Spring Cleaning!

The last time Becky and I birded Pheasant Branch Conservancy (Middleton) we were so disgusted by all the litter that we vowed to bring garbage bags on our next visit. We realize this is urban habitat, close to an elementary school and a high school...some of the trash was indicative of such. There were several homework assignments (some graded, some not!) and lots of lunch trash. But there were also tennis balls, golf balls, a squirt gun and other toys, beer cans and bottles, and even a pair of underwear...(gross).

We cleaned up the section from Park Lawn Street to the last stone bridge just before Century Avenue. Although we collected two large bags of trash, there is still a lot of trash to pick up from Park Lawn Street to the Beltline. North of Century Avenue by the new housing development is the worst of all. I believe the Friends of Pheasant Branch holds an annual spring cleanup, but it's so much easier to get right now. Perhaps Becky and I will get to it first, as we've done in the past.

While we were picking up the litter, we did notice GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, a single WINTER WREN and two YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. There were also FOX SPARROWS, WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, SONG SPARROWS and many of the other usual suspects one might expect there this time of year.

Here are some photographs of our effort:

The final collection

Becky and Burdock...a casualty

Olde English 800? I've never even heard of it. Is it any good?

The collection of recyclable trash