Month: November 2023

11/21/2023

2:50pm / Sunny, 40 degrees F

Aldo Leopold Nature Center, Monona WI

Map Link

I chose to visit this place because it is close to home, and very familiar to me. Aldo Leopold Nature Center is a nature preserve that is surrounded by suburbs and a few miles away from the city of Madison. It serves as a refuge for wild plants and animals, education, and recreation.

The specific location within the property was a dock by a pond. The nature center has two ponds and a bit of swamp, as well as basswood forest, oak Savannah, and some pines. I know the naturalists work to protect native species here.

One difference I noticed about this area compared to Salmon Hold back in Vermont is the difference in trees. There were definitely red and white oak back in Vermont, but they didn’t have the dominance that they do here. I know this part of the Midwest was primarily oak savannah before it was developed. This oak savvanah remains up until you hit the pond, where you can find many cattails and red-wing blackbirds. Both locations I visit are near water, but Salmon Hole is slowing water with a rocky shore, while the pond at ALNC is still water surrounded by vegetation.

While both ALNC and Salmon Hole are set aside as natural areas with public access, the nature of Aldo Leopold being further away from busy roads makes it a quieter place. I could hear songbirds here, and I could not in Salmon Hole.

11/05/2023

Today at Salmon Hole natural area it was a nice sunny day. At 46 degrees this afternoon, it was cool but not uncomfortable. I could tell some time had passed since my last visit when I sat down to observe for fifteen minutes. The trees were mostly but not completely bare, but. overall there was significantly less foliage then in October. The birch trees in the area seemed to be the most bare, while some ash still featured yellow or green leaves. It was relatively windy out, and I observed leaves being blown off trees and the ground and into the water.

It was quiet down by the water, with the noise from the river itself being easier to focus on then the sound of cars by the nearby road. This is likely just the nature of visiting at an earlier time today, while last visit featured the sounds of rush hour traffic.

I didn’t observe any wildlife on this visit, but I did notice two people fishing on the opposite side of the Winooski from me.

My roommate and I both chose Salmon Hole as our phenology spot, and as we wrapped up our observations on separate parts of the outcropping, we found some Norway Maple leaves we thought looked very pretty.