By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek Crossroads at Big Creek invites the community, and especially families, to participate in a candlelight hike we are calling “Walk When the Moon is Full.” This luminary-lit hike will take place from 7:30-9:00 p.m., Sunday, March 28, when the moon is full. If the weather does […]
Wisconsin Water Week 2021
By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek This is Wisconsin Water Week 2021. Crossroads at Big Creek is one of the Wisconsin Water Week Conference sponsors because we have an institutional obsession with water. Besides, sponsorship enables Crossroads staff to view a wide array of virtual lectures, important because we are eager to […]
2021’s Aldo Leopold Day is March 6
By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek In 2004, Gov. Jim Doyle signed legislation designating the first Saturday in March as Aldo Leopold Day in Wisconsin. At Crossroads at Big Creek, we started celebrating Aldo Leopold Day in 2007 and we have continued the tradition every year since. Our tradition, modified of course, […]
Candlelight Ski and Snowshoe at Crossroads
Sturgeon Bay, Wis. (February 8, 2021) – A Candlelight Ski and Snowshoe at Crossroads will be the kickoff activity for Destination Sturgeon Bay’s FIRE AND ICE Weekend. The event will take place (conditions permitting) on Friday February 12, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM starting at the Main Campus, 2041 Michigan Street. Crossroads trails will be […]
Fish Tales Lecture Series Announces 2021 Speaker Lineup
Sturgeon Bay, Wis. (February 5, 2021) – The science of Great Lakes fisheries will once again be presented by the Fish Tales Lecture Series. Fish Tales is an educational program of Crossroads at Big Creek Learning Center and Nature Preserve in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Topics addressed in Fish Tales 2021 include the science of catching and […]
The Dreaded Glossy Buckthorn
By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek At this time most winters, Crossroads at Big Creek is cloaked with mounds of snow. This year, we still have numerous mounds, but they are not snow. They are the trunks and branches of Rhamnus frangula, the dreaded glossy buckthorn, an invasive species. The lag in winter snow, […]
Ruminations on the Coming Winter Solstice
By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek In other years … more normal years … Crossroads at Big Creek has celebrated the Winter Solstice (December 21) with a bonfire at our Council Ring. And we will do so again in future years. Last year, standing outside the circle, I enjoyed listening to the […]
The Cove Estuary: Otters, Great Blue Herons & Opossums, Oh My!
By Coggin Heeringa, Director, Crossroads at Big Creek Last weekend at Crossroads, between Leadership Landing (our kayak launch) and the Utah Street Bridge, an otter was fishing in The Cove Estuary. This was hardly surprising. We’ve been seeing these sleek mammals ever since we acquired The Cove Preserve. There, where the water from Big Creek […]
11th Annual Crossroads Trail Run Goes ‘Virtual’
By Coggin Heeringa, Director, Crossroads at Big Creek The Crossroads Trail Run 2020 promised to be the best ever. We had generous sponsors, exciting plans, and registrations were coming in. And then, everything changed. It was clear that, for the health and safety of our volunteers and run participants, the traditional race format would not […]
How do Sandhill Cranes Know to Come Back to Door County Every Spring?
By Coggin Heeringa, Director, Crossroads at Big Creek While we miss the school groups coming out to Crossroads at Big Creek for their spring field trips, we are thrilled that families are using our preserve…and it has been fun to communicate with kids online. Tim from Sturgeon Bay asks: “How do the sandhill cranes know […]
