Party Eve

The first ABC Bird Blitz and Seed Harvesting Party is on. I tramped the trails today. All the rain has made for wet conditions, so here are a few suggestions:
1. Parking possible either by the ABC sign or a little further south next to the drumlin and the horse farmette. Special thanks to Rich and Byron for their mowing assistance!
2. Rubber boots will make for a dry walk around the full Inner Peace trail for either the birding or seed harvesting. You can get by without but will be limited to the Dike path and Upland Prairie walk.
3. Bugs weren't around today, but wind speeds will be more like 5 vs. 20 on Saturday. We will have spray, but bring extra if you wish.
4. There may not be as much seed harvesting as I had hoped. Blame a bumper crop of Sweet Clover. We will have the Sunshine Burgers, six varieties of kringle and four varieties of kombucha on hand between 11:00-11:30AM around the ABC sign.
5. Birding, led by Aaron Stutz, begins around 8AM. White heron were prolific this afternoon with the bald eagle pair in the woods and cranes in the east ponds.
6. Be among the first to see the UW-Whitewater poster on their study of small mammal response to a prescribed burn.
Looking forward to seeing folks Saturday!