Look Up! 

This beautiful eagle was flying high in the sky over Fort Atkinson  today...

There is more to the dropping of those beautiful leaves in the fall than just a crunchy pile of fun to jump into. The yearly ritual of a trees winter dormancy allows us to see all of the activity that has been going on all spring and summer long within their branches. 

From the building of nests in the spring to the egg laying and hatching during the summer, these trees are home to many a living creature. 

Here are a few nests that I found on a recent walk through my yard. These nests and their occupants were hidden so well by summers greenery that no one knew they were here. 

Through all of the family Sing Alongs, the lawn tractor under the branches, people in the swimming pool or on the trampoline or on the swing set or during all of my quiet coffee drinking mornings...I never knew that all of this building and laying and hatching and feeding was going on all around us.

squirrel nest

                                                           

Nests come in all sizes and are made of different types of natural building materials depending on the type of bird. Eagles add new material to their nests each year.The outside of the nest is made out of large sticks. The inside of the nest is made of dead grass or other soft materials. The area where the eggs are laid is lined with feathers.
A great place to get a front row seat to the laying, hatching and nurturing of a nesting pair of eagles is right here:  www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

Here is a really cool "colony" of nests that I spotted not far from my house while taking a drive on a recent Sunday morning.

We think they may belong to Egrets or Herons. Egrets are colonial nesters,  building stick nests high in trees that are isolated from predators like raccoons. Herons gather in colonies or “heronries” to build stick nests high off the ground. Most Herons and Egrets migrate to some extent. They usually go southward.  

They leave mid-September to late October and then return to their breeding grounds by February or March. 

The nests are quite a site from the road. A ride along Hwy. 26 between Fort Atkinson and Milton will get you a good view. I can't wait to go back to these nests in the spring and see what has taken up residency in them.

Colonies of nests

Egret

Blue Heron

What about Wisconsin's winter birds?

Black-capped chickadees have a wickedly wonderful assortment of adaptations for the winter. Carefully hidden food items, dense winter coats, selected winter roosting cavities and the ability to go into nightly hypothermia all increase the Chickadees chances of survival.

The chickadee’s ability to go into hypothermia enables it to actually lower its body temperature, in a controlled manner, similar to a bear who hibernates or fish who overwinters at the lakes bottom.  This allows the bird or animal to conserve its energy.

Some species grow additional feathers as the temperatures drop, which thickens their insulation. Some birds use the practice of feather fluffing, where they puff out their down feathers to create air pockets, which gives a bird better insulation and traps body heat.

Song birds such as cardinals, blue jays and finches retreat to dense vegetation or into evergreens that stay full all winter. This is a good ecological reason for you to include evergreens in your bird-friendly backyard.

All I know is whatever keeps these birds in Wisconsin through the stinging months of winter is a blessing to us all.  Their presence in a place where most living things have retired to burrows or heated homes to wait for warmer days, is a reminder of the gifts that our mother Earth provides for us everyday.

This past weekend I said goodbye to my beautiful garden. The unrelenting wave of October frost swept over it leaving budding pepper plants wilted and spaghetti squash leaves dried up and brown. 
So now the lingering wait begins. That forever span of time between the first frost and first plant getting put into the soil the following spring. In recent years, the introduction of cold frames and hoop houses have extended Wisconsin's growing season by a few months but I often imagine what it would be like to eat fresh garden fruits and vegetables year round. 
While I was in California this past summer, I watched miles of produce, fruit trees, grape vines and fresh food markets roll by my car window. I began to wonder about states like California, that enjoy warmer climates. How many months of the year do the people in those states enjoy fresh garden produce? How long is the normal growing season there? Here's what I found out.
California has a unique growing climate and can grow many different types of vegetable crops throughout the year. The state is so immense and the climate so diverse that it experiences 16 growing zones.  Crops are classified as warm season or cool season crops, which is really similar to Wisconsin.    So....the "cool weather crops" that are grown in California in October, November and December such as lettuce,  cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, root crops such as carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, radishes, leafy crops (mustard, bok choy,chard, arugula, lettuce, spinach and cool-season legumes are the same  "cool weather crops" grown in Wisconsin in March, April and May.  
California has 76,400 farms and ranches that produce nearly half of US-grown fruits, nuts and vegetables. California produces more than 400 crops. Of those crops, these are produced only in California: almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, raisins, kiwifruit, olives, clingstone peaches, pistachios, dried plums, pomegranates, sweet rice, ladino clover seed, and walnuts.

