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Happening
at the Crossroads
August 25,
2008
by Coggin
Heeringa
The
sun is still bright and relatively high in the sky and days are
warm, but we at Crossroads are noticing that the hours of light
are getting just a bit shorter each day. Each of our programs this week
relates to sunlight.
"The Impact of Cladophora" is a free
lecture scheduled for Thursday, August 28, at 2 PM. Cladophora is
that repulsive, odoriferous green slime that sometimes appears on our
beaches. Cladophora has made a resurgence around the Great Lakes
in recent years, presumably due to increased sunlight
reaching the underwater beds in which it grows.
Low
lake levels and increased phosphorus, combined with the presence of
zebra and quagga mussels (invasive species which clarify water
and excrete additional phosphorous through their waste) have
stimulated growth of bumper crops of these nuisance water plants.
Recent
research suggest that Cladophora, in additional to creating a stench,
may harbor very high levels of E.coli within its stranded mats.
Dr.
Colleen McDermott, Professor of Microbiology, UW-Oshkosh, will share
results of on-going research on Cladophora and explain what
scientists now know and what they have yet to learn about the impact of
Cladophora.
Stars shine over Crossroads 24
hours a day, but the brilliant light of the sun masks starlight during
the daytime. Consequently, members of the Door Peninsula Astronomical
Society are delighted that dusk is coming earlier. August
is one of the best times to stargaze. Weather is still warm, mosquitoes
less voracious, and clear nights, while certainly not guaranteed, are
more likely.
The moon also obscures a great deal of starlight,
so DPAS has scheduled a Public Viewing Night on the Saturday, August
30, the night of a new moon. Folks should arrive at dusk---around
7:30 PM to get the full experience of the stars coming out. Use the
Utah Street entrance to Crossroads reach the Astronomy Campus.
Speaking
of the DPAS, the members encourage visitors to attend the monthly
meeting of the astronomical society on the first Tuesday of each month.
The September meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 2 at
7:00 PM at the Stonecipher Astronomy Center. Dr. John Beck will
present the program "Deep Impact Earth."
Photo-period has an odd
effect on monarch butterflies. When the hours of daylight begin to
decrease, adult monarch lose the urge to mate. Instead of breeding and
laying eggs, as they have done all summer, the butterflies are
compelled to migrate. We know that the monarchs that currently are
nectaring in the flowery upland areas of Crossroads will spend the
winter in Mexico.
We know this because each year, the Northeast
Wisconsin Audubon sponsors a "Monarch Adventure" at Crossroads.
Butterflies tagged here have been recovered in Mexico.
On
Sunday, August 31, at 1:00 PM, families are invited to attend the
free"Monarch Adventure" informational program by Ann Shebesta, a
monarch expert. Following the program, families will capture, tag and
release the butterflies. This field trip is suitable for children
4years and up. (You do not need kids to attend.) Children should
wear long pants. Butterfly nets are available.
Actually,
butterfly nets are available to families any time the Collins Learning
Center is open. The Center will be open Labor Day, and in honor of
Labor Day, historical videos featuring work in Door County will be
screened throughout the afternoon.
After Labor Day, the Collins
Learning Center will be open 2:00-5:00 daily. The Historical
Village at the Crossroads is open Sunday 1:00-3:00. The trails are
always open to the public. Crossroads is located at 2041 Michigan
Street ( County TT ) in Sturgeon Bay.
Crossroads
at Big Creek is located at the intersection of Highway 42/57 and
Michigan in Sturgeon Bay. The trails are free and during summer, all
are open people and their keen-nosed pets (if the pets are on leash and
under control.) The Wisconsin Wildlife Exhibit in the Collins Learning
Center is open to the public 1:00-3:00 daily during the summer.
Many of
the Past News articles may be retrieved from this directory,
indexed and named in the following manner: 080101-news.htm
where
the first two numbers are the year, the second two the month and the
last two the date.
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