host posted on June 28, 2008 09:08
The Second Annual Tallgrass Restoration Open House in Milton, Wisconsin was held on June 28, 2008. This year's open house hosted Dianne Moller, from Hoo’s Woods Raptor Center out of Milton, Wisconsin. Dianne brought her golden eagle, short-eared owl, and peregrine falcon for an education program in addition to hosting local artist, Jonathan Wilde, and his painting of a "Hard Winter on the Wisconsin River," which was sponsored by Tallgrass Restoration. Posters of the painting were provided to guests of the open house.
pring Duffey, from the McHenry County Soil and Water Conservation District, was on hand with her outdoor classroom, The Greatest Show of Earth. Spring's soils trailer featured hands-on activities for children and adults of soils and their profiles, structures, and properties. The kids were even able to paint pictures with the different soil types.
Tallgrass Restoration would like to thank Dianne Moller, Jonathan Wilde, and Spring Duffey for attending our event and adding a new dimension to the open house.
Other kid activities included painting clay pots and planting prairie plants. Nature items found on the farm were on display for the children to see and handle. This also gave Tallgrass staff an opportunity to answer many questions the children had regarding the native plants, skulls, antlers, and turtle shells that were on display. It is one of the goals of the open house to bring children out into nature as future stewards and decision-makers, to provide a sense of ownership and an appreciation of Wisconsin's natural communities.
Prairie tours were held throughout the day to bring the guests into the prairie to learn about native plants, restoration, and the history of Tallgrass Farm, as well as having opportunities to see and hear the grassland birds that the prairie supports. Tallgrass staff has been restoring the Milton prairie for several years, and it is the wish of the landowners to share their prairie with invited guests and interested neighbors.
A wood duck nest box was raffled off and went to Meaghan Zeiner. These nesting boxes are critical to the survival of the wood duck due to the loss of ‘snag’ trees that these birds nest in. Each person who came to the open house also received a native prairie plant or two as a way of promoting the use of native plants and as a thank you gift for taking the time to learn about and enjoy our prairie.
Tallgrass wishes to thank all who attended, and we hope that everyone learned something new and that it was a meaningful, beautiful day.