California's top-ten valued commodities for 2014 are:

• Milk — $9.4 billion
• Almonds — $5.9 billion
• Grapes — $5.2 billion
• Cattle, Calves — $3.7 billion
• Strawberries — $2.5 billion

• Lettuce — $2 billion
• Walnuts — $1.8 billion
• Tomatoes — $1.6 billion
• Pistachios — $1.6 billion
• Hay — $1.3 billion

                                            


Here is Wisconsin's top ten agricultural commodities:

Dairy products – Known as “America’s Dairyland,” Wisconsin ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for cheese production and No. 2 for milk. In 2012, Wisconsin dairy cows produced 27.2 billion pounds of milk.

Corn – Corn is grown in Wisconsin both for grain and silage for livestock feed. In 2012, the state’s farmers harvested 399 million bushels for grain and 14.2 million tons of silage.

Cattle & calves – In 2012, cash receipts from marketing cattle and calves totaled $1.319 billion. Wisconsin ranks No. 13 in the nation for gross income generated from cattle and calves produced.

Soybeans – Soybeans generated $981 million in cash receipts in 2012. The state’s farmers harvested more than 70 million bushels of this versatile crop, with an average yield of 42 bushels per acre.

Potatoes – Wisconsin ranks No. 3 for potato production. In 2012, Wisconsin farmers harvested 64,500 acres of potatoes, with an average yield of 460 hundredweight (cwt) per acre.

Greenhouse/nursery – In 2011, the greenhouse and nursery industry generated $247.7 million in cash receipts. Christmas trees, a large segment of the industry, represented $14.3 million of that total.

Cranberries – Wisconsin ranks No. 1 for cranberry production. During the 2012 season, the state’s growers harvested a record-high 19,700 acres of cranberries and 4.8 million bushels of the fruit.

Wheat – Before becoming famous for its dairy production, Wisconsin was known as “America’s breadbasket.” Wheat farmers harvested 245,000 acres of wheat in 2012.

Hogs – Wisconsin producers raised 320,000 swine in 2012. The industry generated $134.39 million in cash receipts in 2012, ranking the state No. 17 for gross income from hogs produced.

Broilers – Wisconsin produced 51.7 million broilers in 2012 for a farm-gate value of $108.55 million. The state ranks No. 20 in the nation for value of broiler production.

The winter months in California are October through March.  Winter in California brings rain and in the mountains brings snow. The rainy season runs from November through March. Any time it's raining at lower elevations it's usually snowing at upper ones. 

Did you know that parts of California even experience frost? I didn't. Check out the chart below.

City	Last Frost Date	First Frost Date
Anaheim	No Frost	No Frost
Bakersfield	1/25	12/11
Chula Vista	No Frost	No Frost
Fontana	2/12	11/28
Freemont	No Frost	No Frost
Fresno	2/28	11/17
Glendale	1/21	12/23
Huntington Beach	No Frost	No Frost
Irvine	No Frost	No Frost
Long Beach	No Frost	No Frost
Los Angeles	No Frost	No Frost
Modesto	2/27	11/19
Moreno Valley	1/26	12/15
Oakland	No Frost	No Frost
Oxnard	No Frost	No Frost
Riverside	1/19	12/21
Sacramento	1/31	12/4
San Bernardino	1/21	12/24
San Diego	No Frost	No Frost
San Francisco	No Frost	No Frost
San Jose	2/17	12/2
Santa Ana	No Frost	No Frost
Santa Clarita	No Frost	No Frost
Stockton	2/26	11/18

What about the grapes?

The California grape season begins in late spring when the first grapes are harvested in the California’s southernmost growing region. By mid-July, the southern season has ended and harvest moves north to the San Joaquin Valley. Through late fall, the harvest of fresh grapes from California continues.

