WWA invites you to get your feet wet and experience the beauty and ecology of wetlands first hand on one of our upcoming field trips. (schedule below)
Unless otherwise noted, field trips are free for WWA members and $10 for non-members. To register for a field trip, email or call our office at 608-250-9971.
Prince's Point and Scuppernong Wildlife Areas
Walworth and Waukesha Counties
Saturday, April 23, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm, including a picnic lunch
Field trip leaders: Galen Smith and Ted Cochrane
Call WWA to register: 608-250-9971; call Galen Smith for more information: 608 233-3363
Join us for easy walks in the woods and wet prairie and learn about the natural and cultural history of Prince's Point and Scuppernong Wildlife Areas. This trip will include a diversity of high quality wetlands, including wooded wetlands, calcareous wet prairie, shrub-carr, and sedge meadow. Early spring wildflowers will be in bloom and birds will be migrating, so bring your camera and binoculars. Wear boots or be prepared for damp feet. Bring rain gear if needed. Bring a bag lunch to eat at the Headquarters of the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest.
Directions:
From Whitewater, travel northeast on WI Hwy. 59 ~2 miles to Cty. D. Go north on D across the Bark River bridge ~4.5 miles to Koch Road. Turn right on Koch Road and go ~1.3 miles and park in the unpaved DNR parking lot on the right, nearly opposite Fromander Road on the left. Click here for a map
Frogs of the Bog Evening Walk
NOTE: THIS TRIP IS FULL. Please consider attending another field trip!
Ozaukee County
Sunday, May 1, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
In partnership with: WI Natural Resources Foundation
Field trip leader: Gary Casper
Call WWA to register: 608-250-9971
Come "see" the Cedarburg Bog in a brand new way - through sound. Listen for a variety of frog calls including Wood frog, Spring peeper, Chorus frog, and American toad and possibly Cope's gray tree frog and Eastern gray tree frog. We’ll also learn about frog lifestyles and mating behaviors as well as ecology of the bog. Bring a flashlight and wear footgear that can get muddy and wet; bring rain gear if appropriate.
Cedarburg Bog is the most intact large bog in southeastern Wisconsin and composed of a mosaic of vegetation types. Once part of a large glacial lake, the bog is a relict community - a southern example of the type more commonly found in northern Wisconsin. There are six lakes remaining within the bog, all with varying sizes and depths. The 245-acre Mud Lake is the largest, followed by the 34-acre Long Lake. Surrounding the lakes are areas of emergent aquatic vegetation while just outside this zone is a successional shrub-carr area. Most unusual is a string or "patterned" bog, unique here because it lies far south of its usual range in North America. It is composed of ridges of stunted cedar and tamarack that lie in an open flat sedge mat. The meadow vegetation consists of narrow-leaved sedges, pitcher plant, bogbean, water horsetail, arrow-grass, orchids, and the insectivorous sundew and bladderwort. A conifer-swamp hardwood forest is adjacent to the bog. There is a very diverse flora and fauna; many that are more common in northern boreal forests and that are at their southern range limit here. Cedarburg Bog is owned by the DNR and University of Wisconsin and was designated a State Natural Area in 1952.
Directions
The main Field Station property is located in the Town of Saukville, Wisconsin, about 30 miles (45 minutes) north of Milwaukee and 1 hour 45 minutes from Madison. Map here.
From Milwaukee: Take I-43 north to Hwy 33, then take Hwy 33 west to Blue Goose Road (4.3 miles west of Saukville). Take Blue Goose Road south 1.9 miles to the Field Station, the 2nd driveway on the west side of Blue Goose, south of Knollwood Road.
From Madison: Take Hwy 151 NE to Hwy 60 East. Take Hwy 60 east to Co Hwy Y. Take Hwy Y north about 4 miles to St. Augustine Road. Follow St. Augustine Rd. east for 1 mile; St. Augustine Rd. then turns north and becomes Blue Goose Road. The Field Station will be on your left.
Paddling Trip in Shivering Sands State Natural Area
Door County
Sunday, May 15, 9:00 am - 12:30 pm
In partnership with: WI Natural Resources Foundation
Field trip leader: Mike Grimm
Bring your own canoe or kayak
Limited space; call WWA to register: 608-250-9971
We will canoe down Giesel Creek into and through Dunes Lake to Lower Dunes Lake and then back. The trip is about 3 miles in length and easy paddling as there is little current in Giesel Creek. Giesel Creek is narrow but deep enough for canoes. Dunes and Lower Dunes Lake are shallow marshy lakes with plenty of emergent vegetation to attract a great diversity of marsh birds. As this trip is in mid-May we should see lots of migrating warblers, and vireos as well as earlier nesting waterfowl and other wetland associated birds.
We can get out of the canoes for a stretch on the shore about half down the lake. Bring shoes that you don’t mind getting a little wet.
