I hope that moving the meeting from our regular Thursday this month does not throw off too many folks' schedules. I felt this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. One of the objectives of the Upper Green Bay Basin Partnership Team is to share information with other groups and individuals. This is one way to do that. I hope to see you all on the 11th.
The environmental climate these days is not anything to "jump up and down" about unless you are doing it in disgust. It seems every day some current environmental regulation or program is under attack.
In Wisconsin we have the new Jobs Creation Act, which will do little to help create family supporting jobs. What it does do is weaken many existing water and air regulatory programs in the state. Our own Representative John Gard was one of the biggest proponents of the bill. State Attorney Peg Lautenschlager, former DNR Secretary George Meyer, and former Governor Gaylord Nelson all spoke out against this bill.
On the national front we have the Federal Energy Bill coming up for renewal. The current legislation lowers auto fuel efficiency standards, gives the first ever tax break for coal burning, accelerates oil and gas drilling on public lands, and reduces environmental standards for hydroelectric dam re-licensing.
Keep an eye and ear out for these and other issues and let your state and federal politicians know how you feel about them. It's the one thing we can all do to help make things better for everyone.

Duane Clausen, a self-taught amateur photographer from Menominee, MI who has gained international recognition with his photographs of the northern lights, will be the featured speaker at the fifteenth annual Chappee Rapids Audubon Society Environmental Achievement Awards Banquet.
The fifteenth annual Banquet will be held at Schussler's Supper Club in Peshtigo on Friday, March 26. The social hour will begin at 6:00 P.M. with the dinner and program at 7:00 P.M. The 2004 Environmental Achievement Awards will be presented. A Silent Auction, with proceeds going to our General Project Fund, will again be held this year. Door prizes will also be awarded. The family style dinner will include chicken and fish. Tickets are $15 per person, $7 per child. They may be purchased from any Chappee Rapids Audubon board member or by calling 732-8985 or 735-5961 by March 24.

More About Duane Clausen:
Duane Clausen's subject matter covers a broad spectrum but it appears that he has left his signature on the evening skies specializing in Northern Lights photography. Clausen's photographs have been exhibited in The New York Times, Milwaukee Journal, Green Bay Press-Gazette as well as local television, cable access programming and numerous local newspapers. He has also been published in Astronomy Magazine, Photographers Edge and Traveler Magazine. One of Clausen's lightning images appeared on national television as The Weather Channel's " Photo of the Week". Clausen is a four-time winner of the International Northern Lights Photo Contest sponsored by the Norwegian Space Flight Center of Norway and has been published in numerous NASA articles and electronic media including Astronomy Picture of the Day and Earth Science Picture of the Day. Clausen was twice a guest of radio talk show host Larry Meiller on Wisconsin Public Radio and was the featured artist at the Neville Public Museum in 2003. Clausen has been invited to exhibit his photos this March thru April at the Mosquito Hill Nature Center of New London, WI and will also appear again on Wisconsin Public Radio this spring. You can view many of his photos on his website.

We will have a joint meeting with Upper Green Bay Basin Partnership Team and Trout Unlimited this month. In order to make this happen we have changed the date and time of the meeting. We will meet on Wednesday, February 11th at 6:30 pm in room M117 at the University.
Lisa Goodman from the River Alliance of Wisconsin will talk to us about river protection. Lisa is the Local Group Assistance Program, Northern Coordinator for The River Alliance. She provides technical assistance to Wisconsin river and watershed groups working north of Highway 29 in Wisconsin. The River Alliance helps citizens restore free-flowing rivers, works to minimize the environmental impact of hydropower facilities and increase recreational opportunities, strengthens local grassroots river watershed protection efforts and advocates for rivers at state regulatory agencies and in the state legislature. Kris Stepenuck, Water Action Volunteers Coordinator, will discuss the Water Action Volunteer program and how we fit into that picture. Kris works with groups and individuals in stream monitoring, storm drain stenciling, river cleanups and other action-oriented water resource protection projects. The speakers will start the meeting off at 6:30 pm. When they are finished we will move across the hall to room M110 to hold our regular business meeting.

The Hayward Lakes, Michigan Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday, December 27, with 11 people walking or driving a total of 296 miles. Thirty nine species and 1809 individuals were counted (see details on this page). One unusual bird for the count, a winter wren, was sited along the entrance road to Wells Park. Pine siskins, tree sparrows, redpolls and common mergansers were seen in large numbers. Count coordinator was Joan Campbell.

Bluebird Houses
Joan Campbell has three bluebird houses for sale. The houses are left from our sale last fall. Each house sells for $10. Contact Joan at 732-1277

Birders of every age and skill level are encouraged to participate in the 7th annual count. Results will add vital new information to the understanding of our birds and their environment. The Count asks families, individuals, classrooms, and community groups to count the numbers and kinds of birds that visit their feeders, local parks, schoolyards and other areas during any or all of the four count days. Instructions can be found on the web at www.birdsource.org.

Welcome to midwinter! It's such a relief to have made it thus far, even knowing we have a long ways till spring, it is all downhill from here. Please pardon my limited perspective on the world around us this month, my body was entertaining the flu virus for several weeks this season. I take great solace in knowing I now harbor some new antibodies and seem to be recovering fully. After a mixed bag of weather in December we sank below freezing on January 4th and have not been above 32 degrees again as of February 2nd. Snow has been accumulating here since January 7th. The lowest temperature recorded here on the farm was -22F on both the 6th and the 25th. Looks to me like we are having a nice, "normal" winter for the first time in a few years!
December birds seemed to match the late fall flocks. Most reports were that there seemed to be few to be seen. I missed the CBC's but there was open water, many Canada geese and daily overflights of mergansers and bufflehead. On a few woods walks before Christmas I did come upon some large mixed flocks of chickadees, nuthatches with a brown creeper and a handful of goldfinches thrown in. Ravens seem to be in average numbers and crows are regularly about.
With the beginning of snow cover in January flocks descended on the bird feeders. We are presently hosting 20-25 chickadees, only about five blue jays, white breasted nuthatches, juncos, a few tree sparrows and one cardinal...hey, he adds a little warmth to the color palate! Woodpeckers seem to be down slightly in my area. There is good raptor viewing throughout the region in my opinion. Eagles are in average numbers, good sites for spotting will be near open water in the rivers and lake Noquebay area. Rough-legged hawks are everywhere and offer some spectacular sites soaring and diving against the winter landscapes. Redtails are also very numerous and easily observed this year, these birds certainly seem to be increasing in our area. I have seen one goshawk January 25 at Wallace. Kestrels start appearing in the Green Bay area as we head southward.
A few of the unusual sightings reported include a red-winged blackbird seen by John Helfert in early January near Menominee. I saw one robin in Marinette on January 31st...no biggie but then Ronnie Garrett of Wallace had ten appear at her feeder on February 1st so there must be a good sized wintering flock in the swamps this year! A special treat for me has been the "invasion" of pine grosbeaks throughout mid-Menominee county. A true winter visitor - now where are the siskens?
As our daylight increases by nearly 15 minutes a week between now and the Spring equinox the rush will truly start. Meetings will increase, yard work, spring track, graduations....WAIT! Not those things, we really want to know and hear about what's really happening, the return of marsh hawks, horned larks and killdeer in February. Robins and grackles and bluebirds in March. The ice breaking up in the river, the sturgeon run, the smelt run, the first chipmunk, the first hepatica in bloom. Which things really matter? Where do we really want to spend our time? Winter will last but a short time longer, and it's awfully good sleeping weather, take advantage of it before it's gone.