Blog

In the spring of 2015, Urban Tree Alliance and Wild Warner got together and planted 29 trees in Warner Park. We did it mainly in response to emerald ash borer …

Greg Weller, one of Wild Warner’s resident photographers, got these terrific closeups of the resident Sandhill Crane family. He writes: “They are very cute. Have never seen a sand hill …

The Madison Parks Department is gathering “visions” for the future of Warner Park. Here is Wild Warner’s vision: 1. Nature recreation – Emphasizing the value of nature education and recreation, and …

Members of Wild Warner, Boy Scouts, students from Madison College and workers from the Urban Tree Alliance planted 30 trees in Warner Park and Warner Beach in April 18 to …

Attendees: Kathlean Wolf Karen Hickel Blair Panhorst Paul Noeldner Jonathan Santana Dolores Kester Tim Nelson Mike Rewey Jack Hurst Trish Okane Marlene Hardick Jim Carrier Urban Tree Alliance: Patricia Chakravorty—canceled, …

Free, family-friendly, nature, recreation, and education! To celebrate Madison being formally recognized as a Bird City, Madison Parks, in collaboration with other organizations, will offer free monthly bird and nature …

The closing ice on Lake Mendota along Warner Beach is proving great viewing of birds. Bonnie Tiedt shot these photos Sunday. Our thanks to her.

Tundra Swans stopped along Warner Beach on their way south over the Thanksgiving weekend. The white swans are adults, the “dusky” colored birds are juveniles. The swans breed in high …

This wonderful video of the visiting pelicans was filmed by Greg Weller, a contributing photographer to Wild Warner. BIRD 136 – White Pelicans have been spotted in the Warner wetland …

Last night, Aug. 5, 2014, Wild Warner met on the newly restored Warner Island Prairie to paint a Plein Aire environmental vision for the Wild Side of Warner Park. The …

      Conservation photographer Arlene Koziol captured the fleeting bloom of the American Lotus in Warner’s wetland on July 22, 2014. In a nature walk with Wild Warner’s education coordinator, Paul …

by Jonathan Santanna, Madison College student and aspiring zoologist It started like every other Thursday morning, however there were four baby blue birds waiting for me this time. The last …

The 2014 Warner Park Sandhill Crane colt is finally fledged from the nest and starting to get out and about, and learning to forage with its parents on the restored …

Warner’s Bluebird Trail, maintained by Paul Noeldner, Tim Nelson, Jonathan Santanna and Trish O’Kane, yielded successful hatches this year. The boxes also attract Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, House Wrens and Black-capped …

It was a beautiful day to pick up trash in Warner Park Saturday. Twenty volunteers, many from the Brentwood Neighborhood Association, adjacent to the park, fanned out with plastic bags …

By Paul Noeldner The Sherman Nature Explorers helped their UW Student Mentors check on the Wild Warner Bluebird Trail boxes on Wednesday March 26. Their sharp eyes spotted beautiful Bluebird …

By Paul Noelner About 16 people joined in the February Bird and Nature Walk at Warner Park held every 3rd Sunday 1:30-3 pm. Walks are also held at Cherokee Marsh …

The wild side of Warner Park was shaken from its winter slumber this week, as the Nature Explorer Club returned for its winter/spring session. On Wednesday, Feb. 12, thirty-seven kids …

What’s to see in Warner Park in winter? Lots. Ice and shadows. The sculpture of the wild is much more evident now. At night, the moon and stars stand out …

Tim Nelson, chair of Wild Warner, read the following letter to the Madison Board of Park Commissioners on Nov. 13, 2013: On behalf of Wild Warner I want to thank …

By Jim Carrier Jack Hurst views the environment from the end of a fishing pole. He feels the tug of a biting pike, the nibbling of bluegills — and the …

Rob Petershack, an attorney and amateur photographer, visits Warner Park periodically in search of good photos. On September 30, he caught this blue heron in the wetland. Herons, as he …

