Jeanne Reuter can see it now: Two farm ponds near her rural Welch house to slow erosion and with ducks sitting on it as well as bird-friendly trees growing in the woods.
All it took for the vision was a bit of inspiration.
She was one of a few dozen people who toured John Jaeger's farm west of Frontenac Thursday to see how he runs his farm to make money, help wildlife and slow erosion along Wells Creek. It was sponsored by several private conservation groups as well as state and federal natural resource agencies.
For Reuter, it was a basic course in conservation. Call it Bird Habitat 101.
It was a great time to be outside on a relatively warm spring day. "At this time of year, you just want to be inspired," she said. "It makes you feel alive again after this winter."
She was also looking for a way to attract more birds and help slow erosion on her 55 acres on a blufftop near the Cannon River. "I love my birds," she said.
After the day, "I decided I wanted to put some ponds out in our field," she said. Her husband has wanted some water on their land so she's invited an expert she met at Jaeger's farm to come to hers to show where to put dams to create ponds. She also invited a forester to show her what kinds of trees she has and how to manage the forest for more birds.
Love of seeing birds and wanting to slow erosion were why Jaeger said he first started doing the work on his 360 acres. He grazes 60 head of beef cattle on grasslands, changing places where they eat to let the remainder rest. That provides better food as well as more places for birds, such as meadowlarks, to nest, he said.
He's also planted many trees that he will never seen grow large enough to harvest, though his grandchildren might. When he does timber stand improvements, he thinks about birds as well as economics. For example, he leaves tall dead trees standing for places for woodpeckers, like the red-headed, to feed or hawks to roost.
It's probably not great economics, he said, but "it's just something I like to do." It means more wildlife on his land and a fun reason to be out in the woods. "It's nice to see a lot of different wildlife," he said.
Ron Windingstad, coordinator of the Aububon at Home program, said his group was a leader in setting up the field day because it wants to give more people a chance to see good habitat work. This is the second one in Minnesota; it has also held several others in the blufflands of Wisconsin and Iowa.
The blufflands, also called the Driftless Area, are critical because about 300 species of birds use them for migration or places to live. Many of those species are in trouble because of habitat loss, he said. Red-headed woodpeckers, for example, are down 89 percent in the past 40 years, he said. Meadowlarks are down 71 percent.Rochester Post Bulletin
