Paradise Valley?

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Photo by Noah Froh

Did you know there is a place called Paradise Valley in Waukesha County? Hard to imagine the origin of the name. It’s about as flat a landscape as I’ve seen anywhere in Wisconsin.

Someone tried to farm the wet soil here for a while until it proved unfruitful. The Wisconsin DNR purchased the land in 2012 and began a management plan that has been encouraging it to revert to wetland. The Bark River channel once flowed through the “valley” but the farmers diked the property and diverted the river. Now, with the dike breached, the river simply floods into the marsh.

I was introduced to the place recently by DNR wildlife biologist Dianne Robinson. She hosts regular tours of wildlife areas in Southeastern Wisconsin. The theme this time was tracking. We walked along the snow-covered roads that divide the marsh, watching for tracks along the way. There were plenty.

Larger animals, like weasels and coyotes tended to follow a straight line, taking advantage of the road just like we do. The smaller tracks of field mice, voles and the like tended to wander across from side to side. We learned to distinguish between dogs and coyotes and that the “thumb” of a mink is on the outside of its paw where our pinky is.

Robinson showed us how to measure the size of the print. People often overestimate, she said, because the impression in the snow can be quite a bit larger than the actual footprint.

We also saw sled tracks that veered off into the marsh grass. Paradise Valley is a popular spot for hunting and trapping, Robinson told us.

We saw the most tracks when we ventured out onto the frozen Bark River. However, with the thermometer reading a neat 0° Fahrenheit and wind chills approaching -15, we didn’t linger long.

The most surprising find was a cache of fish carcasses in amongst the cattails. Robinson speculated that they might have been hauled up by some predator before the water in a nearby pond froze over. More likely, she thought, the wetland dried up under them, leaving them high and dry to be picked apart by birds and passing animals.

The DNR website provides a long list of recreational opportunities for the Paradise Valley Wildlife Area. In addition to hunting and trapping they include birding, canoeing, cross-country skiing, fishing, hiking, snowshoeing, wild edibles gathering and wildlife viewing. There is even an accessible blind for hunters with disabilities. The sight lines are totally unimpeded under a sky as broad as the horizon.

I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce Noah Froh, who is a student at Bennington College in Vermont. Noah, whose home is in Milwaukee, is interning with me during the winter interim period. This was our first outing together. Noah contributed the photo featured at the top of the post.

Horicon Marsh and the Niagara Escarpment

It was cold and blustery when I arrived at the marsh that day, but the first thing I saw was a huge flock of cranes idling on the edge of open water. I managed to squeeze off a few shots as they took flight. Within minutes they were all gone.

I had been invited to attend a meeting at the Horicon Marsh Education and Visitors Center, which is in the State Wildlife Area in the southern third of this vast marsh. Not to be confused with the National Wildlife Refuge, which makes up the northern two thirds. Did you know Horicon is the largest freshwater marsh in the country?

Speaking of largest, I've heard that we grow the largest muskrats in the country right here in the marsh, too. And in great abundance. I can't say whether this guy is fully grown or not. He/she slipped underwater shortly after I made the shot.

The mammoth is a kind of mascot for the Wildlife Area. Horicon Marsh was home to them before they went extinct 10,000 or so years ago. The cause may have been hunting or--get ready for it--climate change.

I was there for a meeting of a group called the Niagara Escarpment Resource Network (NERN). The Niagara Escarpment is a geologic feature that runs over 1,000 miles from Southeast Wisconsin through Ontario to New York. The Niagara Falls fall over it. This is a visible outcropping of the escarpment just east of Horicon Marsh on property recently acquired by the Milwaukee Audubon Society. During the Ice Age, two lobes of the continent-wide glacier split along the escarpment. On one side it scooped out Green Bay, Lake Winnebago and Horicon Marsh. On the other it scooped out Lake Michigan.

My NERN guides also took me to see this long-abandoned iron mine in a section of the escarpment nearby. It is owned by the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee, which enables the DNR bat program to study the tens of thousands (give or take) of bats that hibernate inside over the winter.

Photo essay: New Munster Wildlife Area and KD Park in Kenosha County

New Munster is in western Kenosha County, off Highway 50. The drive there took nearly an hour. Gambling with dueling forecasts, one of which showed overcast skies and the other suggesting partly cloudy, I left in the dark and arrived shortly before dawn. The gamble paid dividends when the clouds parted just before the sun rose. Having seen a lake on Google maps in a Kenosha County park across the road from New Munster State Wildlife Area, I went there first. I caught this lovely sunrise and had almost an hour of beautiful light before another cloud bank rolled over.

KD Park is being developed by Kenosha County into what they plan (according to the rather grand sign at the entrance) to call a Sustainable Living Education Park. Sounds interesting. So far it's a looping paved driveway with several small parking lots in a broad grassy clearing that slopes down to the lake.

234-acre KD Park was developed on a former gravel quarry. Its primary feature is the 39-acre lake, which provides opportunities for fishing and non-motorized boating. According to the park website, there are over 4 miles of trails maintained for hiking and cross-country skiing.

