A Wood Duck's Daily Chores

What does April do in the box all day long? She sleeps, she pulls downy feathers, and she rolls those eggs about every half hour to keep them equally warm on all sides. Today she didn't take a morning breakfast (much to my disappointment as I was outside from 5:00am-8:00 hoping to capture a shot of her leaving). I'll bet she's getting hungry.

April's Down Comforter

The incubation is in full swing. You can see how extensive the downy blanket is she made. April is a dedicated hen. She sits on the nest all day with the exception of a short 30 minute break at about 6:00am and again about 7:00 pm. Not much time to stretch her legs and enjoy a meal with Apollo. Mark your calendar. We should have hatchlings by about May 10th. Maybe every couple days until then, Mrs. Petersen's class would like to come up with 13 names for the chicks. Have fun kids!

Bluebird Trail - Sherwood Forest Golf Course

The baseline nestbox check on Sunday showed that Tree Swallows have arrived in forced. They are amazing flyers with irridescent blue uppers and white lower parts and a lovely liquid chortle they speak to each other. The nests for bluebirds and swallows will begin in earnest now. A male was spotted along the 3rd hole. I am trapping non-native House Sparrows. If you're curious about this process, feel free to invite me to show you.

Village Board Meeting 4/12

The board approved (with the exception of Joyce Laux) the TIF funding of the High Cliff Golf Course to the tune of $349,000 for an automated watering system. The original bid was $318,000 last fall. I'm more than disappointed that no board member attempted to negotiate the increase of $30,000 nor suggested that perhaps the project should be rebid, at least there was no discussion at this meeting for the public to hear. I officially take my position at the next meeting on the 26th. I would have joined Joyce in a no vote had I been on active duty. We gain what? Three 1 acre non-contiguous parcels of property. There is little protection for our village. The legalities request this property remain a golf course. But if it goes into foreclosure is the bank or the next buyer obligated to that promise? Supposedly, but then why is the bank concerned about formal easements for walking trails? Living on the 13th or 14th fairway, you may lose the privacy of your backyard view that you've enjoyed up to now. But living on the golf course I guess you'll appreciate the more lush, deep green grass rather than the pockets of unkempt 'rough '. I realize that sarcasm isn't helpful, even disrespectful, but this blog is about sharing opinions openly. I hope you'll speak up too. It 's the only way I know how YOU want me to vote on the next issue.

VIDEO: Bug in my box

To Mrs. Petersen's 3rd grade class: "April" is incubating her eggs now, apparent as she is on the nest constantly. I believe there are 13, the same as last year. This video shows her getting a small snack while 'working'. I'm setting up a blind at an unintrusive distance and hope to capture her leaving the box in the next few days. There is no sign of "Apollo". He is hiding somewhere, I just haven't found him. Perhaps early in the morning he'll show.

VIDEO: Pulled Downy

Today on day nine of laying, April pulled several downy feathers from her breast. The "brood patch" puts her skin in direct contact to warm the eggs during incubation. This video clip shows her covering the eggs before leaving for the day, hiding her precious creation.

VIDEO- Watch the Wood Duck action!

"April" laid her 8th egg this morning, taking an extra long nap afterward with bill tucked under her wing due to the 25 deg temps. She'll be cautious not to let the temperature of the eggs rise to the minimum incubation temp until she has laid the full brood, 10-15 typically.

Thank You Voters

Just a brief note of appreciation to all of you who took the time to cast your vote of support. I will officially join the Board as Village Trustee on April 26th. But your concerns are my concerns today and I'm interested in hearing from you.

Phosphorous Reductions

The newly proposed rules would affect industry and municipal wastewater treatment plants that release phosphorus in their discharges to Wisconsin water bodies following the parameters already in place for farming operations.

Too much phosphorus entering our waterways generates excessive algae growth. We've seen the affects on Lake Winnebago in particular. Several public hearings on the proposed rules are held throughout the state this month. FYI: April 20, Green Bay City Hall, Council Chambers, Room 203, 100 N. Jefferson, St. at 1:00pm.

Woodduck Egg #3

I've named her April. She's likely the same female that nested last year but I didn't have Quacker Cam then to capture her activities. She arrived at 6:46am much later than yesterday, laid her 3rd egg, covered the grouping of eggs with shavings and departed at 7:55. He waited patiently and the pair flew off to other foraging grounds until tomorrow. Departing helps keep the presence of a nest 'hidden'.

