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Category: Nature

  • Len Villano’s Pic of the Week: Snowy Creek

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    I chose this photo as my pic of the week because of the ethereal quality of the image. The winding creek leads your eye through the image, the reflections add depth, and the cedar trees add anchor points to rest your eye. I like the broken trunk, branches and other objects gathered on the forest […]

  • Explore Big Creek for Fish this Weekend

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    On sunny days the breeding songs of birds can be heard in each of Crossroads at Big Creek’s three preserves. Clearly, in spite of erratic weather, the breeding season is near. On April 14 at 1 pm, Crossroads at Big Creek offers a hike to Big Creek to see if the suckers will make the […]

  • Weather Wizard: Making the Best of April’s Snow

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    Spring can be cruel. Inhabitants that straddle the 45th parallel, animals and human alike, should know, and not be surprised by, a healthy snowfall in April. Spring began its saunter into Door County, with all of its typical early season offerings that stir excitement in the human psyche – daffodils on the south side of […]

  • Peninsula State Park Offers Guided Hikes for April

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    In April, Peninsula State Park offers naturalist hikes. Visitors are welcome to see spring unfold on guided hikes with Kathleen Harris, who has been Peninsula State Park’s full-time naturalist for 20 years. The 1-2 pm Saturday hikes are free, but a state park sticker is required. On April 7, meet the park naturalist at Weborg […]

  • Door County Will Host Astronomy Convention in May

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    by David Lenius The Door Peninsula Astronomical Society (DPAS) has been selected to host the annual convention of the North Central Region of the Astronomical League (NCRAL). This annual event will see astronomers and speakers from all over the Midwest converge at The Lodge at Leathem Smith in Sturgeon Bay, May 4-5. This year’s theme […]

  • Blue Accounting Formed to Gather Great Lakes Data

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    With two countries, eight states, two provinces, 249 counties and countless non-governmental organizations and businesses focusing attention on the complex issues confronting the Great Lakes basin, you can imagine the huge amount of data hanging out there with each agency and group. At the 2013 Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers, […]

  • Crossroads Searches for Green on a Nature Walk on St. Patrick’s Day

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    On March 17, the Irish (and this Saturday, everyone is Irish) will parade, dance jigs and wear green, so in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, Crossroads at Big Creek is holding the “In Search of Green” nature walk. At 4 pm, join the naturalist for the hour-long walk, trail conditions permitting. Hikers should dress for […]

  • Len Villano’s Pic of the Week: Snow Storm

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    On Tuesday into Wednesday we had my favorite kind of snowstorm, when the snow sticks to branches and covers everything in a blanket of white. I chose this image as the pic of the week because I liked how the center tree’s branches appear like two outstretched arms wrapping around the forest. And how, even […]

  • Crossroads Preps for Spring with Native Plant Lecture

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    Crossroads at Big Creek is looking forward to spring – the first killdeer, the sucker run, the enthusiastic songs of spring peepers. Spring also brings buckthorn and Asian honeysuckle plants almost a month before native plants. The Door County Master Gardeners, who deal with invasives on their own properties and in their capacities as volunteers, […]

  • Baileys Harbor Looking for Community Garden Volunteers

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    Ever since the town of Baileys Harbor acquired the Toft House and after the inspiring Community Design workshops a few years ago, the Toft House property seems the ideal spot for a community garden project. Last summer a small group tried a modest straw bale garden at the Toft House. To expand on this garden […]

  • Door County Groups Join the State in Celebrating Aldo Leopold

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    Each year, on the first weekend in March,  people throughout the state gather to celebrate the life and legacy of Wisconsin’s premier conservationist, Aldo Leopold, with a marathon reading of essays from A Sand County Almanac. On the peninsula, a collaboration  of Write On Door County, The Clearing, The Ridges Sanctuary, Door County Land Trust […]

  • Len Villano’s Pic of the Week: Junco in Storm

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    I love birds – they are probably my most favorite subject to photograph, so I chose this photo of a junco I took during last week’s storm as my Pic of the Week. 2018 is the Year of the Bird; it marks the centennial of the passing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) which […]

  • 3rd Annual Owl-O-Rama Lands at The Ridges March 3

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    The third annual Owl-O-Rama takes place at The Ridges Sanctuary, March 3, 9 am – 4 pm. These birds of prey are known for their distinct calls, nocturnal habits, and silent flight. There will be great learning experiences for the entire family. Activities range from night hikes, crafts, nest box building workshop, a visit from […]

  • Wild Orchids Program with Charlotte Lukes Rescheduled for April 3

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    The Door County Master Gardener program “Wild Orchids of Door County, A Tribute to Honor Roy Lukes, and Spring in Door County,” presented by Charlotte Lukes, has been rescheduled for April 3, 7 pm. The program was originally scheduled for Feb. 20, but was canceled due to icy conditions. The program will be held at […]

  • Stretching Dimes Into Dollars at the Open Door Bird Sanctuary

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    Rob Hults and Jillaine Burton Seefeldt walked along the path of the Open Door Bird Sanctuary and pointed out that the grass was cut. To them, it was something worth pointing out. Up until a volunteer donated a new lawn tractor to the sanctuary, they were chugging along with a perpetually broken mower that was […]

  • Small Steps and Big Goals on Plum and Pilot Islands

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    The remaining historic structures on Plum and Pilot Islands are facing the fate of Pilot Island’s fog signal building:  little more than four crumbling stone walls and a collapsed roof covered in bird droppings. They are decades past needed maintenance and, without some support, the islands of Death’s Door would reclaim them to their natural […]

  • Newport State Park Holds Tree Identification Program

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    Newport State Park’s Feb. 18 program is “Tree Identification in Winter” at 1:30 pm. Arborist and horticulturist Tom Wolfe will share his vast knowledge of trees as attendees learn to identify trees during winter months. There could be some time spent outdoors, depending on the weather. Please dress accordingly. Meet in the Nature Center.

  • Weather Wizard: Walking Across the Bay of Green Bay

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    It’s 6:30 am, and I’m standing barefoot in the backyard. The temperature is one degree…one. It’s twilight, and to my left, I can begin to make out the rich green needles of a white cedar. Four inches of crystalline snow blanket the ground, cover my feet and brush my ankles. I lean over and gently […]

  • Charlotte Lukes Leads Two Bluebird Programs

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    Charlotte Lukes will present a bluebird monitoring program for participants in the annual Ridges Sanctuary bluebird nest box building workshop. The event will be held March 17, 10 am to noon at the Cook-Fuller Center at 8166 Hwy 57, Baileys Harbor. The cost for the workshop is $10 for Ridges Sanctuary members, $13 for general […]

  • Ridges Naturalist Leads Hike

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    Join a Ridges Sanctuary naturalist for a guided hike on their trails Feb. 3 at 10 am and 2 pm. The Ridges guided hikes cover the cultural and natural history of the ridges and swales. Hikes end at the Cook-Albert Fuller Nature Center with a mug of hot chocolate or coffee. No reservation necessary. Snowshoe […]