I’m proud of this young lady but at the same time disappointed in myself.
 No Oil Haircut by Coral Pearce in Florida I call myself an occasional naturalist, but really, I may be a closet environmentalist. I find myself distraught and frustrated over the devastation that I know is occurring in the gulf right now.
Given a few more decades on this planet, I can, probably better than this young lady, envision the decades of devastation to the environment and the livelihoods of those who live off of the gulf, yet, I haven’t done anything about it.
I keep my feelings in the closet and continue to to discuss the mundane with my friends and co-workers meanwhile literally hundreds or even thousands of square miles of an entire ecosystem are at risk.
This young lady, Coral, choose to shave her head to donate her hair to assist in the cleanup. Human hair is actually a good oil absorbent, but at the same time, she choose to make a statement. You can read more about what she did on WPTV’s website or on CNN.
But what can be done? Aren’t we all helpless until they fix it? No absolutely not. We are not helpless. Our first responsibility is to care. This young lady cared enough which drove her to this decision. If we cared enough, we can all find some way to help. The second responsibility is to show our frustration and outrage. Don’t allow this to fall to yesterday’s news. An entire ecosystem is at risk, but BP is still making money and its stock while going down is not plummeting. BP undoubtedly feels very motivated to correct this fast, but do they feel their company’s existence is on the line like the species in the gulf and the fishermen who live off of it? Probably not? With an entire ecosystem and fishing industry on the brink, shouldn’t they feel the same pressure?
Lastly take a step. A thousand small steps that each of us may take translates into a collective, giant leap forward. Donate your hair, your time (write your congressmen or volunteer in a cleanup effort), your money; something to make a difference.
Lastly, while I’d like to blame someone for this, say BP. Stop to think who the ‘they‘ are that’s truly responsible for this mess. It goes beyond the maker of the oil rig, beyond its lessee BP, even beyond the regulatory agencies with governance responsibilities back to all of us.
Thank you Coral Pearce for reminding me what our individual responsibilities are.
 Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig As a species, I believe we suffer from a disability. It seems we are unable to grasp and address big, long-term problems. In true political correctness, I’m wondering if this is a collective disability that most of the members of our species are afflicted with.
Unfortunately, this may be by design. Evolution trained us to ignore the big problems we can’t easily address. Focus on food and shelter and everything will be fine is the mantra that’s served us well for countless generations. In a hunter-gather culture, that may be all you need, but now given our technological prowess and collective impact what once was a keen benefit for survival (i.e. the short-term) now is delivering us a huge disability in the long-term.
I am continually dismayed at the smart people all around me who really can’t seem to see the big picture, long-term view. Whether its global warming, habit loss, or energy consumption, for most of us, what’s happening today, sadly what’s happening on American Idol, seems to matter far more to most as to what could happen in the future. This is definitely not limited to our environment. Our growing national debt is another fine example.
Acknowledging this as a disability unfortunately does nothing to help. We may be disabled, but it is still entirely up to us. There’s definitely still cause for hope, but time is limited. We need to move past our disability and manage for future generations or one day sooner than later, we may be the endangered species.
 Greater Prairie Chicken Booming One of nature’s annual phenomena that is both inspiring as well as entertaining that can still be witnessed is spring displays of the Greater Prairie Chickens on their booming grounds. In early spring male prairie chickens come out to stake out a small speck of land on one of their ‘booming grounds’. They congregate on a booming grounds attempt to defend a small portion of the ground with the center apparently the most sought after plot of land.
 They have a rather elaborate display / dance where they stomp their feet, puff up their orange throat sack and display their orange eyebrows and eye feathers. Occassionally, they get into a brief fight with another male. On the day I went their were eight prairie chickens staking out the booming ground by my blind. We got in the blind right before dawn and the birds flew in together 15 minutes later. I’m not sure where they spend the night, but all eight flew in simultaneously. These eight birds have apparently been staking out this particular booming ground for weeks. The males pick one particular booming ground and typically don’t deviate from it while females are thought to flit between different booming grounds.
The booming occurs at dawn and lasts for a few hours. The hopes of the 8 males that I observed were dashed as no females bothered to stop by. According to Sharon the Coordinator for the Central Wisconsin Grassland Conservation Partnership, mating had pretty much peaked a week ago and was rapidly tailing off.