Sequential harvesting from south to north combined with advanced storage techniques means that California grapes are available from May to January.

I'll leave you with this video of beautiful Yosemite Park in the winter. I am NOT a lover of winter but if I had to pick a place to spend time watching the snow fall.....I would pick the peaceful confines of Yosemite National Park.

On my drive in to work this morning, I watched a large group of geese flying in their "V formation" migrating to warmer climates in the south. As I watched them 
fly, my mind wandered back to the beautiful redwood forest and I wondered what kind of animals migrated through the Redwood Forest. 
Just wait until you hear the answer!

                                                                    

Gray Whale migration

California gray whales are famous for their extraordinary 9,000 to 12,000 mile round trip migration along the west coast. The whales make this journey to take advantage of the huge amounts of food available in Arctic region . In the summer they travel to the warm waters of the Gulf of California to birth their young. It had been assumed that the entire population of California gray whales migrated the whole way from Baja California, (which is actually in Mexico) to the Bering and Chukchi Seas non-stop. 

In the last few decades, however, whale scientists have noted that not all gray whales migrate the entire way. Some stop and spend their summer feeding far from the rest. These whales belong to what scientists call the Pacific Coast Feeding Aggregation. Gray whales, unlike all the other baleen whales, do not feed in open ocean. Instead, they feed off the ocean bottom along shore areas.  
The most southern area of the Gray Whale Pacific Coast Feeding Aggregation region is right off the coast of Redwood National and State Parks!! 
Peak gray whale migration is typically March through May. Great places to look for gray whales in California include: Crescent Beach Overlook (Crescent City, Calif.) and Klamath River Overlook (Requa, Calif.)

More of our Oregon whale watching

Salmon are the superstars of Redwood National and State Parks streams.

Most salmon species spend the majority of their lives at sea but during November through February, streams fill with the run of spawning fish. Coho salmon have a three year life cycle, with juvenile fish entering the ocean at one year of age and returning two years later to where they were born to spawn.
Coho salmon populations in the Redwood National Parks rivers are substantially reduced from historic times. In Redwood Creek, habitat quality has declined because of severe floods that moved large amounts of soil and other sediment from hill slopes that were logged. Logging also removed stream side vegetation. The large amount of deposited sediment and higher water temperatures due to a lack of shade has made some streams an unsuitable habitat for Coho. 
Because of the reduction in Coho Salmon, the species is currently listed as a threatened by the National Marine Fisheries Service in Redwood Creek and the Klamath and Smith Rivers. 
Habitat Matters!  Because coho require both high quality ocean and freshwater stream habitats, they are excellent indicators of watershed health. 
Coho only thrive when the amount of nutrients and food available at sea is high, and when their stream habitat is below 70 degrees with unobstructed water flow, high levels of dissolved oxygen, and a diversity of habitats such as ripples, deep pools, and backwater areas. Considering all that, it seems their existence is very fragile. 
The National Park Services has designed a restoration project at Muir Beach that will create side channels and other protected areas outside of the main stream channel to shelter juvenile salmon and increase their chances of survival.

Autumn in Wisconsin also brings the Lake Michigan Chinook and Coho migration offshore to spawn in streams. Chinook are the first to arrive, spawning from mid-September into early October, while Coho and Brown trout begin spawning in early October and continue to the end of the month. 
Here is something that I did not know. I was surprised to learn that salmon are not native to the Great Lakes. Coho and Chinook salmon were originally brought to Lake Michigan to control alewife populations.  Alewives are a type of small herring. 
I can remember going downtown with my mom and my brothers on the bus for the 4th of July fireworks along Lake Michigan's lakefront in the early 1970's. We used to sit on a old cement ledge near the War Memorial Center. I can remember the thousands of dead alewives laying on the shoreline. Man, did they stink! I also remember how my mom and everyone else around seemed to just kind of accept the dead fish and the smell as normal, but I knew, even then, that all the dead fish along the shoreline was not normal.
Over the years, salmon fishing in Lake Michigan has turned into a billion dollar fishing industry. 
Here is the headline from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today:

