. To identify the age of the bird they use a UV light. When the wings are under the UV light, a chemical called "porphyrin" appears as different shades of pink. New feathers will show up as a darker pink, older feathers will be lighter shades of pink, and some with no visible coloring at all. 

If you’re interested in watching the owl banding process, keep an eye on our events calendar for more opportunities. If you’re interested in going to a public telescope observing program, see CVAS’ website  for more information about upcoming events.