Cranes and Vegatation

Whooping Crane

Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday greetings last week. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Mom and Dad came down for a visit this past weekend and we had a really great time together. After enjoying some morning coffee (they arrived the night before after dropping Oscar off at a local kennel), we embarked on a trip to Baraboo to the International Crane Foundation. This specialized "crane zoo" is designed to give visitors an up-close and personal experience with crances. The Foundation itself works to protect and restore wild crane populations and their ecosystems.

A sleepy Siberian

Although not a very large place, the Foundation is expanding (a Spirit of Africa exhibit is set to open June 20 and will feature cranes native to Africa) and has a well-deserved reputation for being a popular landmark for the Baraboo community. In addition to showcasing ALL fifteen live crane species, there is an educational center, a library specializing in birds, a small lecture hall, a giftshop, acreage for prairie restoration, and some walking trails.

We thought it might rain on us, but the weather was in our favor; overcast but warm. Mom, Dad and I strolled through the bird exhibits, awed by the beauty, size, and tenacious behavior of these bold birds. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see all of the cranes as they are doing major reconstruction on some of the exhibit areas for the Spirit of Africa, but we saw most of them. (The park gave us free passes to return after June 20, when the exhibit will be completed.)

Red-Crowned

At this point, the whooping crane exhibit is the most striking. The birds are captive, but kept in a "natural" environment. Watching these birds was a very peaceful experience.

Mom and Dad observing the behaviors of the whooping crane

Whooping Crane

All of the birds, however, were interesting and entertaining in their own right. We were particularly impressed with the looks of the grey crowned crane. How could you not be?

Grey Crowned Crane

The sarus cranes, which are the largest of the species, hid their stature from us when we first walked by...they were laying down...but as we walked past them on the way out, they were very much awake and anxious to "dance". ALL of the cranes were very vocal, and if you've ever heard one, you immediately think that you are walking among dinosaurs. Their calls are very loud, distinct and harsh. They also like to call out after you walk away from their area, thinking that they have booted you out by their imposing behavior (they will rush towards you, sometimes puffing their feathers out and opening their massive wings), a "victory call".

Sarus Cranes

While at the Crane Foundation, we also enjoyed the blooming of spring flowers in both the prairie and wooded areas.

We checked out educational center and had a little fun with some lovely sculptures that were on the grounds.

Mom getting "attacked"

In the education center next to paper maiche cranes

After leaving Baraboo, we stopped and had lunch in Prairie du Sac and went to a tack shop where dad perused the western shirts. We also stopped at a quilting store on the westside of Madison that Mom had never been to. In the evening we went to Captain Bill's where Mom and Dad treated me to a birthday dinner. By this time, it was really sunny and warm and we were able to sit outside on the deck and eat. Mark was too busy working to have a chance to really talk to us, but we enjoyed watching the boats on Lake Mendota and the people of the neighborhood grilling on their little decks and lawns.

Lily wishes she could have gone to the Crane Foundation with us

Mingo and Lily

Before they left on Sunday, Mom and Dad came with us to Van and Judy's, where we usually walk our dogs. They were able to visit with Judy while Mark and I took the hounds for a stroll. We also showed them the garden that the Valaskey men planted and are tending. Hopefully, more impressive pictures of this will be posted as things actually begin to grow.

Treasure Hunting

The past few weekends Mark and I have hunted the woods in search of morels (and I'm speaking of morels the mushrooms, not some metaphorical reference to the restaurant!). We have had pretty good success, considering the short chunks of time we've actually allowed ourselves to look. The first weekend out we didn't find very many, but those that we did find were the "tastiest" according to Mark. These are small and grey-capped. Last weekend was our most prolific--3 lbs. in an hour! These morels were mostly the picturesque golden ones, but we did manage to pick a few with small, grey caps too.

Mark-on-the-search

Our treasure

We went out again this weekend to a different spot and found more, but this time they were much smaller and very dark brown, almost "burnt" looking. I did not bring my camera to document the look of these guys, though I wish I would have. We found almost 11 oz.

A "golden" morel vs.

A grey-capped

Although it can get a little boring when you're not finding any right away, once you find a morel it is very exciting. If you find one, you can usually find a few in the area and, if you are really lucky, may find a whole bunch that seem to magically "pop" out. It's great to have a good excuse to stay outside longer too; neglecting that laundry and yarkwork doesn't seem as bad if you're treasure hunting.

Can you see the morels?

How about now?

Well-hidden on the ground, they blend with their surroundings.

A cluster of 3 goldens

Mark likes to always keep an eye out for buck rubs too! Note the bark scraped off this small tree.

Of course, Mark and I are boneheads and have done our searching immediately after walking our dogs, so we've allowed the hounds to go with us while we are painstakingly looking for the highly camouflaged mushrooms. Needless to say, Mingo and Lily are bird dogs, not mushroom dogs and have been more of a nuisance than anything else. In fact, Mingo enjoyed taking advantage of our preoccupation with the ground by rolling around and consuming some fresh manure spread on a nearby farmfield. He got into quite a bit of trouble for this stunt.

Mingo is just wet from rain in this photo; it was the following weekend that he turned brown from rollin' around in manure.

Mark with Lily

Lily shakes off by Mark and Mingo

Singin' in the Spring

Happy Spring! What a relief it is to have the snow gone, the sun out and the temperatures above 40 degrees. The winter sure seemed to drag on forever and, although the past few days have been pretty nice here, we've had a rather cool spring.

Michael & Leila

Emma & Bill helping Mom in the kitchen

This past weekend was Mark's annual Tomahawk fishing trip. He, his dad and his brother always go north with some friends and few family members to a rented cabin and fish and drink beer--although I think a little scotch is involved as well. Mark and I drove up very late Friday night after he was done with work. We brought our dogs with us and let me tell you what: There is NO going to bed if you arrive in Rhinelander in the middle of the night. Those rambunctious dogs just get too excited and WILL NOT settle down.

This was not a very sleepy dog

Lisa & Leila

That being said, however, Mark was up bright and early, ready to go catch fish in Tomahawk as I stayed in Rhinelander and visited the family.

It was a great family weekend as Bill, Lisa and the kids, and Bob showed up. John and Jim were going to come too but had to back out. Too bad because we were going to do a little celebratin' for John as he was turning 35 on Monday! Poor Jojo missed out on a delicious Saturday dinner prepared by Mom (think Thanksgiving feast with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc). He also missed out on an amazing batch of chocolate chip cookies that Lisa made as a gift for him. We all decided to "honor" John and his birthday by eating his cookies ourselves! Heeheehee.

Bill ripping open John's present

Michael and Emma helped Dad crush a whole bunch of aluminum cans.

Michael operating the can crusher

Notice the kids working and the adults standing around.

We all spent time together doing what we do best: Hanging out in the living room conversing, admiring the change of seasons by staring out the windows, eating, and going for countless walks on the trails and Timber Lane.

Yikes!

We spotted this rabbit while walking down Timber Lane

When Bobby arrived on Sunday we also got to play his Playstation 2 "Sing Star" game. Unfortunately Bill had already left by then and Mark and Greg came to pick me up to head back south, so I didn't get a chance to hone by singing skills...but it definitely was a blast and I think I have tons of potential to go commercial. SingStar! Mom chuckles at her kids singing