Journal Article

One more interesting Wisconsin fish to mention would be the mighty Musky. Each spring, muskies swim up the Yahara river near Madison to spawn in Lake Wingra. But before they reach the lake, they must jump a dam.  It is an annual spring migration for the muskies and an annual show for amazed spectators. This behavior is believed to be instinctive and spawning related, mostly muskies searching for warmer water and a place to spawn. My friend and co-worker, Jeff Halverson took these remarkable pictures of the annual musky show just this year. Jeff is a wildlife photographer-Jeff Halverson photography-as well as an avid Wisconsin hunter and fisherman.
According to Jeff: The original Wingra spillway, or dam as it's referred to, was constructed in 1919, has become a musky magnet during the past 20 years since musky have become more prevalent on the Madison chain.  A DNR study found the dam to need extensive repairs a decade ago.  A new dam & viewing platforms were built and completed  in 2009.   The muskies swim up Wingra Creek from Lake Monona toward the dam.  A viewing platform allows numerous people to search the shallows for lurking muskies while the current flow, water temperature and longer days brings them to the area.  This viewing experience always fluctuates but usually runs around the 1st to 2nd week in April.  All of the Lake Monona muskies are stocked fish and come up to the area to spawn. No natural reproduction has ever been documented by the DNR in the spillway area.

Changes occur throughout the month of September in weather patterns, water temperature, and plant growth as well as the behavior of both fish and game. Shorter days and longer nights begin to cool a lake’s water temperature as well as trigger muskies to move away from deeper open waters into shallower locations.   All fish, including muskies sense changes in day length as well as the drop in water temperature. Muskies instinctively want to get away from this less stable environment and begin to migrate inward.  

Because of this movement, fishing experts say the best time to hook that musky is in the fall.     So grab your musky pole...Happy fishing!

Monarchs & Milkweed - Yosemite Nature Notes - Episode 24

Butterflies are found on every continent but Antarctica; the U.S. is home to about 700 different species. 

While exploring the beautiful places and spaces of Yosemite National Park, I noticed milkweed plants growing by the hundreds in the larger open areas. While I was taking pictures of them I began to wonder, if possibly, this magical place was a stop on the Monarchs migration route from Wisconsin to Mexico.  Could it be that all of the butterflies that my students and I have bidden "adios" to over all these years were spending time in this place that I now feel spiritually so connected to? 
Through my research, this is what I have found out.

If a monarch lives in the Eastern states(east of the Rocky Mountains), it will migrate to Mexico and hibernate in Oyamel trees. Oyamel trees are a species of fir, native to the mountains of central and southern Mexico and western Guatemala. The oyamel forest ecosystem is Mexico's most endangered forest-type. Only 2% of the original forest remains. 
The oyamel forest is a relic from a time when the earth was cooler and wetter. As the earth warmed, the forest retreated up the mountainsides to keep the cool, moist climate to which the trees are adapted.

Monarchs appear to be adapted to the same ecological conditions as these trees. The monarchs search for high mountain habitats for the same reason the Oyamel ended up there--it's cool and moist at high elevations when this part of Mexico is parched during the dry season. Many efforts are in the works to conserve and restore these habitats in Mexico. 
If the monarch butterfly lives west of the Rocky Mountains. it will hibernate in and around Pacific Grove, California in Eucalyptus trees. 
The good news is: we saw these trees when we left San Francisco and headed north. Their stripped bark look is hard not to notice. When they line the road, as they do in the Point Reyes area, they are almost mesmerizing. 
The bad news is: I thought they were Sycamore trees and did not ask Dave to pull over and let me get a closer look. I spent the next two driving miles looking up California Sycamore trees. It was a "stop and smell the roses" moment missed... Ahhhh... another reason to return!
   

Every October, thousands of butterflies make a stop in a Pacific Grove eucalyptus grove, the preferred Monarch butterfly habitat, during their migration to warmer places. The butterflies hang in clusters from eucalyptus branches to maintain body temperature. They use each other to keep warm.
There are over 300 overwintering sites from south of Ensenada, Baja California, to north of San Francisco. By mid November, most monarchs have chosen their winter homes and hibernate for several months. 
Female monarchs are the first to leave from overwintering sites. They fly inland to look for early milkweed plants to deposit their eggs.