When photographer Patrick Noyes walked along the edge of Warner Park’s lagoons with his Samsung Note 2 phone, his eye caught beauty and bugs galore. Seen as “weeds” by some, …

Controversial Rhythm and Booms fireworks show violated wetlands law, state DNR says By Pat Schneider    Capitol Times July 17, 2013 As speculation swirled this week that the city of Madison …

By Jim Carrier, cofounder of Wild Warner The following was presented to the Madison Board of Parks Commissioners on July 10. It represents a new vision for Warner Park’s wetland. …

By Paul Noeldner Four nestlings that had sadly succumbed to black flies were buried next door under a newly planted Prairie Purple Cone Flower. The roof has a recently installed …

On July 4, Wild Warner cofounder Jim Carrier talked about the science and law of Rhythm & Boom on WORT-FM. Reporter Julia Chechvala interviewed Jim on The Perpetual Notion Machine. …

On the eve of Rhythm & Booms, a Wisconsin wetland expert toured Warner Park’s wetland, and declared it beautiful, vital and worth the effort to rehabilitate it. Wild Warner opposes …

This spring we’ve seen several types of turtles in Warner Park, including an endangered Blanding’s turtle and lots of painted turtles. Watch for them sunning on logs in the wetland: …

Wild Warner/Audubon Bird Walk this Saturday, June 1: Bring binoculars and good shoes. We’ll start at 8 a.m. in front of the Warner Park Community Center and be out until …

People can see rare bats from around the world, including one with a 6-foot wing span, listen to top bat researchers and enjoy unique raffle prizes, hands-on activities and displays …

PAMELA COTANT | For the State Journal Every Wednesday after school in the spring and fall, Sherman Middle School students make the trek on foot to nearby Warner Park — …

April 22 – In honor of Arbor Week, the Madison Parks Habitat Stewardship Committee is pleased to announce the First Annual (2012). Heritage Tree Award Winners. The Heritage Tree Program …

March 18, 2013 Madison, Wisconsin Full Verbatim Transcription of Committee on Environment (COE) Meeting, Item #1, Rhythm & Booms. Unedited. Meeting began around 4:30pm. Public comments on Agenda Item #1 …

UPDATE: Construction on a new bike path through Warner Park will destroy this beautiful old tree, to make room for a new, wider, steel bridge. This bridge is used daily …

The studies showing chemical pollution of Warner Park’s wetland received news coverage. Here’s Channel 15’s report: WMTV – NBC15 Madison, Wisconsin:

By Paul Noeldner This is the Weekly Wild Warner Nature Explorers Report from Madison, Wisconsin.  About 35 Sherman Middle School students participate in this ongoing after-school outdoor education program advised …

Test results from Rhythm & Booms are in, and the links below will take you to them. The Committee on the Environment released these drafts this week, but won’t discuss …

INTO THE WILD! Thirty-nine rambunctious students from Sherman Middle School, teamed with 18 mentors from UW-Madison, began the sixth semester of Nature Explorers on Feb. 6, 2013. In three years …

The following letter to the editor was published in the Wisconsin State Journal on Jan. 31: By Jim Carrier Warner Park has been considered an “ideal” fireworks venue because of …

By Tim Nelson, chair of Wild Warner Wild Warner, a nonprofit environmental group, today asked the city of Madison to discontinue the Rhythm & Booms fireworks event, held on the …

The snow was still blowing when we took a walk into Warner Park But people were out, skiing, walking and sledding. The heavy snow turned the landscape into white sculpture. …

We have finally received confirmation that geese were rounded up in Warner Park (and other Madison parks) earlier this year. Trish O’Kane received this information from Chip Lovell of USDA …

Warner Beach and the boat ramp are a beautiful part of Warner Park. Connected hydrologically by a new, larger culvert under Woodward Drive, the beach area is heavily used by …

Two of our members have sent in photos of animals spotted in the park.   If you’ve captured the beauty of life in Warner Park, please forward your photo to: …