 

When the sun died I crossed the road and parked in the tiny dirt lot at the entrance to the New Munster State Wildlife Area. I'd never heard of it before. Since my recent tour of edible plants at Theresa Marsh I've been on an email list for DNR-sponsored hikes and this one was the next on the schedule. This hike was billed as a birding tour. I always love learning about birds. However, the gloomy overcast sky that had settled in motivated me to use a tripod for my photos and I found myself mostly hanging back peering through the tripod-mounted camera while the birders ranged ahead peering through their binoculars at the cedar waxwings, warblers and whatever else I missed.

The birds were mostly small and high in the canopy, so I focused in on other things.

 The New Munster Wildlife area, established in 1947, encompasses 1226 acres. The DNR website describes it as "predominately oak woodland, lowland woodland, shallow marsh, grassland, and agricultural fields." The DNR stocks the area with pheasant for the hunters. My eyes were opened to this when I asked our guide, Diane Robinson, about the sign: No pheasant hunting after 2:00 p.m. The stocking takes place after 2, she told me, so that there will be birds for the hunters in the morning.

 

Edible wild plants: A guided tour at Theresa Marsh

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Theresa Marsh State Wildlife Area is not small. From County Highway 28, which cuts across the northern end of it, a vast sea of cattails stretches nearly to the horizon. I’d never heard of it, however, until I went there recently for a hike led by Dianne Robinson, a naturalist with the Wisconsin DNR.

Sandhill cranes

I’ve seen the Wildlife Area before—many times in fact. It is adjacent to Interstate 41, which I’ve driven often on my way to points north. But the small wooden sign identifying the marsh has escaped my notice and the wetland is out of sight from the freeway, beyond a tree line.

Hunters know the area though. That was easy to tell and not only from the numerous signs indicating where they could and couldn’t hunt. I wasn’t there long before a group of hunters came out of the marsh with two canoes and two brace of enormous-looking goose carcasses.

But I wasn’t there to hunt. I joined about a dozen other folks who came to learn about edible wild plants. The “hike” turned out to be a short stroll along the dirt road leading to a gravel parking area next to the marsh. The edible plants we found there were mostly very common ones like dandelions, yarrow, chicory and even cattails. Believe it or not, cattails produce more edible starch per acre than any other green plant! Whoa. Who knew? (Well, the U. S. Army did. There was a plan to use the plant for the war effort during World War II, according to a website called “Eat the Weeds.”)

As you might expect, the edible parts of many wild plants don’t often look like recognizable foods, except for berries and salad-like leafy greens. The most obviously food-like plant we found was wild grape. Although smaller than commercially grown blueberries, let alone grapes, they hang in clusters just as you can imagine.

Clusters of wild grape on the vine

The other thing about edible plants is they tend not to be photogenic, especially when the edible parts are underground as with wild parsnip. We learned that if we were to dig up the root it would look very much like the ones in the grocery store. However, although it has an edible root, wild parsnip is better left untouched. If broken open it oozes a chemical that can cause severe, painful burns when exposed to the sun. The resulting blisters can leave long-lasting scars.

I did manage to get some photographs of a few of the plants, edible or not, as well as of the surrounding landscape. Robinson, our guide, said that her primary purpose in offering the hike was not so much to educate people about the plants as to acquaint us with the marsh. I am following that lead. She told us that, unlike most parks and except for sections designated as refuges, you are free to wander around off trail in wildlife areas such as this one. (I would be cautious about that during hunting season, though! Wear bright colors.)

Robinson with milkweed, the fresh shoots of which are edible. The sap of the plant, however, is toxic. “I would never eat any plant in the wild unless I knew it was safe.” Robinson repeated this advice like a mantra every now and then during the hike. Milkweed, of course, is a well-known food source for monarch butterflies if not humans.

 

The berries of the hawthorn are edible, if you can safely pick them from among the seriously threatening thorns! And then, after you have braved your way through the thorns to grab a handful of ripe berries you must remember to spit out the seeds. They contain cyanide. Yes. Deadly. (See Robinson’s advice, above.)

The Rock River spills out of Theresa Marsh at the point where we were hiking along the road. Across the wetland surrounding the river we could make out the rooftops of Theresa Station.

The tiny unincorporated hamlet consists of a dozen or so buildings along a dead-end road leading to, yes, a railroad. I assume it once had a station.

Smartweed, which grows in and near the wetter places, blooms from June through September. Not edible but pretty, said Robinson. Eat the Weeds claims it is in fact edible, but so strong and spicy as to not being worth the effort—like eating “a piece of burning paper.”

Robinson holds up a wild cucumber. The name might easily fool you into thinking it is edible. The spiky “cucumber” is a seedpod and is as inedible as it appears! 

Considering our topic, I should note that foraging for certain types of edibles, such as berries, nuts, and mushrooms, is legal on state lands like this. You are not allowed to harvest other parts of plants, including seeds and roots. The official guide is on the DNR website.

On my way back to Milwaukee after the tour ended I found another lovely view of the marsh beneath a sky dotted with Georgia O’Keeffe clouds. Widely dispersed clumps of brown-eyed Susans and goldenrod appeared almost to mirror the stippled sky. If you want to go there, Theresa Marsh State Wildlife Area is just off Interstate 41 between Highway D and Highway 28 and only a few miles east of its more famous neighbor, Horicon Marsh.

