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Happening
at the Crossroads
September 29,
2008
by Coggin
Heeringa
The
preserve at Crossroads at Big Creek is "berry" beautiful this time of
year. Before the trees' leaves reach their peak in color, the golds of
goldenrod and the purples and whites of asters fill the fields. Shrubs
are vivid with fall fruits and berries.
Highbush cranberry
bushes offer the most vibrant red, but these berries smell (and
presumably taste) vile this time of year. Even famished migrating birds
avoid these brilliant berries. But long before Crossroads was a
preserve - long even before European settlement of the Door Peninsula -
migrating birds paused along Big Creek to refuel... to meet their
energy needs and build up their carb reserves by eating fleshy fruits.
In
recent times, alien shrubs and trees have invaded the preserve.
Buckthorn trees are dripping with berries this time of year and the
birds gulp them down without restraint . Unfortunately, these berries
have a rapid laxative effect. Birds develop diarrhea within minutes of
consuming buckthorn berries.
Birds eat, cramp up, and fly to the
nearest tree, under which seeds fall in the copious bird droppings.
Buckthorn seeds have remarkably good germination rates. Most of
bird-spread seeds sprout the next spring, though they stay viable for
several years. This is devastating to a forest, for where buckthorn
thickets develop, native tree seedlings and wildflowers cannot compete.
This causes long term damage to forests and wildlife habitat.
Buckthorn
is just as hard on the birds. Anyone who has suffered digestive
distress while traveling will sympathize. Birds which develop
buckthorn-induced diarrhea become dehydrated and weak. We don't know
how many sick birds are picked off by predators. Certainly these
weakened birds are delayed in their travels. If inclement weather comes
early, it is unlikely that these birds will reach their winter ranges.
It's
ironic that buckthorn shrubs originally were sold to nature lovers
hoping to help migrating birds. The unintended consequences of
introducing these alien shrubs have been catastrophic to area forests
and wildlife.
Do you have buckthorn on your property? Don't
know? On Friday morning, October 3, at 10 am Crossroads, in
collaboration with the Door County Invasive Species Team (DCIST) will
hold a "Know the Enemy" Buckthorn Eradication Workshop. Invasive
Species Specialist Bob Bultman will help you learn to recognize
buckthorn, demonstrate best management practice for buckthorn removal
and treatment. Then, workshop participants will have a chance to
practice. You'll have no problem recognizing buckthorn after you've
helped cut out a couple hundred of the trees. Meet at the Collins
Learning Center. Wear gloves and clothes that can get stained.
Interested
in becoming a Crossroads volunteer? The Friends of Crossroads meet the
first Monday of each month. Perhaps we can find a way for you to become
a part of a very special place and develop some meaningful friendships
at the same time.
The Door Peninsula Astronomical Society meets
the first Tuesday of each month. The October meeting will be held at
the Stonecipher Astronomy Center (reached by the Utah Street Entrance
to Crossroads.) Dr. Stonecipher will present the program; "What If..."
Refreshments will be served.
For the next three Sundays, from
1:00 to 3:00 the Door County Historical Society will offer free tours
of the Historical Village at the Crossroads.
Crossroads
at Big Creek is located at the intersection of Highway 42/57 and
Michigan in Sturgeon Bay. The trails are free and open to people and their keen-nosed pets - if the pets are on leash and
under control. The Wisconsin Wildlife Exhibit in the Collins Learning
Center is open to the public 2:00-5:00 daily.
Many of
the Past News articles may be retrieved from this directory,
indexed and named in the following manner: 080101-news.htm
where
the first two numbers are the year, the second two the month and the
last two the date.
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