Catch up on the latest on the Common Loon with the Red Eye News, a newsletter from the Northwoods Loon Protection Program.

Back Issue: March 2008

Members of the Coulee Region Audubon Society are monitoring for salamanders as part of the Wisconsin Salamander Survey. In the process, they have established a new county record for central newts in La Crosse County. Read more about it in this article from the April 9, 2009 issue of the River Valley Outdoors, an affiliate to the La Crosse Tribune.

"It could be one of the few times children voluntarily will pick up a slippery creature from a pool of water. It's all in the name of research." Read more in this article from the March 29, 2009 Eau Claire/Chippewa Valley Leader-Telegram about the second annual Wisconsin Salamander Survey, scheduled to take place in April.

"The weather in early April was wet and cold, but our volunteer families got the job done. They put out the traps, then checked them every day for 6 days straight. It was cold and rainy; the water was deep; and some of them had to go out in the dark. The conditions were not ideal for finding any salamanders in their traps, but they were thrilled with whatever they did encounter." Read more about the experiences of these intrepid salamander surveyors in this article from the June/July 2008 Winnebago Audubon Society newsletter.

"While Troy Farm has harvested more vegetables than ever this season, the Learning Community at Troy Kid's Gardens and Natural Areas Restoration has pulled in several prestigious awards." Read more about the work being done in a partnership between Troy Gardens and Monona Grove Alternative School from this article printed in the December 2008/January 2009 issue of Northside News.

"Keeping tabs on bats - the mammals, not the baseball instrument - is the goal of a program science teacher Melissa Warner has helped organize. The St. Catherine's High School teacher is working with the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Center for Community Partnerships to train volunteers next year to use GPS, PDA and sound recording equipment to determine locations and numbers of the flying, furry animals." Read more about the project in this article from the November 15, 2008, Kenosha News.

"Lori Artimow was asked to catalog and study rare and special plants at Chiwaukee Prairie but didn't know where they were...Now, more than a year later, she and several volunteers have located 33 plants considered rare and discovered six rare and 10 common species that weren't included on a 1986 survey." Read more about the plant monitoring project in this article from the November 15, 2008, Kenosha News.

Judith Bloom describes the first time she ever held a loon chick as an almost spiritual experience. "To hold a loon chick, oh, my gosh, I thought I was going to cry," says Judith with a hint of reverential awe in her voice. "They are such elusive birds and there I was, holding one. It was unbelievable." Read more about the Loon Citizen Science Project in this article from the August/September 2008 issue of "Living on the Lake".

The Green-Rock Audubon Society owns and/or manages 350 acres, most of them in western Rock County. Their efforts to control invasives on one of the properties, Androne Woods, was highlighted in an article in the Janesville Gazette.

"Monitoring global warming usually requires a Ph.D. and enough math to glaze your eyes. But Francisco Lopez and Ruby Nostrant track what climate change is doing to five plants in Tucson, Ariz., and they are just in second grade." Read more from the article in the Mar. 24, 2008, Wisconsin State Journal.

Volunteers are conducting survey and tracking work in the Montana backcountry to assist with the wolf management in that state. Read the article from The Wildlife Professional, Spring 2008.

"Collaborations between scientists and volunteers have the potential to broaden the scope of research and enhance the ability to collect scientific data. Interested members of the public may contribute valuable information as they learn about wildlife in their communities." Link to the full article here.

"Over the past few years there have been several reports of birds killed in collisions with communication towers in and around Madison. But how significant is the threat to migrating birds?" To find out more from a study about avian mortality partially funded by the Citizen-based Monitoring Partnership Program see the February newsletter of the Madison Audubon Society.

"A bat monitoring station was installed near Margaret's Council Ring on the edge of Curtis Prairie earlier this summer by Wisconsin DNR Bat Ecologist, David Redell. The station detects and records acoustic signals as bats fly by and records the date and time of each bat pass..." Read full article from Newsleaf, the newsletter for the Friends of the Arboretum.

"A bat monitoring station was installed at Kemp Station earlier this summer by Wisconsin DNR Bat Ecologist, David Redell. I visited with Dave about this research tool, the project it's linked to and his interest in bats." Read full article in Kemp's Point, a newsletter of the Kemp Natural Resources Station.

"We know there are bats in Riverside Park. Hike a trail at dusk and you may see a Big Brown Bat fly overhead or even hear a few chirps if a bat is closing in on its prey. Because of their nocturnal aerial habits, bats make very difficult study subjects. But recent technological advances are allowing us more detailed glimpses into the habits and distribution of Wisconsin’s bats, including those in Riverside Park." Read full article... or link to the entire Urban Ecology Center newsletter

"Every fall, Wisconsin hunters contribute to what may be North America’s premier example of citizen based environmental monitoring and data collection by participating in the deer hunting seasons," says Warnke. "Since the 1950s, Wisconsin deer hunters have collected the information required to manage our deer herd. And, lately, they’ve done it in remarkable numbers." Read full article...

"Congratulations go out today to the Lake Koshkonong Wetlands Association, recipient of the Wisconsin Citizen-based Monitoring Program of the Year Award for 2006...The Lake Koshkonong organization was chosen for its work to have the Greater Lake Koshkonong Area recognized as an Important Bird Area through an international effort to protect birds and their habitat. The local program is implemented by the Wisconsin Bird Conservation [Initiative]." Read full article from the Daily Jefferson County Union.

It was a conclave of the perpetually curious. People like myself who had spent their youth looking under rocks, poking sticks in the mud, watching flutterbys, blowing blades of grass and lying face up in the lawn imagining puffy dragons in the clouds that floated by. View the article... or link to the text...

Citizen-based monitoring means citizens working with scientists to monitor our natural resources. Anyone can do it, regardless of his or her education and experience. Read more...

Garlic mustard tastes pretty good, but it's leaving a bad taste in the mouths of forestry experts who say the nonnative species is creeping northward in the state and choking out native plant life. Read more...