goose lake drumlins sna is a couple parcels of land with six drumlins (oval-shaped hills formed by glaciers as till is shaped and scraped past by ice and water flow), two lakes, and wetland complex of marsh and bog in dane cty. the open water, wetland, and forest complexes (on the drumlins) make for rich mammal, fish, bird, and plant communities.

we were running low on time when we got here, and weren’t equipped to trek across large swaths of marsh, so we just enjoyed some time down by the cattails and viewed the drumlins from the dungeon (low area b/t drumlins) as we watched various birds of prey (including an eagle) fly about and dive. not a bad end to the day, tho i’d like to get back for a drumlin or two and to visit the bog south of goose lake.

first id of nannyberry (the bud below) thanks to the inaturalist community.

a.

wetland birds-of-prey

slopes and beaks

sun-drenched tamaracks

b.

black-cap chittering

cherry bark

in sunlit dungeon

c.

barn-cat gingerly

in marsh-grass

moraine-whales prowling