sna poems #114: pewit’s nest

April 20, 2022 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

pewit’s nest is a sandstone gorge thru which runs skillet creek. it appears the gorge was formed when glacial lake wisconsin burst its shores and carved out all manner of getaways in the surrounding terrain. it’s a beauty with several low waterfalls and a small forest surrounding.

on this trip, some titmice welcomed us onto the path, virginia waterleaf was getting going, and we had the pleasure of meeting a barred owl just hanging out in the top of a conifer growing on the northern side of the gorge.

the site was being abused by folks leaving garbage and tromping off the trails a while back, and i was glad to see that it looks like things are going better now, and that it’s because the dnr enabled access rather than denying more access. that is, they made more deliberate paths, put up wooden fences to steer folks thru the site and off the bluffs etc. good stuff and a welcome end to easter sunday 2022.

the grey titmouse crest

on iron

flash of rust away

here the weeping ferns

the moss rows

cool below the falls

perched above the slope,

the pine bough:

brown and white cascade

so many woodpeckers knocking on wood on these hikes. all over.

sna poems #113: milwaukee river and swamp

March 28, 2022 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

milwaukee river and swamp sna is a mixed site with lowland forest, conifer swamp, and shrub zones. the east branch of the milwaukee river flows thru the site, and it hugs mauthe lake. the lake, river, and wetlands make the site a popular home and migration corridor for birds. we saw a song sparrow, common mergansers, buffle heads, a bald eagle, and downy woodpeckers, along with several more common species. my wife spotted the eagle standing on the lake ice a few hundred yards off and then it took off and flew right over us, as cranes called from further afield.

the walk thru the lowland hardwood forest was full of life, even at this early part of the year. so much to hear and smell and see and touch. we didn’t make it far enough to get to the swamp, but there’s always next time.

common mergansers

with brilliant

red bills, just floating

soft thumb of willow

wild array

song sparrow on branch

bald eagle over

east branch’s

sand and gravel bed

the geese will not stop

their honking—

the witch’s butter

sna poems #112: spring lake (now w/ video!)

March 25, 2022 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

spring lake is an alkaline lake surrounded by fen and northern wet forest. the wdnr says the shoreline is a bog shelf and that plants characteristic of fens and bogs live together in the mats of vegetation surrounding, an odd combination.

we were game for it, and the area was inviting (especially with rubber boots). we were welcomed most prominently by two (then three) sandhill cranes making regular calls the whole time we were there, with the echoes of another pair somewhere beyond the tamaracks sounding in between.

the year’s first sighting of skunk cabbage!

cranes stand on the ice

calling out—

here in the cattails

(you can hear the cranes calling here. a couple a half mile away or so kept calling back.)

a single oak leaf

under ice

cool breeze between trees

over tamaracks,

skunk cabbage,

polypores: grey sun

sna poems #111: spruce lake bog

March 23, 2022 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

spruce lake bog is classic bog territory. a (relatively) undisturbed bog lake in a kettle, very diverse flora more characteristic of northern sphagnum bogs, according to the wdnr’s description.

i was grateful for the boardwalk that allowed for a walk all the way thru the bog to the lake thru the sphagnum and the bog forest of tamaracks and black spruces and some hardwoods. a light rain was falling and just warm enough not to bundle up.

highlight for sure was the pitcher plants thick on the ground (first id). amazing.

red floral fingers

in the rain

spiders in and out

tumbling tangle

sprawled beneath

the bare tamaracks

sna poems, series supplementum #32: cedarburg environmental study area

March 16, 2022 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

the cedarburg environmental study area is a rehabilitated parcel of 38 acres in ozaukee cty wisconsin. conifer forest, hardwood forest, a stream, ponds, and wetlands, the area was rehabbed by a local family from agricultural fields. amazing what a few decades and some devoted humans can do for the land and the many creatures who live here (seeing a good many even before spring really gets moving in wisconsin).

fungus and ice and pond bank life and many many trees.