Monarchs cannot survive without milkweed; their caterpillars only eat milkweed leaves and monarch butterflies need milkweed to lay their eggs. Planting milkweed in our yards and nurturing the wild milkweed along the roads is imperative for the survival of the Monarchs. Much of the roadside milkweed is mowed down by homeowners, farmers or counties. A better idea would be to incorporate it in with some native Wisconsin wildflowers or native grasses, put a "do not mow" sign by it and watch the beauty happen.
I was so excited to finally get some growing in my yard last summer. Here is how I did it; I took a pod from a plant and let it dry out. When the seeds dry out they become those fabulous "wishing seeds" many of us have been chasing and wishing on for years.  When the seeds inside were ready to fly, I took them outside and pushed them into the ground. In the spring I kept careful watch and absolutely witnessed them rise up out of the earth. 
Isn't it wonderful that each of has the power to aid in the continued existence of these beautiful creatures. 
Milkweed can be found along most rural roadsides and is free for the pod picking.  If you cannot find any, please ask me.  
For me, I will be having a "seed stomping" day with my second graders this year in our courtyard at school hoping to start our own patch of "Monarch must haves".

If you go to San Francisco...be sure to wear flowers in your hair    .......enjoy!

San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" is a song, written by John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, and sung by Scott McKenzie. It was written and released in June 1967 to promote the Monterey Pop Festival. This video is a real visual of the times. Some nice shots of Jimi Hendricks, Mama Cass and Janis Joplin. (all died too young)           Peace-Love and rock and roll!

• Really cool information about the Monterey Pop festival for those like me who love this era of music!

When we left Yosemite National Park, we traveled west across the state of California. Our destination for the day, San Francisco. My motivation for including this place in my trip was actually my curiosity of The Rock, also know as Alcatraz. My plan was to take my boys on a tour of Alcatraz. Being the tourist that I am NOT...I didn't consider that the tours might be booked up for a month ahead. 
So...plan B was to take the Bay Cruise. It didn't take us to Alcatraz but it took us all around the bay and very closely circled Alcatraz. On the boat, we each got a pair of headphones to listen to the audio tour as the boat cruised around the bay. The audio tour was full of interesting information about San Francisco and the surrounding bay area.
I learned that much of San Francisco was once covered with high sand dunes covered by dune scrubs. Dune scrubs are coastal scrubs that cover areas with thick vegetation and wildflowers.  

The sandy soil has very little moisture and nutrients and is subject to high winds and salty air. The plants have water conserving adaptations such as small leaves, hairy leaves, waxy or oily leaves, and deep root systems. The beach-dune ecosystem is one of the most sensitive and declining habitat types on the West Coast. 

Snowy Plover

Brown Pelican

Human threats to the beach-dune ecosystem include chemical runoff, litter and pollution, disturbance and habitat loss. Some species like the Snowy Plover, 
Brown Pelican 
and the San Francisco Lessingia are on the federal Endangered                                                                Species List. 