Wood Duck Cam

My husband installed a bird cam in our wood duck box so we can share the joy of nature with you. This is day two of laying. She'll continue to lay one egg per day 10-15 eggs total before incubating. We hope to add live streaming soon so you can see her tend to the eggs up through the big day of fledging the brood.

Stumping for Village Trustee

Friday was spent meeting residents as I traveled on foot throughout the village for a second day. Over 100 homes were visited and I spoke with many concerned citizens about the rapid growth in Sherwood. Saturday will be another big day for me to meet and greet. Thanks to those of you who support my efforts by passing the word... Vote Terri.

Aftershock Review Details

You asked... and I share my views. Here is my summary of the recommendations in the book Aftershock. Stay away from stocks, long term bonds and real estate investments until after the dollar bubble bursts. (It is apparently on the precipous). Timeframes? In the next 1-2 years housing values will plummet once more, banks will fail, unemployment, inflation and interest rates will rise to double digits. In the next 5 years this chaos will continue as the value of the dollar drops. Short term solutions: money markets and short term government bonds. Sell your massive homes now, buy smaller. Sell your collectibles while they still have value. If you're market savvy, shorting stocks using LEAPS is a good option. Safer is shorting bear fund stocks based on the S&P 500 index. Long-term: the world banking system is stressed meaning Gold ETFs and bullion and u.s. produced coal, grain and beef should be good. Aftershock predicts gold will remain strong for 10 years. Even with all the gloom, the secondary dip to come will not be depression level pain for the u.s. and the backside of the this slide will be a stronger economy based on real growth not debt bubbles. Thanks for asking.

40 homes were visited yesterday as I campaigned for Village Trustee. More of you will see me today and throughout the weekend. You'll know my position is first and foremost fiscal responsibility. As a small business owner, I think taxpayer funds should be treated as cautiously as I treat my own income. I also maintain a high regard for informing citizens and gathering feedback before my vote is cast. This blog will aide me in hearing your views.

I respectfully ask for your vote on Tuesday April 6th.

BURN BAN: DNR fire control officials ask the public not to burn. Conditions are very dry in most areas. Utilize the Sherwood waste yard open Sat April 3rd.

Village Board Meeting 3/22.

High Cliff Golf Course owner and mgr stated that there are big leak problems in some water piping, the piping that's needed to feed the new in-ground sprinkling system village TID funds are paying for. So who's to pay for the fixes to those pipes? That wasn't discussed so I don't have an answer. BTW, the cost est. for this 'gift' has already climbed from $320-349,000. It wasn't clear how this increase impacts the budgeting of TID funds for other projects. The village looks to gain two small 1 acre parcels of land from the deal and an easement to a trail (I believe the Nature's Way trail system). The owner expressed concern for the financial stability of the golf course. No questions were posed on how a default of the loose agreement would impact our village or our TID investment. Lastly, there was a mention of HCGC adding a lighting system to the front 9 holes to offer evening play. There was no indication of how or when this project would take place.

Bluebird Trail update

#16 Smoh's Trapped a female House Sparrow and shortly thereafter a brilliant male Bluebird appeared interested in that nestbox. He'll likey check out several before settling. Those that are clear of nesting material and with no House Sparrow annoyances, will be first choice so if you're on the Sherwood Forest course and see House Sparrows entering a box near your home persistently, please notify myself or Diane and we'll see that the problem is addressed to improve your chances of enjoying a Bluebird visitor.

Bluebird Trail Update

No bluebird activity observed or reported by residents. Nestbox 17 and 8 have House Sparrow problems. A male removed from box 8, a female from box 17. Removing males generally results in a few days peace before another male takes over the undefended territory.

AFTERSHOCK book review

This book is not for the faint of heart. But if you, like me, enjoy the intricacies of economics and you can objectively debate the projections, you will find this a hearty foreboding of what's to come and how to protect your earnings and assets. Put a comment up and we can start that debate.

March 8th Village Board

You should know that the Village Board meeting on Tues March 8th will discuss spending $22,000, that's (roughly $1000 per household) to install pond plants in some storm water retention ponds. They'll also talk about the incremental tax funds that will be given to the High Cliff Golf Course for an irrigation system and arrangements for the annual Triathalon. Now I've heard that very little of the monies from that event go to the Friends of High Cliff. I intend to find out if the taxpayers of this village benefit from the disruption to our streets and parking in the State Park and Marina, this event causes. Also on the agenda are budget amendments which should be interesting. I hope to see you there.