More About Shivering Sands State Natural Area
Substrates of peat, marl, sand, loam and dolostone bedrock underlie the mosaic of forest, marsh, ponds, lakes and stream communities at this site. While small discrete habitats, like dolostone outcrops, springs and marl fens are imbedded within the larger forest.
The natural communities of the Shivering Sands landscape include a gradient of forest types ranging from large tracts of lowland conifer to remnant surrounding patches of upland deciduous forest. Wetland habitats range in structure and composition from emergent herbaceous to shrub-carr; and fen-like to boggy in floristics. These wetland habitat types ring the three undeveloped lakes within the site, the largest of which is Dunes Lake. A complex hydrologic pattern is manifest by springs which discharge from the dolomite bedrock into several of the streams and into the largest lake, and by the draining of at least two streams from the surface via fissures in the same bedrock.
The large central white cedar swamp surrounding the three undeveloped lakes forms a core rich in rare plant diversity. Here orchids such as showy lady-slippers (Cypripedium reginae), and adder’s mouth (Malaxis momophyllos var. Brachyopoda) flower amidst the mosses and downed trees. The fen-like communities found on the lake edges harbor such rare species as Scirpus caespitosus, and Carex exilis. Dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris) blooms in the dolomite based uplands conifer forest east of the central cedar swamp.
The large acreage of the site furnishes the aerial extent required by fauna rarely found on the fragmented landscape. Mammals including fisher, otter, black bear, snowshoe hare, porcupine, mink and possibly bobcat are known from this landscape. A similarly impressive list of breeding birds has been recorded from the Shivering Sands Complex. All three acceptors have been found here during their breeding season, black terns as well as sandhill cranes are regular breeders on Dune’s Lake, and the adjacent ridge/swale forest is home Canada warblers and northern water thrushes among many others. In total, over 110 species of birds have been recorded on breeding bird surveys from the site.
Directions
The trip will begin and end where Haberli Road crosses Giesel Creek in the Town of Sevastopol in Door County. To reach this point drive east from the city of Sturgeon Bay on County Road T for 3.5 miles to Brauer Road. (County T crosses Highway 42/57 about 2 miles north of the highway bridge at Sturgeon Bay). At Brauer Road turn left (i.e., north) onto Brauer Rd. Drive 2 miles to Haberli Road. Turn right (east) on Haberli Road, go about 0.5 miles to the Giesel Creek crossing, park on the right side of the road.
Wetlands of Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
Milwaukee area
Sunday, May 22, 1:30 - 3:00 pm
In partnership with: Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
Field trip leader: Don Quintenz, Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
Free for WWA and SANC members
Call SANC to register: 414-352-2880 ext. 0
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center’s mission includes preservation of the sanctuary lands as well as environmental education. One of the most important words in environmental education is "wetland", yet few people are really aware of all that is involved with these precious resources. Experience the sanctuary's marshes, swamps, emergent and submerged aquatic communities, inland lakes, ephemeral ponds, and permanent ponds first-hand. Discover the life forms that favor each community type and learn the importance of wetland diversity to various forms of wildlife. What better time to do this than American Wetland Month!
Directions:
The address for Schlitz Audubon Nature Center is: 1111 E. Brown Deer Rd in Bayside, WI 53217. From I-43, exit Brown Deer Road east, continue east on Brown Deer Road past Pandl's Restaurant. The Schlitz Audubon Nature Center is on the right. Turn right into the grounds and follow the road to the parking lot and the main building. Click
Red Banks Alvar State Natural Area:
Ecology, Escarpment Geology, Waterpaths, & Indian Origins
Brown County
Sunday, May 29, 1:00 - 4:00 pm
In partnership with: WI Natural Resources Foundation
Field trip leaders: Jim Uhrinak, Richard Barloga and Bob Howe
Call WWA to register: 608-250-9971
Visit Wisconsin’s best example of an alvar community - a rare community type that occurs on flat limestone or dolomitic bedrock with very shallow soils. Our tour leaders will share their knowledge of this unique natural community, associated bird life, and a savannah island that is part of an ancient cultural landscape recognized by Indian tribes as far away as Missouri. Participants will also learn about the changes to local and landscape level waterpaths, as well as ongoing planning and protection efforts.
An unusual blend of boreal, southern and prairie species, relicts of the post-glacial environment and the warmer, dryer period that followed, Red Banks Alvar contains one of the most diverse snail communities known in the Midwest and is one of the most important areas in Wisconsin for land snails. In many aspects, the thin-soiled, sparsely vegetated landscape resembles a dry oak savanna dominated by open grown bur oak and white oak. The shrub and sapling layer is dense in many areas with red cedar, common juniper, and snowberry. Rare plants include cream gentian (Gentiana alba), Crawe’s sedge (Carex crawei), and Richardson’s sedge (C. Richardsonii). Red Banks Alvar is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 2001
Driving Directions
We will meet at the Shell Station in the Town of Scott, Brown County. From Green Bay, take Hwy 57 north past the "first" Shell station at Hwy 54. Proceed approximately 6 more mile north on Hwy 57 to County Road A. Turn left then right to Shell Station just west of Hwy 57.
