Milwaukee Urban Ecology Blog

"I got it! I got it!" he shouted, beaming with pride. He had just found the last stick to the fort he was building with his classmates. They were on a field trip at the Urban Ecology Center. He was maybe six years old, fully engaged and feeling on top of the world. I'd guess being in the woods and fort-building was something entirely new for many of them.

It was a crisp September morning, the end of the first growing season for the Milwaukee Rotary Arboretum. I was with a group of volunteers, keeping the weeds at bay. Hunched over and intent on my work, I would have missed it if a large shadow hadn't passed over the ground in front of me. I looked up and saw the last thing I ever thought I would see in the heart of Milwaukee – a bald eagle!

It's no secret, we couldn't get by without a little help from our friends. The friends I'm referring to are quite special, they are our volunteers! From helping out our Environmental Education classes, to restoring native habitats with our land stewardship team, to answering phones at all three of our branches, we rely on the dedication and enthusiasm our volunteers bring to the Urban Ecology Center. To show how grateful we are for our volunteers' hard work, our staff comes together once a year to celebrate the accomplishments of our Centers and acknowledge the contributions our volunteers have made with a Volunteer Appreciation Party. And oh, what a party it was this year!

In John T. Curtis' book "The Vegetation of Wisconsin," he identifies five major plant communities (southern forests, northern forests, grasslands, savanna and shrub communities, and lesser communities), each with sub-categories. We are going to look at one of the lesser communities (named this not because of lesser ecological value, but more because it occupied less of an acreage compared to forests, grasslands, and savannas) known as a sedge meadow.

Hi, it’s me, Ken! I’m thinking about what to give to the special people in my life during this giving season. Should I give them an Urban Ecology Center gift membership? A Center t-shirt? Or maybe a day outdoors in the snow? Hmm, perhaps I should ask around. "What does the fox say?"

This story is one of gratitude, one I hope all our volunteers will have the chance to read.  I share this story with you today because I feel so thankful for all that our volunteers do for the Center.  If you are a volunteer, please feel free to share it with other volunteers!

We have lot of winter fun planned here at the Urban Ecology Center, but our random Wisconsin weather patterns don't always grace us with the snow we need. To make the most of the snow when it it does fall, we offer a Snow & Go Facebook group that will alert members to any spontaneous winter antics we whip up! Cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding... even skating on the Washington Park lagoon if the ice is safe! Join the Snow & Go group to stay updated on winter fun that pops up when the snow flies. Join the Urban Ecology Center's Snow & Go Facebook group A preteen learns to ski at a Snow & Go event

I love fall! We begin a new school year with excited students, perfect sunny days and beautiful changing leaves. Fall is also when I get to teach a class that brings kids into the water to look for macroinvertebrates. It’s one of my favorite classes to teach. The program begins with the students tucking in their shirts and climbing into waders to explore the Milwaukee River. We hand them kick nets and bins to hold the benthic invertebrates they find. As we head to the river, there is nervous excitement. It is fun to watch the first groups get their bearings in the water.

I am writing this article on my way back to Milwaukee after an incredible trip to Alaska. Willie Karidis, with lighthearted expertise, gave the Urban Ecology Center eco-travel group a wonderful experience of wilderness. We witnessed Denali, the tallest mountain on the continent, rise out of brilliant reds and yellows of Alaska autumn. We marveled at moose and wandered among wolf tracks. We splashed through icy rivers and padded across spongy tundra. It was a trip filled with awe for vast expanses of beauty that stretched as far as we could see and amazement at remarkable minutia close enough to touch. Willie called it “Subarctic splendor.” But this article is not about the Alaskan wilderness.

On July 30th, Jennifer Callaghan, the Center’s Research & Community Science Coordinator, returned to the office with visual evidence of an extremely rare species in Riverside Park! One of the large cottonwoods along the Milwaukee River (just north of the Riverside Park canoe launch) was clearly chewed on by an American Beaver! The images at right show the extent of chew on August 13th and then again a little over a month later on September 18th. While Castor canadensis is common in the Great Lakes basin, they are not often seen in heavily urbanized areas. After almost 8 years of wildlife camera surveys, this is the first time we’ve ever photographically documented a beaver!