Lessingia

In the 1850's, hydraulic mining released massive amounts of sediment from the rivers that settled in parts of the bay that had little or no current. Later, wetlands and inlets were deliberately filled in, reducing the Bay's size. Despite its value as a waterway and harbor, thousands of acres of wetlands at the edges of the bay were considered wasted space. As a result, soil excavated for building projects or dredged from channels was often dumped onto the wetlands and other parts of the bay as landfill. The bay was also filled with abandoned buried ships from the gold rush days and all of the wreckage from the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. They literally pushed it into the bay to fill it in. The Great San Francisco Earthquake was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed 3000 people and destroyed 80% of San Francisco. This is the same quake I eluded to in my San Andreas Fault blog.
There are many islands around the bay including a notorious one called, Alcatraz. The island initially housed military personnel. It also held prisoners during the civil war. After the 1906 earthquake, some prisoners were moved there for safe keeping. During World War 1 it housed "conscientious objectors." These were people who refused to be part of a war based on thoughts, conscience or religion. Alcatraz also housed some of America’s most difficult and dangerous felons from 1934 to 1963.  Some of those who served time there were the gangster Al Capone and murderer Robert “Birdman of Alcatraz” Stroud  Starting in 1969 the island was occupied by a group of native american activists . They claimed Alcatraz was theirs “by right of discovery,” but offered to buy it for “$24 in glass beads and red cloth”—the same price that Indians supposedly received for the island of Manhattan. The activists added that they didn’t mind that the island was underdeveloped or lacked fresh water, since most of them had already endured similar conditions on government Indian reservations. Other activists supported the occupation by shuttling supplies. Canned goods, clothes and thousands of dollars in cash had poured in from donors across the country. Celebrities visited the island and lent their support, and the rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival even gave the Indians a boat, which was christened the “Clearwater.”
Alcatraz opened as a national park in 1973, and today visitors can still see the Native Americans occupiers’ graffiti on several of the buildings. The National Park Service even had some of the slogans preserved or repainted when they restored the island’s water tower. The Rock continued to serve as a focal point of Native American social campaigns. A pair of nationwide protest walks in 1978 and 1994 both began at the island, and since 1975, people have met at Alcatraz every November for an “Un-Thanksgiving Day” celebrating Indian culture and activism. 

I was excited to visit Pier 39 in hopes of seeing the famous sea lions that frequent the piers there. There were only 3 sea lions there but they were enjoyable to watch. From late July (we were there a few weeks too early) to mid May,  there are typically hundreds of sea lions hanging out on the piers. In June and July most of the sea lions go south to breed on the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands of California are a chain of eight islands located off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel. 

The sea lions have chosen PIER 39's dock to "haul out" on because there is plenty of food nearby in the bay and the ocean. Also, their natural predators, the White Sharks and Orcas don't feed in the bay. Hauling out means to leave the water for a period of time.  The docks are easier to lay on than the rocks. As the tide goes in and out, the floating docks move up and down on the water. The sea lions just keep sleeping instead of having to move up and down the rocks with the tide. 
A few California sea lions began “hauling out” on PIER 39 shortly after the Loma Prieta earthquake hit San Francisco in October 1989. By January 1990, they started to arrive in droves and completely took over the dock, much to the dismay of PIER 39′s paying tenants.
The marina tenants were eventually moved to different docks to accommodate the sea lions. Yay!  They have come to the dock ever since and have become a huge tourist attraction.


Original Good Morning America report on the invasion of the sea lions


Driving the elevated streets of San Francisco was at times, alarming, as we got stuck at a red light while sitting at a 25 to 30%grade incline. I felt like the car was standing on its backside. The only thing I saw out the windshield was the sky. 

                                                     

San Francisco is an energetic and crowded city. Too energetic and crowded for me though. I was glad to cross the big bridge and begin our travel north. The most exciting and most anticipated part of my adventure was yet to to come.  

Here is something else special about the San Francisco area. Within the Golden Gate Recreational area is 240 acres of Old Growth Redwood Forests. It is called "Muir Woods."

Before the logging industry came to California, there were around 2 million acres of old growth forest containing redwoods growing in a narrow strip along the coast.

By the early 20th century, most of these forests had been cut down. Just north of the San Francisco Bay, one valley named Redwood Canyon remained uncut due to its inaccessibility.

A U.S. Congressman from California named William Kent learned about the valley. He and his wife purchased 611 acres of land from the Tamalpais Land and Water Company for $45,000 with the goal of protecting the redwoods and the mountain above them.

In 1907, a water company in Sausalito planned to dam Redwood Creek, thereby flooding the valley. When Kent objected to the plan, the water company threatened to use eminent domain and took him to court to attempt to force the project to move ahead. Eminent domain is is the power of a state or a national government to take private property for public use. Kent sidestepped the water company's plot by donating 295 acres  of the redwood forest to the federal government, thus bypassing the local courts. One year later, President Roosevelt declared the area a national monument. It was named after the naturalist, John Muir.

a warning sign by Alcatraz

this indicates an area under the water where some type of restoration is going on.

Alcatraz

Listening to the audio tour

Thick Fog over the bridge and along the coast

Eucalyptus Trees