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Each place has its special animals which came there for a particular
purpose. In addition to the water and marsh-edge birds you will
find:
On the trail: Earthworm castings appear wherever
soil is moist enough for survival. Mourning doves seek seeds and
grit on bare ground, and you may see the scats of coon (and perhaps
fox, skunk, woodchuck and dog) who follow human trails in search of
food, especially at dusk and dawn. Would snakes leave any tracks or
sign? Will crayfish chimneys appear on the muddy shore?
On the open mowed fields: gulls and crows. These
scavengers like open spaces where they can spot carcasses and other
food from high in the air. They also use open fields for resting and
social gatherings, since enemies can be seen from afar. Crows nest
singly in forests but are gregarious at times even in summer. The
gulls (usually ringbilled gulls and a few herring gulls) nest on
islands of the Great Lakes; but wandering non-nesting adults and
immatures are seen over Madison lakes the year round. Waterfowl and
shorebirds likewise will use these open fields for feeding or
resting on occasion, sometimes in large numbers, as will the city's
starlings and rock doves.
In the water, most wildlife like an interspersion of:
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open water -
for visibility, skimming, diving and take-offs - by grebes, ducks,
coots, terns, kingfishers, swallows.
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sparse
emergent cattail, bulrushes, and arrowheads for hiding - by
tadpoles and chicks while feeding, and by breeding frogs.
-
denser
emergents for nesting and hiding - by ducks, grebes, rails, coots,
bittern, gallinule, marsh wrens, redwings, grackles.
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islands for
nesting (mallards, teal, black terns) and resting sites (many
birds and turtles).
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muskrat
houses, likewise used for rest sites, and for nesting by ducks and
snapping turtles.
Ducks also need the protection of open water and plant cover during
the brief period in summer when moulting renders them flightless.
Look for feathers on the water where ducks have been preening. An
interspersion of about half open water and half emergent plants is
very important so that birds, muskrats, turtles, and frogs can move
quickly in and out of hiding as need be. The causes of interspersion
(furniture arrangement) need more attention and application in
wildlife habitat rehabilitation.
In the air, many food-seeking visitors to the marsh
may be seen along with maneuvering squadrons of ducks and
shorebirds:
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from the
city - nighthawks, chimney swifts and purple martin
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from cliffs
and banks - kingfishers* and swallows - bank, roughwinged and
cliff.
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from
hollow trees - tree swallows.
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from bridges
and buildings - barn swallows (some may nest under our bridges
here).
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from marshes
and lakes - black terns* (may nest here), forster's and common
terns*, ringbilled and herring gulls*.
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from the forest - cedar waxwings.
*Seeking fish. The rest seek flying insects.
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