{"id":53302,"date":"2024-03-01T17:35:43","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T23:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisducks.org\/?page_id=53302"},"modified":"2024-03-01T17:35:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T23:35:43","slug":"what-season-is-it-anyways","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/what-season-is-it-anyways\/","title":{"rendered":"What Season Is It Anyways?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Bruce-Ross.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-49001\" src=\"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Bruce-Ross-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>By Bruce Ross, Executive Director [email]bross@wisducks.org[\/email]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association\u2019s March, 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisducks.org\/newsletter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newsletter<\/a>\u00a0edition.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m so confused.\u00a0 I mean, more so than normal.\u00a0 And it seems I\u2019m not the only one: it\u2019s barely March, yet my towering river bottom silver maples are budding (even beginning to leaf), wood duck pairs are squealing, and mallard pairs are mingling with the goldeneyes on my river.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been a weird winter, right?!<\/p>\n<p>Maybe, like the paired mallards outside my window, I should simply embrace the possibility that spring is close upon us.\u00a0 But I\u2019m cautious by nature, with a sailor\u2019s superstition \u2013 I fear that my premature emotional attachment to an early spring will mean greater disappointment when Wisconsin tells me otherwise.\u00a0 <em>Man plans, God laughs.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>After celebrating 2023 accomplishments <a href=\"https:\/\/conta.cc\/3wCW6WO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">last month<\/a>, we&#8217;ve been busy focusing on WWA\u2019s future.\u00a0 It\u2019s gonna be a great year (I am touching wood) as I type this.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Our budget reflects the <strong>highest level ever<\/strong> of mission-focused efforts.<\/li>\n<li>Our Waterfowler Academy efforts are ramping up to <strong>build on last year\u2019s record learn to hunt<\/strong> <a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/wwa230509-waterfowlers-academy-logo-WIDE-2c-Orange-Black-scaled-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-49689 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/wwa230509-waterfowlers-academy-logo-WIDE-2c-Orange-Black-300x48.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"48\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The Better Business Bureau just reaffirmed that <strong>WWA meets its non-profit accreditation standards. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>We\u2019ve got some <strong>neat restoration projects<\/strong> in the queue for both private and public lands.<\/li>\n<li>Even <strong>more wood ducks boxes<\/strong> are being hung (check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Wood-Duck-Nesting-Boxes-FAQs.pdf\">Wood Duck Nesting Boxes FAQs<\/a>\u00a0for DIY wood duck nesting box success).<\/li>\n<li>Our Abrams property managers will be working to improve the Abrams\u2019s property habitat in partnership with the local NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service) office. Stay tuned for more developments!<\/li>\n<li>Speaking of the NRCS, our brand new collaboration is now getting underway for better managed wetlands and uplands.<\/li>\n<li>The \u201924 EXPO is shaping up to be bigger and better (more exhibitors, higher profile celebrities, a Women\u2019s Zone, a new calling area) as we build to two days in 2025. Check out this short video from last year.<\/li>\n<li>Complementing our 2024 Action Plan, WWA\u2019s directors have begun a multi-year strategic review to ensure WWA\u2019s future is even more impactful.<\/li>\n<li>And that\u2019s just the tip of this month\u2019s \u201ciceberg\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Do you want to make a difference on behalf of waterfowl and the passionate conservationists who pursue them?\u00a0 Let me know and I bet together we can find a role that is personally significant, from creating a better EXPO, to establishing more productive habitat in your \u201cback yard\u201d.\u00a0 We are particularly looking for volunteers willing to coordinate learn to hunts in their local area &#8211; we have the model, the funding, and maybe the connections to make that first experience for mentors and students memorable &#8211; and lasting.\u00a0 If you have questions (or even better, answers), call me at 262-224-4949.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"WHE 2024\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/913328018?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Bruce Ross, Executive Director [email]bross@wisducks.org[\/email] This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association\u2019s March, 2024 Newsletter\u00a0edition. I\u2019m so confused.\u00a0 I mean, more so than normal.\u00a0 And it seems I\u2019m not the only one: it\u2019s barely March, yet my towering river bottom silver maples are budding (even beginning to leaf), wood duck pairs are squealing,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-53302","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}