19 October, 2022

The Corona Diaries Vol. 62: The Bird's the Word

(mid-July 2022)

(Listen to this entry's prelude.)

Last autumn I described a venture that my Frau and I took out to Lapacek’s Orchard. With a back seat full of apples, doughnuts, et al we were cruising home down Highway 51 when I noticed one of those brown tourist/point of interest signs on the side of the road. It noted a wild life viewing area somewhere to the west. I made a mental note of this and vowed to check it out one day. Well, that day came earlier this month.

Early one morning I drove out there and followed the sign. It wasn't long before I found myself at the Lapinski-Kitze Prairie. I parked in the smallish clearing at the trailhead and was greeted by the above statue. Signs told the story of how the site had been farmed for decades with the crops having been processed at a cannery in the nearby town. A few years after the cannery closed, the Madison Audubon Society bought the property and began restoring its native prairie. It’s now a sanctuary for several kinds of birds and has trails for those who like to watch our feathered friends. I neglected to bring my binoculars and do not have a particularly long lens for my camera so I was going to be limited in my birdwatching activities. Still, I headed down the trail.


Walking along the edge of a corn field, I scared up what I think was a pheasant but it flew away quickly so I am not sure. Not only was the bird scared, I was too. It was so quiet and peaceful then suddenly it took off about 10 feet in front of me. Continuing up the path I became lost in thought once more as I enjoyed the calm and solitude. Then a squawk startled me back into the world of the mundane as a pair of turkeys, a tom and a hen, took off out of the tall grass and flew away. That primitive part of my brain simply saw big creatures emerge from hiding and I had that fight or flight response going for a second.

While I saw a variety of smaller birds, the only ones I could identify were the red-winged blackbirds which were everywhere.


There were 2 or 3 instances during my walk in which one of them would be perched on a tree or cattail and then fly towards me. It would hover for a few seconds above my head before returning to its perch. After a brief rest, it would repeat the maneuver. At one point there was a whole flock of them circling overhead and I felt a bit like Tippi Hedren in The Birds.

Although I made several attempts to catch one of these guys in flight, only a few of the photos were any good.


I really need to get a nicer telephoto lens because the birds love to congregate off in the fields amongst the flowers.

 

Next time I shall bring my binoculars to get a better view of all the avian activity that I missed.

I later learned that just south of the prairie is the Audubon’s Goose Pond Sanctuary – you’d have thought that driving on Goose Pond Road would have given that away. So I missed the big pond and the observation area which includes a telescope to check out the water fowl. It’s now on my to-do list.

It was still morning when I left the prairie so I had time for another venture. Over the winter I heard about a county park just a few miles east of town - McCarthy Youth & Conservation County Park. As the name implies, it is a place where kids come to learn about nature through various programs. There are also equestrian trails, hiking trails, and whatnot. As with the wildlife viewing area, I put a visit to the park on my to-do list and I was excited to be able to finally check it out.

I parked and started walking to the trailhead. The wildlife greeted me immediately as I noticed a ground squirrel not too far away that was looking around, perhaps assessing how dangerous this human intruder was.

The trail began on the east side of the park and ran alongside a farm for a stretch. A group of cows were out in the field relaxing under a tree as a pair of sandhill cranes looked on at a safe distance when not pecking on the ground for breakfast. 

The park features gentle hills so my walk was a fairly easy one. The sun shone brightly from the cloudless sky and it got distinctly warmer but it never became terribly hot. It seemed like every time I found an interesting plant and went in for a closer look, there were insects doing, er, it.

At one point I was at a crossroads. I could either take the trail around the wooded area or go through the woods. “Shade sounds nice,” I thought to myself and so I entered the woods.

While it was indeed noticeably cooler, I barely made it out alive as the mosquitos were in full force. I can’t complain too much as this was the first time all year that I’d encountered a swarm of them instead of just 1 or 2 stray bloodsuckers.

I emerged from the woods a half pint of blood lighter but was back on an open, sunny, and mosquito-free path. At one point I ran into some wild grapes.

What a gem of a park! The hiking is easy-going and I didn’t have to dodge too much horse poop. Most of the park is far enough away from the road that you don’t hear any cars and an all-too small section runs along the Koshkonong Creek. There’s a nice picnic area up in the woods too. Well, nice if you have some deet. I look forward to returning.

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Despite having played Dungeons & Dragons for 30+ years now, I have never been a fan of fantasy literature. While I’ve tried at various time to find something in the genre that interested me, I have never succeeded. Granted, I did read Lord of the Rings earlier this year but it’s like a founding text for nerds so I was obligated to get that under my belt. Well, I went ahead and tried another fantasy novel recently: The Iron Dragon’s Daughter by Michael Swanwick.

I think I heard of it a few years ago in an article that described it as not being your typical fantasy novel and figured it might appeal to me. It definitely was not your typical fantasy novel.

It takes place in a fantastical version of the 1990s, it seems, and begins on a Dickensian note. We meet Jane, a girl stuck laboring within the dark, satanic walls of a mechanical dragon factory. Jane eventually escapes and she becomes a vaguely Holden Caulfield type of character who is a bit aloof and full of sardonic quips. She is alienated in various ways and is working through your typical teenage issues of angst, finding one’s place, and so on.

To be sure, The Iron Dragon’s Daughter is not your typical fantasy novel but I didn’t find it particularly engaging or interesting. Maybe I am just too old for stories chronicling the adventures of a sassy teenager.

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I’ve been to a few concerts lately. I attended my first show at the new Red Rooster on Madison’s southeast side, where The Cash Box Kings, a blues band with members from Chicago and Madison, were playing.

They play Chicago blues – think Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf – along with some old school rock’n’roll and R&B. The band is fronted by singer Oscar Wilson who hails from Chicago’s south side while singer/harmonica player Joe Nosek is a Madisonian. I appreciate how the music has that 1940s/50s feel yet the lyrics address contemporary issues. Wilson bemoans the illegal downloading of his music (and thusly depriving him of income) in “Download Blues”. “Gotta Move Out to the Suburbs” is a lament for his beloved south side neighborhoods that are being gentrified.

The Red Rooster is a nice live music bar that is tucked into an otherwise industrial area. It was formerly the Knuckledown Saloon but has been remodeled and features fine beer, food, and music.

A couple weeks after that I was off to Milwaukee with some friends to see Blue Öyster Cult at Summerfest.


They’ve been around since 1970 or thereabouts so we probably didn’t have many chances to see them perform if we missed this show and so off we went. One of my friends got us free admission and free parking which was bonus.

I thought the show was a blast and sang along to the entirety of “Godzilla”.

With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound
He pulls the spitting high tension wires down
Helpless people on a subway train
Scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them

Both the band and the audience seemed to be having a good time with smiles all around.


Most recently I went down to the La Fête de Marquette here in Madison to see the North Mississippi Allstars. The band hails from Hernando, Mississippi and plays blues/blues rock. The festival is supposed to be a celebration of all things French, including the French diaspora, so I don’t understand why they performed but I cannot complain. Perhaps the focus of the festival has changed without me noticing. 

Whatever the case may be, the show was rockin’ and I had a blast. They’re a bit like the Allman Brothers but with more boogie. This was my first time seeing them although I’ve been a fan for almost 20 years now.

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Bonus photo. Here’s one of Grabby in the cat tree giving the gimlet eye to the humans.


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