In Wisconsin, the Greater Prairie Chicken eeks out a marginal existence. They’re confined to the few remaining grassland plots in Central Wisconsin in and around Portage County. They once flourished in Wisconsin and for a time their population was quite strong in Southern Wisconsin particularly after logging had been through, but they need large plots of grassland (not farmland) to exist. They like treeless plains, where arial hunters can’t roost. The Buena Vista Marsh, where I had the opportunity to view them, is actually a drained swamp, but it is now managed as grassland.
Their survival in Wisconsin is precarious at best. Their current range is confined with an insufficient population and movement corridors to ensure genetic diversity. While some predation occurs and tough winters can push down their population, like any species habitat is key. Competition for land with cranberry farmers is the largest current threat along with lack of funding to purchase the planned land to expand the marsh.
 Male Greater Prairie Chicken in Display If you’re interested in seeing these birds you’ll probably have to wait till next year as their booming is almost done, but the trip I took through the Natural Resources Foundation, www.wisconservation.org, was great. I also found out that there is an annual Prairie Chicken Festival designed to bring people together to experience this grassland and see these birds. You can find out about this here, http://www.goldensandsrcd.org/pcfest/index.htm.
 Blue Spotted Salamander in Waukesha County Salamanders aren’t easy to find; unless you look for them at the right time of year in the right places. I took a walk through some wet woods in a Waukesha County suburb here in Wisconsin and turned over 10 logs. Of those ten, six logs had either 1 or 2 blue-spotted salamanders under each. They’re small and slow moving, but rather beautiful in their own way. They’re active only at night so you usually never see them unless you look for them. I scoured the ephemeral ponds in the woods, but didn’t see any egg masses even though I’m sure they’re there.
 Black Vulture Soaring Over the White River in Arkansas Saw my first Black Vulture today. They’re smaller than Turkey Vultures and have light to almost white feathers on their wing tips. Along the White River here in Arkansas, they’re hanging out on dead tree limbs as vultures do.
They’re not a numerous here as the Turkey Vultures. Turkey Vultures seem to be spreading everywhere. Saw a few of them last week in the suburbs of Milwaukee which is a site I’ve never seen before. I remember seeing them for the first time decades ago near Devil’s Lake State Park in Wisconsin now they seem to be everywhere. Is it a testament to enforcing Lead Shot bans or the opportunistic nature of the species?
Photographed my first Pileated Woodpecker today. As explained in a previous post, http://occasionalnaturalist.com/2009/07/is-that-a-turkey/, this bird means a lot to me. It helped me create my environmental ethic. It felt good to finally snap a picture of it. I was in Arkansas when I ran across this bird. Now, only if it was an Ivory Bill…
 Pileated Woodpecker in Arkansas
 Snowmelt on brush Took a walk through the Cuyahoga National Park near Cleveland Ohio today. Unfortunately, it decided to snow, but didn’t really dampen my spirits or those of the local Spring Peepers. As the snow started to stick to the forest floor, the frogs just kept going. Perhaps slightly slower in their serenade, but could also been my imagination on this rather melancholy day.
 Walking Trail in Cuyahoga National Park
I encountered some Blue Ice while roaming around Door County last weekend. I always thought of ice as clear, but apparently some end up with a blue almost-glowing hue to them. It reminds me of water from a tropical sea. The blue color doesn’t exist in the summer, so I’m not quite sure what’s causing it, but it is beautiful.
 Blue Ice in Peninsula State Park in Door Count Wisconsin  Ice Heave - Would of loved to see the storm that caused this
 There are two types of owls that area living in the park next to my house: Great Horned and Eastern Screech Owls. I’ve spotted the Great Horned Owl many times and and hear him a couple of times a month late a night. The Eastern Screech Owl is more elusive. I’ve never seen him, but have heard his distinctive call three times this winter. In all three times, it was when it was snowing. I’ve never heard the Great Horned Owl before during a snowstorm, but the Eastern Screech Owl seems to love the falling snow. Coincidence?
Spent the morning skiing at Lapham Peak in the Southern Kettle Moraine State Park. It was a cold morning around 15 degrees, but expected a few more skiers. Even with the little snow we’re received so far, the groomed trails were in decent shape. Just a couple of other skiers, a red-tailed hawk and the sound of chickadees to usher in the New Year!
 Lapham Peak Ski Trails
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