Muskego Conservation

01/14/2026

We would like to thank Jameson Cleary for constructing eight Leopold style benches for his Eagle Scout Project! These benches will be placed in various conservation sites including Moorland Park and Bluhm Park. Thank you Jameson!

11/17/2025

It's officially fall burn season! Over the past 2 weeks we have burned the front prairies and back prairies of Engel Conservation Area, and front prairies at Badertscher Conservation site. The plants in these areas are fire dependent, meaning that they have adapted with fire. For example, they take advantage of the open space that occurs after a fire. Fire also helps knock back certain invasive plant species and promotes native species, that are beneficial to native insects and wildlife.

11/03/2025

We had some great volunteers from Muskego High School's Science Honor Society! Our volunteer day consisted of seed collection at Badertscher Preserve. We collect seed to distribute to conservation sites/areas to enrich the plant communities in other conservation sites in the city. Some of the seed that was collected included fen species such as Grass of Parnassus, Fringe Gentian, and Prairie Loosestrife and Prairie species such as Little Bluestem, Mountain Mint, and Pale Purple Cone Flower. This seed is valuable to collect because it can be expensive or difficult to obtain commercially. Thank you to all our amazing volunteers!

09/23/2025

We would like to wrap up summer by sharing summer moments from our conservation sites! Even though summer has come to a close, our sites are open to the public to enjoy year round! Happy Fall!

09/04/2024

Join us this Sunday (9/8) at 8am for a morning birding hike around Engel Conservation Area! It is peak fall migration season for many birds which is a great time to get the chance to see the extraordinary birds that pass through Muskego on their way down south!

09/04/2024

We have exciting news to share!

Muskego’s ospreys have begun their fall migration. Ospreys are dependent on a fish only diet and must migrate to warmer areas where water bodies do not freeze over and where fish swim closer to the water’s surface. Female ospreys typically migrate earlier than their male counterparts along with wintering further south than males. Three of Big Muskego Lake's ospreys were equipped with satellite telemetry this spring. Of these three, our only female, Kiwi, is currently resting/fishing along the Tennessee River in Alabama! Kiwi’s brother, Rico, has also left Muskego and is currently in central Illinois! Our third osprey, Cole, is continuing to transmit locally around Big Muskego Lake, soaking up his last summer days on his home turf! We can’t wait to learn more about the future of Muskego's raptors!

You can stay updated on the ospreys migration adventure by following this link to a regularly updated digital map. https://muskego.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=f1311f48ed6548539f14a1caf367dde4

08/06/2024

Exciting news! Our team discovered a Rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) queen at our very own Badertscher Preserve! Rusty patched bumble bees have been classified as federally endangered since 2017 due to declining population numbers which can be linked to several stressors including pesticides, habitat loss, climate change, and disease. This particular Rusty patched we discovered is known as a “gene” meaning she will be next year’s queen (spring/summer 2025). This time of the year she will mate, then find a safe place to overwinter, and in spring she will emerge from her hibernation and begin creating a nest (hopefully at Badertscher).

08/06/2024

Check out the Muskego fall recreation guide! We are hosting multiple outdoor recreation classes including a birding hike, a tree identification class, and a volunteer seed collection day! Hope to see you there!

Our Fall Digital Program Guide is now online at https://indd.adobe.com/view/dbb13a6d-a7c6-46ed-ba9d-dbb3d79aac2a

A PDF version will be on the City website tomorrow or can also be viewed on our recreation software site at muskego.wi.gov/rec and clicking on the Information Drop down and selecting Program Guide.

Printed copies should be available for pick up by Monday of next week.

07/29/2024

Our conservation areas are fluttering with a variety butterflies! We have several smaller conservation sites right in the city that have a great showcase of pollinators. Sites such as Kurth Park, Moorland Park, and Bluhm are awesome sites to get a quick and easy nature escape!

07/23/2024

WHERE DO MUSKEGO’S OSPREYS GO?

Muskego is fortunate to have nesting ospreys on Big Muskego Lake since the early 2000’s. Each year, raptor researcher Bill Stout bands the young ospreys produced in the nest. This year, three young ospreys have been fitted with a small (GPS) satellite telemetry device to monitor their movements. The device will track local movements and migration patterns of ospreys that fledged from nests on Big Muskego Lake. The data from the telemetry device will provide us with insight into when the ospreys depart Big Muskego Lake for migration, what flight path they take, including if they stop anywhere along their journey, where they overwinter, and where they return to when they come back north. The young ospreys are now flying (fledged) and are honing in on their fishing skills while enjoying the rest of the summer in Muskego before heading south for the winter.

Thank you greatly to the Muskego Kiwanis Club for sponsoring the telemetry for one of the ospreys and thank you to all of the community members who donated and joined us on the trip! Also, a huge thank you to Bill Stout for leading this project!

07/15/2024

Our conservation sites are in full BLOOM!! Check out the beautiful display of native flowers that are covering our natural areas. The prairies at Badertscher Preserve and Engel Conservation Area are especially beautiful right now! A vast majority of the forbs that you see in our natural areas are derived from seed that we were able to collect from our other natural sites, we just help Mother Nature a little bit in the dispersal of the native wildflower seed around Muskego :)