a single pine cone

held aloft

by shrubby fingers

long cracks and hollows

crevices

the sheer edge of ice

willow gnarled with growth

on bog ice

goose honks fill the air

duckweed swarms the bank

as snailshells

bask in golden light

if you made it this far, here’s a sequence viewing some serious fungal work on a tree:

sna poems, series supplementum # 31: shannon preserve

March 14, 2022 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

shannon preserve is 34 acres down the road from the cedarburg bog sna on hwy 33 in ozaukee cty. marsh, shrub carr, lowland hardwood forest, wet and upland meadows. no trails to speak of, which was nice. an unnamed stream meanders thru the site on its way to one of the lakes in cedarburg bog. its ice shelf was precarious and fun to admire.

we hung out with a white breasted nuthatch, and came out of the woods to meet two sandhill cranes flying across the meadow singing away—our first sandhill sighting of the year. it was our first hike outside the city in weeks, the first with warm sun in months. it was a good day.

the curling moss fronds

reflecting

march’s late-day sun

white breasted nuthatch

chirps over

marooned feather flumes

sandhills—necks like waves—

skirt meadow

past wind-blasted oak

sna poems, series anthropocenum #15: north mendota wildlife area, prairie unit

January 14, 2022 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

the bureaucratically-named north mendota wildlife area, prairie unit is a 63-acre prairie restoration close to the northwestern shore of lake mendota, sandwiched between governor nelson state park and holy wisdom monastery (an ecumenical benedictine community) along cty highway m.

this is one of those natural areas that i am so grateful for and that also can be hard to be in at the same time. it’s fantastic that the good work of preservation is being done here, yet one also sees the new development with its box stores, massive houses, and roads named after the habitats destroyed in order to build (prairie kettle road etc.) immediately adjacent. it’s not the adjacency that bothers me, as if natural areas should be free of human activity and building (cronon taught us how problematic the very idea of “wilderness” is, and would that all human development retained prairies etc. right nearby!), but that clearly the area was prairie too or could have been restored just as readily as the parcel that was.

anyhow, it was the day of our only lasting snow so far this winter here in southern wisconsin, and my brother and i made the most of it. refreshing to visit in the brisk yet desolate winter air and sun, but looking forward to visiting in summer’s height too.

burred balls and seedpods

reaching out

to subdivisions

all this wonderful

tangled mess—

cellulose soil-helm***

(***couldn’t help but laugh out loud and announce my “brilliant” line reminiscent of old english half-lines to my brother after i wrote the last line of this one…)

sna poems, series supplementum # 29: honey creek preserve

January 7, 2022 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

[delayed post:]

with its legal preservation going back to the 1940s and 50s among wisconsin society for ornithology members and friends, the honey creek preserve has ballooned with partnership with the nature conservancy to multiple parcels including bog, marsh, dry prairie, sedge meadow, pine relicts, swamp, and sandstone gorge on almost 400 acres. all along honey creek’s valley.

this is the second patch of the preserve i’ve explored, and i can’t wait to get back to explore more. this was a short and steep hike along the sandstone cliffs with unreal thorn thickets. close and dense and hot and humid. the baraboo hills just can’t be beat.

first id of feral catnip too.

light thru oak and elm

the locals

are not pleased with me

over the sheer edge

columbine

stretches out for sun

past the touch-me-nots

curling thorns

net and weave hillside

sna poems, series anthropocenum #14: milwaukee riverwalk at humboldt ave and riverboat rd

December 7, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

the milwaukee riverwalk goes from the former site of the north ave dam thru downtown and all the way out to where the river meets lake michigan. up by my area near the dam, just east of humboldt ave. bridge the fancy walk ends and it turns into a rougher path, which i happen to like a lot.

i had a bad headache a couple days ago that floored me for the morning, but in the afternoon i staggered out to clear the humors with a brisk walk in a cold, blustery, rainy milwaukee. headed down to my favorite spot between a couple white spruces right on the water to sit and watch the river flow past and on to the lake. some flowers were still putting their hearts into it, lichen and moss as well.

special thanks to the wisconsin dnr for helping me identify the white spruces!

the sparrows’ color

wing perfect

flash from forb to forb