Urban Ecology Oshkosh

Last night was one of the best bats walks we’ve ever had! We walked on the trellis trail bridge from Fritse Park a half hour out and back, and the bat calls were almost nonstop. There were many bugs, but not mosquitoes. There were also a lot of waterfowl. We will definitely be coming back. Next week we are planning to meet at Asylum Bay near the lighthouse again at 8:45 PM on Thursday.

We're not there yet, but after several years of operating as an unincorporated, completely grassroots organization, we have just submitted the first set of paperwork towards becoming a 501(c)3 nonprofit! Assuming we are approved at this first stage, the next task will be developing by-laws. We'll also lay out the planned roles and responsibilities for what will become our board of directors, which assume the leadership of Urban Ecology Oshkosh from our volunteer steering committee. Stay tuned!

Miller's Bay shoreline restoration update: The city recently mowed the two sites we manage in Menominee Park, per our guidance. They had their decks at 3" and it seems that it was successful in stopping the growth of the dozens of tree seedlings that had infiltrated the area, while also chopping back the very tall plants that tend to dominate. It'll be interesting to monitor how quickly the desired native plants grow back. We plan to have some work days in the early fall to do some seeding and planting of additional native plants as we continue to try to diversify the sites. Stay tuned!

UEO led a field trip for Christine Ann families today. Simple walk over to the riverfront on the UWO campus to learn about native plants and trees, bees and birds, the river, and with a stop at the Oshkosh Food Coop to cool off, get a free apple, and learn about the Food for All program. Beautiful day, great group, good time!

Looking for ways to strengthen your environmental education skills? Join us in Oshkosh this August for any of these 3 fantastic opportunities to learn and connect with others!

August 4 & 5 - Project WILD & Project WET
August 17 - Climate, Water, and Resilience & Climate and Wildlife

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/urbanecologyoshkosh/2097589

https://www.fieldedventures.org/node/1667

2026 Educator Preparation Program Environmental Education Summit All Events 2026 Educator Preparation Program Environmental Education Summit Mon, 08/17/2026 - 09:00 am - Mon, 08/17/2026 - 02:30 pm | Coughlin Center, Oshkosh, WI Register! 2026 Educator Preparation Program Environmental Education SummitWhenMonday, August 17, 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. with optional facil...

Bat monitoring is canceled tonight!

We have been working closely with the city forester and parks staff on managing the Miller's Bay shoreline restoration sites over the past year. As we did last year at this time, we just gave our partners at the city the thumbs up to schedule the mowing of our two sites as part of our effort to better manage the areas. We believe a once/season mowing strategy is a good temporary way to manage the height of the native plants growing there and stop or slow the growth of trees and invasive plants that would be problematic. The sites should still slow down much of the water moving towards the lake in the shorter phase of the plants, which will grow back quite quickly. This also helps maintain our collaborative relationship with the city, which will hopefully help us be able to expand our impact in the future through restoration of other sites. Last year, we did a bit of an experiment, with city staff mowing portions of the two sites (the relatively large one by Ames Point and smaller one by the pumphouse), while leaving a seemingly more diverse and healthier portion alone. By the fall, the mown areas looked beautiful and healthy, while the control plot looked a bit messy and had many more quite tall plants in comparison. We also removed some plants by hand and planted some new native plants with UWO students in the fall. This time around, the entirety of the two sites will be mowed. In preparation, several of us were there recently to remove some plants for transplanting and to save some Monarch eggs. Going forward, we will continue to explore potential alternatives to mowing, such as a prescribed burns, and we plan to consult with tribal stakeholders as to their perspectives on managing these sites, which lie in the heart of the ancestral lands of both the Menominee and Ho-Chunk people.