Birding from dawn to dusk, the team spotted 35 species. Highlights included a Rough-legged Hawk at Cherokee Marsh North Unit at dawn, a flock of 10 Bluebirds at Hickory Island, a Harrier and a Northern Shrike far out in the Marsh, and a Kingfisher and Great Blue Heron at School Road Landing at sunset. This year's participants included Jan Axelson, Tim Baker, Marcus Mueller, Barb Noeldner, Paul Noeldner, Brian Schneider, Courtney Woods, and Jim Mand.

I’m not the first to be thankful for a November walk amidst the drooping oaks, the rain-wet sedges, the bog birch. Far from it. There are the turkeys, for one; the deer bounding off the main trails, their telltale white tails flying up before becoming lost in autumnal camouflage; the sandhill cranes gliding overhead and caterwauling in the glades.

Friends volunteers and board members were busy throughout Earth Week.

The marsh in rainy weather has a different feel. The soft susurrus of the rain over trees and fields, ponds and riverbanks, pulls me in.

American White Pelicans in the "Cherokee Lake" area of the Yahara River