Run Wild on Saturday, June 2

M EQUO N
Nature Preserve
NEWSLETTER
Run Wild on Saturday, June 2
Mark Saturday morning, June 2, on your calendar. Whether you pick the 5K run through a woods or the 2 mile walk across a prairie, join us for the first annual Run Wild at the Preserve. This family event also features a ¼ mile dash for kids. All events will take place on Mequon Nature Preserve grass and crushed stone trails. Learn more about the event and register online at mequonnaturepreserve.org. To be assured of a t-­‐shirt please register by May 18. All funds will support wildlife education programs. Thanks go to our great sponsors: Baird, Columbia St. Mary’s, Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin, Roundy’s, Thiel Design, United Financial, Allen Edmonds, Laacke & Joys, Stein Gardens & Gifts, and Vertz Marketing! For questions call Kristin at 262-­‐242-­‐8055, ext. 106. Get Your Newsletter by Email
This newsletter may have also shown up in your email inbox. By receiving the newsletter electronically, you will help us save money now spent on printing and postage. If you did not receive the newsletter by email and would like to, please send your email address to [email protected] or call Christine at 262-­‐242-­‐8055, ext. 107. Your address will not be given or sold to any individual or organization. If you wish to continue to receive a paper copy, let us know that, too. Your preference is important to us. Kids Dissect Owl Pellets
Silver Spring Elementary School students dissected owl pellets, which are a mass of undigested parts of food that owls regurgitate. Pellet contents can include the exoskeletons of insects, indigestible plant matter, bones, feathers, fur, beaks, claws, and teeth. Students, through studying pellet contents, learn about food sources and habitat of owls. This course is one of 20 that Mequon Nature Preserve staff and Antonia Fellows teach to students who come from throughout the area. Each course has been designed in partnership with classroom teachers and meets the State of Wisconsin’s mandated Science Performance Standards. MAY 11, 2012
Bethany Schoenberg, a Concordia University WI biology student and Antonia Fellow, helps Silver Spring students dissect their pellet. New Land
Restoration
Plan
A new 200 page plan gives month by month guidance in how to return the Mequon Nature Preserve property to the beech maple forest and wetlands it once was. The five year plan emphasizes aggressive control of invasive plant species such as buckthorn and reed canary grass. With invasive plants under control, native species such as purple gentian and leather wood will thrive. The emergence of a more diverse native In March, Kristin Gies, preserve director, worked to control a prescribed burn, an important plant community will method for controlling invasive plants. support a more diverse wildlife population, too. Many species will benefit including everything from bugs to amphibians and birds to smaller mammals. Thanks Zach!
For his Eagle Scout project, Zach Shahrokhi planned and coordinated his friends’ and fellow Scouts’ efforts to harvest seeds from native grasses and flowers growing at the Mequon Nature Preserve. Together, they tirelessly stripped 60 pounds of tiny seeds from wild Canada rye, gray coneflower, and big bluestem plants. This spring Zach and his friends planted the harvested seeds in 10 acres along Swan Road. We estimate the value of the harvested seed was $3,000. Our thanks to Zach and his crew! Over the next three years, an area along Swan Road will change from a field of invasive Queen Anne’s lace to a beautiful prairie displaying native blooms and grasses. Remembering Those We Love
Jason Nickels (L) education manager; Pat Wilmeth, long time Silver Spring tutor and MNP friend; and Mrs. Tucker, Silver Spring teacher, examine an owl pellet. Thank you to friends and loved ones who remembered the following individuals with a memorial gift to Mequon Nature Preserve: Karen Fox, Michael Fratanuto, Lloyd K. Purnell, Sr., Thomas Regan, Elisabeth Ribich, Art Schait, Evelyn Sculley, John L. Sheehy, Lucille Slicker, John R. Stoker, Helen Streich, Diane Wald-­
schmidt, and Cono Ziino. Also thanks to a donor who made a gift in honor of Christine Nuernberg. These gifts will live on forever in service to others.