Category: Nature
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A Few Walks In the Newport Wilderness
It had just rained all night when I arrived at Newport State Park one Wednesday morning in June. Everyone was in rain jackets and galoshes. It was still spitting a little when we hopped on the trail. New growth surrounded stubborn evergreens, wet leaves leaving streaks on shoulders as the trail wandered through a carpet […]
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Ridges Sanctuary Hosts Grosbeak Workshop Sept. 9
Learn how to make a small investment that will have a big impact for migratory birds during the Grosbeaks Galore workshop, Sept. 9 at the Ridges Sanctuary. From 9 am to 5 pm, speaker Bill Volkert will instruct people about the best foods, shelter and roosting spots for birds on your landscape. The fee is […]
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Viewing the Solar Eclipse in Door County
by Gary Henkelmann and John J. Beck You’ve probably heard about the upcoming solar eclipse by now. Even the post office is selling stamps with special thermal ink that turns the black disk of the sun into the full moon just by touching it. There is a lot of excitement out there. So what’s the […]
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Nicolet Beach Hosts Night Sky Program Aug 11
Come to Nicolet Beach at Peninsula State Park on Aug. 11 at 8:45 pm. Enjoy a 30-minute PowerPoint program about the night sky and learn to identify summer constellations. Once skies darken, look through a high-powered telescope, watching for “shooting stars” of the Perseids. Star experts will answer questions and point out the best of […]
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“An Evening with Jens Jensen” at Woodwalk Aug 17
Roger Kuhns will give a monologue titled “An Evening with Jens Jensen,” at Woodwalk Gallery on Aug. 17 at 7 pm. What if you could spend an hour chatting with one of your heroes? Kuhns contemplated such a moment in regard to Jensen, father of landscape architecture, founder of The Clearing, and visionary for the […]
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On the Hunt for Door County Herbs
If you’ve ever seen David LaLuzerne meandering through Door County’s nature preserves and county parks, chances are he hasn’t taken much notice of you. “I have a tendency to do that,” he explained. “Wherever I walk out I start to look around, what kind of herbs are growing now around here?” On a gray, misty […]
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Celebrate Ridges Sanctuary’s 80th Anniversary with Guided Hikes, Aug. 5
The Ridges Sanctuary celebrates their 80th Anniversary and the Cook-Albert Fuller Nature Center Building Dedication Aug. 5. The Nature Center will be open from 9 am to 5 pm, with the usual 10 am Guided Sanctuary hikes. The Dedication Ceremony begins at 11:30 am and will be followed by a grill-out from 12 – 2 […]
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Plein Air Painter Hosts Washington Island Workshops Aug. 4-6
Anyone traveling Door County’s roadways or visiting its picturesque beaches and parks this week has likely noticed an interesting addition to the landscape: droves of individuals donning wide-brimmed hats and sun ray-deflecting clothing, standing before canvases propped on easels and holding a palette dotted with oil paints. These artists have taken to the peninsula’s gardens, […]
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Eye On the Night Sky: The Earth’s Moon – Full of Surprises
by Gary Henkelmann, President, Door Peninsula Astronomical Society On Aug. 21, the moon will pass between the sun and the Earth, partially obscuring the sun over the entire North American continent for several hours, and totally covering the solar disk for a couple of minutes along a narrow, 90 mile-wide path from Oregon to South […]
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by Rob Hults, Executive Director, Open Door Bird Sanctuary Not all folks have the same level of appreciation for our resident raptors as many other nature lovers and I do. We’ve all heard the stories of treasured pets disappearing, surely the victims of ravenous raptors. Or the unflattering name “Chicken Hawk” given to our native […]
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Donation Challenge Set to Bring Bald Eagle to Bird Sanctuary
Bruce Arduser took a fateful tour with a hiking group last fall that resulted in his leading the charge to raise funds for a permanent home for a Bald Eagle to become a part of the educational mission of the Open Door Bird Sanctuary (ODBS). One of the members of the hiking group arranged for […]
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by Don Gustafson Insect pollinators, bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, beetles and flies are in trouble. Populations are disappearing at alarming rates due to pesticides, parasites, diseases, lack of crop diversity (mono crops such as corn, soybean and wheat fields), flowerless landscapes (lawn) and poor management practices. According to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, we have […]
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June Rain Sets Record for Door County
The 9.57 inches of rain the county received in June, as recorded in Sturgeon Bay, smashed the previous all-time high of 8.26 inches set in 1990 and was the third most ever to fall in Door County in a single month. The average June rainfall is 3.49 inches. The all-time record for rain in one […]
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Free Home Visits to Battle Invasive Species
The four acres surrounding my family’s house in the Town of Gibraltar is riddled with big shrubs that seem to grow bigger. Kari Hagenow, coordinator for the Door County Invasive Species Team (DCIST), identified them all as invasive honeysuckle and told me the best way to eradicate them during a rainy walk around the property, […]
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Master Gardeners Host Garden Door Presentation July 11
The Door County Master Gardeners Association announces the second in a series of summertime educational events celebrating their free public display garden, The Garden Door. The garden is located on Highway 42 just north of Sturgeon Bay, on the grounds of the UW Peninsular Agricultural Research Station. Join the Master Gardeners on July 11 at […]
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How, On Earth, Do We Measure the Universe?
images and article by Steven Ransom-Jones One of my fondest childhood memories, inspired by a great teacher who saw my interest in physics, revolves around borrowing the school telescope over the Christmas holidays. For a few cool, clear winter nights I was able to share with my family some of the wonders of the sky. […]
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America The Band, Root Beer Fest, & More Weekend Plans
Still around after the Fourth? Thinking about a trip up after the crowds have left? Door County’s myriad concert and performance series are all in full-swing. Take your pick as you enjoy the outdoors during the day. Friday, July 7 Oklahoma in Wisconsin Northern Sky Theater’s most recent production, Oklahoma in Wisconsin celebrates Door County through […]
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Welcome to this latest issue of Door County Living, assembled to celebrate the season of plenty here on the peninsula. At 11:24 pm on June 20, we here in the Central Time Zone, along with our friends in other times zones throughout the Northern Hemisphere, entered the summer solstice, the time of long days and […]
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VIDEO: Newport Named First Dark Sky Park In Wisconsin
Pulling into Newport State Park, you’ll notice a recent addition to the entrance sign. In a ceremony on Thursday, June 22, Newport State Park celebrated its recent designation as an International Dark Sky Park. The speakers highlighted the work done by the Newport staff as well as the involvement of others who were crucial to […]
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Gibraltar Electors to Vote on Chambers Island Land Trust Expansion
On Aug. 2, electors of the Town of Gibraltar will decide whether the town will acquire two islands in the middle of Mackaysee Lake on Chambers Island that will be transferred to the Door County Land Trust (DCLT). The purchase will come at no expense to the taxpayers of Gibraltar, but bureaucracy requires electors be […]