Tag: milwaukee

Nighttime Snapshot of the Riverwest 24 Bike Race

by edmakowski

This picture I took during the Riverwest 24 Bike Race caught the eye of CBS 58 in Milwaukee so they shared it. Such a fun annual community experience.

* technicality – it’s the Riverwest 24 not a 34-hour bike race (not my typo)

Great Blue Heron photographed at Riveredge

by edmakowski

I’ve worked at Riveredge Nature Center for nearly three years and I got my first usable pictures of a Great Blue Heron today.

Unfortunate about the northern wildfire haze in the background, but I’m nonetheless glad to have pictured this gangly specimen.

These birds are native to the area and I’ve seen them plenty of times, but they always managed to spot me first and I’ve watched them fly away along the Milwaukee River.

In this instance I saw this one land at a nearby pond while I was eating lunch and hustled to grab the work camera while the salad waited. See more pictures here on the Riveredge Instagram account.

A Moment of Learning

by edmakowski

Was present with my camera for this moment of discovery at work. Students learn about tiny holes in theoretically solid pieces of wood. This displays the paths that transport sap as evidenced by blowing bubbles with one’s breath. Click the arrow to view all pictures.

Bald Eagle Pair, Photographed in Flight

by edmakowski

One of those days when you’re out taking pictures of Sugar Maples for spring promotion and you hear oddball chittering sounds…it’s not the squirrel over there – ah it’s a couple of Bald Eagles flirting up in the sky.

Photos from a recent prescribed burn at Riveredge Nature Center

by edmakowski

To quote the Riveredge Instagram post I wrote…

Prescribed burning is a time tested practice for prairie and savanna rejuvenation that existed in the Americas centuries before European settlement. We embrace this practice across appropriate Riveredge habitats.

Prescribed burning spurs prairie seeds to sprout, consumes encroaching invasive species, and expends potential wildfire fuel in a safely controlled situation.

Thanks to our wonderful burn #volunteers for helping keep everyone (and everything) safe!

A perhaps unorthodox building portrait.
Lines of fire are strategically placed with a drip torch to collide and extinguish together.
Riveredge School students were able to learn and observe from a safe distance.
This shot is probably my favorite, the combination of high-leaping flames and indecisive sunrise.
For all the technology in the world, the best burn tools are still a flat piece of rubber to suffocate any flare-ups and a backpack full of water with a hose.
I was even able to participate in a burn later in the day (photo by my colleague Matt Smith). I should probably clarify…the fire is moving slowly, for this picture moment, I’m in a safer landscape than this may appear.

Golden Hour Sun Slips Down While Climbing the Trees

by edmakowski

During an event at Riveredge I was taking pictures at one of our satellite locations to promote future installments. I walked back to the main building to pick up some sort of forgotten tool for the program and for all of about 10 minutes the light was still coming through the trees but had already darkened across the land. As the sun went retreated, the remaining light gradually crawled up the forest.

Exciting Conservation Easement News at Riveredge

by edmakowski

At Riveredge Nature Center, we recently completed a conservation easement. This will ensure that 287 acres (75% of the total land) will forever be protected from development and permanently preserved for habitat conservation and education. I’m proud to have been on-staff while the long process was completed and to have collaborated on the unveiling. Visit this announcement for complete details.

Autumn along the Milwaukee River at Riveredge Nature Center

Science Students on a Lovely Fall Day

by edmakowski

I went out to snap a few pictures of a field trip at Riveredge this morning. Quite the lovely fall colors for catching frogs.