This summer, Wild Warner discovered that the Madison Mallards organization was blowing up fireworks outside its ballpark, into the woods and wetlands. The group voted at its September 4 meeting …

Thousands of bike riders came to Madison’s North Side on Aug. 12, as part of Ride the Drive, and Wild Warner was there with music, a rest stop on our …

Warner Park’s wetland was sampled for fireworks metals and perchlorate before and after the 2012 Rhythm and Booms extravaganza. Rick Wenta, an environmental field technician with the Madison/Dane County health …

By Sandy Rezvani On the eve of the ruin and doom program … Prelude….. I have a doggie companion and she has to go outside …. So   – we went …

A UW biologist and Madison hydrogeologist collected several dozen samples of soil and plants June 22, as part of the city-funded study of chemical fallout from the Rhythm & Booms …

Eleven Wild Warner volunteers braved wind and rain to help clean up the Warner Park Lagoon June 16. The cleanup was coordinated by Tim Nelson, Wild Warner’s treasurer, in cooperation …

If you have guests for Rhythm & Booms, wouldn’t it  be a wonderful to take them on a hike through Warner Park,  before you settle down on a blanket for …

Warner Park’s new meadows are ablaze with plants, bugs, butterflies and birds. If you haven’t taken a walk through them, you are missing a wonderful part of the park, perfect …

The following letter was sent to Terry Kelly, founder of Rhythm & Booms: Dear Mr. Kelly: Thank you for asking for Wild Warner’s counsel on cleaning up Rhythm & Booms’ …

Madison’s City Council gave final approval on Feb. 28 for a $25,000 appropriation to test the Warner Park wetland for contaminates before and after this year’s Rhythm and Booms. The …

February’s snow lured Greg Weller into Warner Park with his camera. He joins Wild Warner’s list of official photographers. Click on any photo for a slide show.  

We heard a robin and a red-winged blackbird in Warner Park yesterday. Today damp snow turned Warner Park into a wonderland. Click on a picture to start a slide show.

Here is the pertinent language in the 2012 Rhythm and Booms contract: “3d. MFF shall be responsible for the cleanup and disposal of all debris from the Event in Warner …

The Madison Common Council has approved a $25,000 appropriation to study the effects of Rhythm and Booms on Warner Park. This year, 2012, will be the fireworks’ 20th year in …

Mild weather brings out the best in us. On January 8, your correspondent visited Governor’s Island, where eagles were hunting coots, geese were flocking in the remaining open water of …

Nature Walk–Searching for Owls in Warner Park! Saturday, January 21, 5:30 pm Meet in front of Warner Park Center. Emily Steinwehe and Marlene Hardick will lead a free night walk …

by Marlene Hardick As we walk through Warner Park, we see things. Now there is an opportunity to share what we see. In the lobby of Warner Park Community Recreation …

On Dec. 22, the Wild Warner Solstice Singers took to their neighborhood to sing Christmas carols to apartment dwellers on Monterey Drive. People threw open their windows and gazed in …

By Marlene Hardick A fellow member of Wild Warner told me that there is an intermingled flock of Canadian Geese and Swans on Lake Mendota.  I assume that these are …

By Marlene Hardick, Wild Warner publicity chair It is a 2012 project of Wild Warner to protect and improve the meadows in Warner Park. Madison Parks has agreed not to …

Wild Warner was honored to receive a North Star award from our neighbors and the Northside Planning Council on Nov 11, 2011. Paul Rusk, Dane County Supervisor, presented the award. …

The Madison Parks Department has stopped mowing in the meadow adjacent to the Warner Park dog park, below sled hill. At the request of Wild Warner, the department will allow …

Out for a dog walk Saturday at dusk, we stopped in our tracks at the sight of TWO red foxes. One scampered away, but this one watched us long enough …

Dr. Bruce Allison led a tree walk through Warner Park on Sept. 25, describing and diagnosing its great trees. First stop was an ash, healthy so far, but threatened by …