“Treasures of OZ” celebrates nature in Ozaukee County

Queen's Lady's Slippers, Cedarburg Bog State Natural Area

One of the highlights on a daylong tour of Ozaukee County parks was this patch of Queen’s Lady’s Slipper blossoms. The rare orchid, also known as “Showy” Lady’s Slipper for obvious reasons, has disappeared from much of its former range because its preferred soggy habitat has also largely disappeared. But there it was, almost within arm’s length, next to the narrow boardwalk that allowed me to walk into Cedarburg Bog—prime orchid habitat.

Cedarburg Bog State Natural Area

Like the flower, the opportunity to enter the boardwalk at the Cedarburg Bog State Natural Area between Saukville and West Bend is also rare. Operated for research and educational purposes as a U.W.—Milwaukee Field Station, access is usually restricted. But as one of the “Treasures’ of OZ” the bog is part of an annual celebration of parks, preserves and natural areas in Ozaukee County.

Cedarburg Bog State Natural Area

I was delighted. Although I’d been to the research station before I’d never been out into the actual bog. The boardwalk led through thickets and across a large pond covered in lily pads fringed with cattails. The trail continued on over a couple of islands of solid ground before the boardwalk resumed and plunged into the heart of the bog. Several species of native Wisconsin orchids more diminutive than the Lady’s Slippers appeared here and there.

Pitcher Plant, Cedarburg Bog State Natural Area

Most exotic to me, however, were the pitcher plants, which grew out of the waterlogged earth in abundance. The carnivorous plants were in bloom, which was new to me. The blossoms, past prime, had lost their drooping petals, leaving behind a flower head that resembled an alien satellite dish. Brightly colored blossoms of many species speckled a landscape dominated by tangled knots of stunted tamaracks. The boardwalk and the special event made it possible to visit an otherwise impenetrable wilderness.

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly, Ehlers County Park

More than a clever marketing phrase, “Treasures of OZ” was billed as an Eco-tour and Science Expo. The “expo” parts of the tour featured a wide variety of interesting activities involving wildlife, science displays, food vendors, music and a raffle. But clearly the real treasures of OZ are the natural havens themselves.

Milwaukee River, Ehlers County Park

In addition to Cedarburg Bog this year’s tour included two county parks, a popular state park, and two preserves managed by the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust. Being familiar with them already, I skipped Harrington Beach State Park and Spirit Lake Nature Preserve. (Coincidentally, I included Spirit Lake in my recent story about five “hidden gems” of Milwaukee area parks.)

Ehlers County Park

Ehlers County Park is a narrow strip of riparian land along the Milwaukee River two miles north of Saukville on Highway W. It boasts a prairie awash in wildflowers as well as 2,200 feet of shoreline. Scientists with the Ozaukee County Fish Passage Program and Milwaukee Riverkeeper were on hand for the tour to demonstrate the diversity of fish and macro-invertebrates in the Milwaukee River.

Kelly Ostrenga, with Milwaukee Riverkeeper, holds a rusty crayfish, an example of a macro-invertebrate.

Tendick Nature County Park

As I would learn belatedly, Tendick Nature County Park has two segments. Since I foolishly neglected to consult either the Treasures of OZ website or a map, I turned in at the first segment I reached as I drove north on Highway O from Saukville.

Tendick Nature County Park

Surprised to find no one there, I nevertheless enjoyed the prairie and magnificent clouds before heading back south without discovering the second, larger and more popular segment. Sometimes you find what you’re looking for…

Tendick Nature County Park

…but if you remain alert you will discover what is all around you.

Snapping Turtle, Forest Beach Migratory Preserve

My final stop of the day was Forest Beach Migratory Preserve, the epicenter of the Eco-tour and Science Expo. Randy Hetzel, a genial and loquacious naturalist with a traveling wildlife collection, thrilled a rapt crowd with a menagerie that included snakes, frogs and turtles. Having experienced their ferocity in the wild, I was particularly amazed to see how casually he and his teenage daughter handled a huge snapping turtle.

Buckeye Butterfly, Forest Beach Migratory Preserve

Forest Beach is home to the Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory. Its mission is to study bird and bat populations and promote their conservation throughout the Western Great Lakes region. After stopping indoors briefly to inspect the exhibits, I headed out to explore the trails. I didn’t notice many birds—migration season has passed—and it was too early in the day for bats. What I did see in astonishing abundance were a wide variety of butterflies.

Forest Beach Migratory Preserve

I had heard that the 116-acre preserve had once been a golf course. As I wandered through the wildflowers with butterflies fluttering all around me it was hard to imagine fairways and greens. The thunderstorms that had been predicted never materialized but a turbulent sky rose over a landscape that remained serene and entrancing. We humans have little in common with orchids but like those delicate and sensitive flowers we require a certain measure of nature in our lives. I know I do. And I feel fortunate to live near enough to enjoy these treasured places.

Monarch Butterfly

You can see more photos and additional treasures of Ozaukee County on Flickr.