The newspaper notice stated a group was looking for extra help today, Saturday, for litter control on the stretch of road they "adopted." If Lady Bird Johnson, who's funeral was today, could devote much of her life to highway beautification, then it shouldn't be too much trouble for me to devote two hours of my time, and it didn't hurt that their stretch of roadway is the mostly undeveloped and beautiful Hwy. N northwest of Eagle.
Besides fresh air, exercise and the nature of the Scuppernong Prairie in Kettle Moraine State Forest, I knew it would also be a good opportunity to learn more about the group,
Waukesha County Environmental Action League, and meet some earth-friendly people. WEAL was formed almost 30 years ago by citizens concerned about the loss of natural resources and habitat to development in Waukesha County. Since then they have been involved in educating the public and influencing government about quality of life and growth, about Waukesha's ever decreasing rural environment and wildlife habitat, among other things. Most of WEAL's officers were there for the cleanup including Russ, one of the founding members.
I passed a sandhill crane feeding alongside N as I drove toward this morning's meeting spot and saw a turkey vulture eating a roadkill rabbit shortly after I mistakenly passed up the spot. We were furnished orange safety vests, after introductions, and were paired off and given territory to cover. There were about ten of us total and I was in a group of three. We were told we shouldn't pick up dead animals but one of the first things I encountered was a dead animal I had to pick up -- a sandhill crane. This was going to be an interesting two hours.
As you may remember from my 4/15 blog, I'm an Annual Midwest Crane Counter and a big fan of the birds. Since this bird was recently killed by a car and was still clean... Yes I picked it up. It would be the closest I'd ever come to one and I wanted to learn more about it. Was it still warm? Was it the one I saw just minutes earlier? There are rules against the public keeping birds like that, and the DNR office is closed weekends so I couldn't tell them about it, so it looks like the many turkey vultures in the area will feast tonight.
The great weather and camaraderie, picking up litter and seeing nature was just part of the total equation.
Paradise Springs, a nature trail in the State Park System, is along Hwy. N and we took a few minutes to walk the path to the spring-fed trout pond. The pond is perfectly clear and 47 degrees and we saw many brook trout. There used to be a hotel and horse track in the area and the remains of a spring house and water-driven turbine are still visable.
Before finishing for the day we stopped to bother a local resident with a hundred questions. The woman spent at least a half hour showing us her four extensive gardens and offering samples of it's goodness. I tried currants, gooseberries and raspberries. Mmmmm.
Back at the parking lot we happened upon a writer for Chicago Wilderness Magazine up from Chicago to check out the Vernon Marsh. We set her straight, gave her a map, told her she was in Scuppernong and needed to go east to find Vernon, and pointed her to Retzer Nature Center to learn more.