Explore a State Natural Area Along the Shore of Lake Superior:
Bark Bay Slough, Lost Creek Bog and Port Wing Boreal Forest
Bayfield County
Saturday, June 4, 9:00 am - 12:30
Field trip leaders: Tom Gerstenberger, Gus Smith, and Jim Meeker
Limited space; call WWA to register: 608-250-9971
In partnership with:
WI Natural Resources Foundation
Inland Sea Society
Friends of South Shore Estuaries
Choose your own adventure! Paddle through Bark Bay Slough with Jim Meeker (bring your own canoe or kayak), trek around Lost Creek Bog with Gus Smith, or hike through Port Wing Boreal Forest with Tom Gerstenberger. We will gather in Cornucopia for an introduction to the day and then split up into three groups for the three sites.
>> Learn more about this event and the 3 field trip sites
Directions
We will Meet at Siskiwit Bay Coffee & Curiosities in Cornucopia (88610 Superior Avenue) From Ashland go WEST on US-2/LAKE SHORE DR. E toward N ELLIS AVE. Continue to follow US-2 W until you reach WI-13 - turn RIGHT onto WI-13. Turn LEFT onto 8TH AVE W/CR-C. Continue to follow CR-C. Turn RIGHT onto SUPERIOR ST/OLD 13 RD and end at 88610 Superior Avenue (one door down and across the street from Eler’s Store).
Dragonflies and Damselflies
Columbia County
Saturday, June 25, 9:30 am - 12:00 noon
In partnership with: Madison Audubon Society
Field trip leaders: Karl Legler and Mike Reese
Carpool from Madison leaving at 9 am, returning at 12:30 pm
Call WWA to register: 608-250-9971
Damselflies are smaller, more slender, relatives of dragonflies. Many are marked with striking blue patterns. On this 2 1/2 hour morning walk, we will travel to the west section of Rocky Run Creek in Columbia County. We will observe both dragonflies and damselflies and learn about the identification, biology, behavior, beauty, and life-style of the various species we encounter. Leader Karl Legler has produced a color photographic guide Dragonflies of Wisconsin, and leader Mike Reese has a website devoted to butterflies and damselflies of Wisconsin
Bring binoculars if you have them (close-focusing ones work best) or just get close! It's best to wear long pants and a hat for protection from the sun. Bring mosquito repellent for the shady areas. Contact Karl Legler at 608-643-4926 or karlndot@chorus.net only if you have a question about the trip or the weather (trip will not go in rain).
Madison carpool
Madison carpool will leave at 9:00 am from and return at 12:30 pm to the middle of the parking lot at the east side Cub Foods. From the intersection of Highways 30 and 51 (Stoughton Rd.) go north on 51 and take the first right turn which leads to Nakoosa Trail and Cub Foods.
Directions to Rocky Run Creek parking lot (meet at 9:30 am)
From Madison, go north on Highway 51. Nearly 4 miles north of Poynette turn right onto Morse Road and go east for about 3/4 mile. There is a small parking lot on the north side of the road.
Invasive Cat-tail (Typha) Field Trip and Identification Workshop
Dane County
Wednesday, June 29, 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Field trip leader: Galen Smith (608-233-3363)
Call WWA to register: 608-250-9971
Have you been alarmed as you have watched your favorite species-rich wetlands become dense stands of nothing but cat-tails (Typha)? In the last few years many wetland ecologists have concluded that this ecological degradation is due mainly to the spread of the introduced Eurasian narrow-leaved cat-tail (Typha angustifolia) and its hybridization with the native broad-leaved cat-tail (Typha latifolia). Join Typha expert Galen Smith on visits to wetlands on the UW campus and the UW Arboretum that are dominated by invasive cat-tails, as well as small remnants of more diverse, semi-natural wetlands with stands of non-invasive cat-tail. Learn how to distinguish the native broad-leaved cat-tail (Typha latifolia) from the non-native, invasive, narrow-leaved cat-tail (T. angustifolia) and the hybrid (T. angustfolia x T. latifolia = T. x glauca). Handouts with information on the identification of the of the Typha species and hybrids will also be provided. Wear field clothes, wetable shoes or rubber boots, and bring a 10X hand lens if possible.
Directions
Meet at the west end of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus at the Picnic Point parking lots near Lake Mendota's University Bay and Class of 1918 Marshes. From downtown, head west on University Ave (not Campus Drive) and turn right on Walnut St (gas station on corner). Go under the Campus Dr overpass, continue on Walnut as it bends to the left and through Lot 60. Continue right on University Bay Dr to small parking lots next to the Class of 1918 Marsh and the base of Picnic Point. University Bay Drive from University Avenue is a good alternative route to the Picnic Point and Class of 1918 Marsh parking lots.
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