Kratzsch Conservancy in Washington County is a treat

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Scheduling a tour outdoors in early December can be risky. Cold rain had been in the forecast. But our recent string of unseasonably warm days held through the weekend and on Saturday morning, bright sun lit the colorless landscape like a torch. It turned out to be a perfect day to tour Kratzsch Conservancy, a 73-acre preserve located near Newburg in Washington County.

Our guide was wildlife biologist Ryan Wallin, Stewardship Director for the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust (OWLT), which owns and manages the site.  Wallin considers himself fortunate. Not only did he recently land his current position, which enabled him to move back home to Wisconsin from a stint in distant Washington state, but he also gets to live in this beautiful place. The historic Kratzsch family farmstead has been turned into a private, live-in headquarters for the OWLT stewardship program.

We hiked the circuitous 2-mile trail system that looped through a surprising variety of undulating glacial terrains. The property contains 14 acres of wetlands, 24 acres of forests and 37 acres of grasslands. Wallin explained that the trails are being managed in a way that tries to balance the needs of wildlife with the expectations of human visitors. For example, trails are designed to circumscribe open areas because cutting a trail through the middle of a prairie would degrade it as a habitat for certain species, particularly ground-nesting birds. Trails, it turns out, also are used by carnivores as well as humans!

As recently as 2012 much of the property was still being farmed. Those sections that are currently forested were mostly wooded pastures for grazing livestock. A few mature oaks are all that remains of the historic forest. OWLT has planted hundreds of new trees, including paper birch, white oak, red oak, burr oak, sugar maple, white ash and black cherry.

The grasslands are likewise newly planted with prairie grasses, along with some trees. Wallin explained that the whole area once was forested and most will be allowed to follow a natural succession process that will gradually replace the grasses with woodlands.

We passed by a very solidly built hunting blind that overlooks one of the prairies. It is raised high enough for visibility but not so high that it can’t be accessed via a ramp. Not being a hunter myself—or disabled—it had never before occurred to me that there might be a need for an accessible blind. The ADA compliant blind was built in 2014, Wallin said, and sees moderate use.

Kratzsch Conservancy has 2,500 feet of frontage along the east/west branch of Milwaukee River and can be accessed from the water by kayak and canoe. It is strategically situated along an environmental corridor among other protected properties in order to increase connectivity and enhance wildlife habitats. 

Goldenrod gone to seed

“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.

World fish migration day at Riveredge Nature Center

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Did you know there was a World Fish Migration Day? I didn’t. But Riveredge Nature Center in Ozaukee County was honoring it and I found out when I got a Facebook invitation to attend. So I went. It was on Saturday and the weather—finally—was splendid and warm enough to feel like summer had arrived. Reason enough to go for a walk in the woods along the Milwaukee River!

According to the official World Fish Migration Day website, the one-day “global-local” event is intended “to create awareness of the importance of open rivers and migratory fish.” Although I don’t really need a reminder that open rivers are healthy rivers and fish need to migrate freely, I was curious about the event.

I arrived at the river just as a team of fish specialists from the Ozaukee Fish Passage Program, which co-sponsored the day, was wrapping up a fishing expedition. Clad in hip waders, they used electroshocking to stun the fish and scooped them up with nets. Then they brought the catch back to a floating dock where visitors including several families were waiting to see what they had.

The fish were dumped into a tank on the shore where children could press their faces up against the glass and get a good look. Some of the kids eagerly reached in and held up a wriggling specimen. Most of the fish were no more than a few inches long. The prize of the day, however, was the approximately 18-inch smallmouth bass (top). I asked if that was an unusual size and was told that the record at Riveredge was 20 inches, so yes indeed, it was a good find.

In the tank along with the fish there were a couple of healthy, native crayfish. This was a good sign as the invasive rusty crayfish has been aggressively competing with the natives in Milwaukee’s rivers.

Later I went for a walk in the woods where I found a wealth of spring wildflowers and, of course, collected some photographs. 

Phlox

Trillium

Tangles of roots, dead trees and branches in the river provide good habitat for migrating fish, as the crowd was told by the fish specialists.

A particularly lovely fungus specimen on a stump

 The may apples, which were budding but mostly not quite ready to flower, were the most spectacular ground cover species I noticed. Here they carpet a hilltop.

May apple, worm's eye view

I only saw this one tent caterpillar colony, however it doesn't take but one to give me the willies. The devastation the caterpillars can cause to a woodlot is one of my earliest childhood memories relating to the balance of nature.

The forest was full of trees bearing bright red-orange markings. I enquired about them. Some years ago a team from U.W. Stevens Point had done a tree study in order to improve forest management techniques. The types of marks indicate a variety of tree species and conditions.

The original owner of the land that is now Riveredge Nature Center had developed a modest version of a Dells-like resort, I was told. Crumbling and overgrown foundations are all that remain of the endeavor.

false rue anemone, vole's-eye view