Nature Notes

In the News: The Ridges Documents Small Mammals By Betsy Lecy , Peninsula Pulse – August 1st, 2024 (From left) Sam Hoffman weighs a flying squirrel, research director Tony Kiszonas writes down its measurements and […]

Nature Notes: Watching Fawn-dly, Whitetail Deer Fawns By Anna Foster, Director of Programming Door County may be known for its limestone bluffs, ice cream shoppes, and beautiful sunsets, but I […]

Nature Notes: Pollinators – The Heroes of the Plant World By Libby Humphries, Environmental Educator This time of year, Door County is a-flower with golden Alexander, red columbine, and lupine […]

Nature Notes: Protect Birds from Window Collisions By Dan Schieman During this past spring migration upwards of 3.5 billion birds were winging their way northwards (and even more will be […]

Forest Days are designed to bring students outside and into their local forest for place-based environmental education. Forest Day lesson topics include the carbon cycle, patterns in nature, the role of decomposers in the forest, food webs, and other interconnecting themes.

Each school forest functions as both an outdoor classroom and the learning material for each lesson; all Forest Day topics can be explored through the physical space of the forest.

On most weekdays around noon, Ridges staff make their way to the center table in the back offices to eat lunch. While this routine might feel repetitive, the conversations from these gatherings are anything but. Around this table, I have learned so much from my coworkers through their fascinations and questions about the natural world.

Birds’ annual cycles are better defined as breeding, non-breeding, and migration rather than by calendar seasons.

Nature Notes: Lake Level Changes: The Impact of Unpredictability in a Warmer Winter By Anna Foster, published February 4th, 2024 As we delight in above-average temperatures this January, it’s easy […]