Patty Loew:
Wisconsin is home to an amazing array of animals and some we rarely see. So we begin this week with a close-up look at one raptor that can easily hide in the wild. "In Wisconsin" reporter Jo Garrett shows you this elusive night owl at a place called Woodland Dunes in Manitowoc County.

Jo Garrett:
There is an animal that is so secretive, so hidden, you're lucky if you hear its call in these woods. To say nothing of actually seeing them. These mysterious creatures only emerge at night, which is why Jim Dufek arrived in the waning hours here at the Woodland Dunes nature center in Manitowoc County. Dufek volunteers here as a member of a group called the Night Gang.

Jim Dufek:
The night gang is a group of volunteers who come out to check the nets at different times during the night. Right now we have 10:00 p.m., midnight, 2:00 a.m.  People come out.

Jo Garrett:
They show up at these time slots nearly every night for nearly six weeks. Every night these nets go up.

Jim Dufek:
We've actually had as many as 70 in a night when you get a northwest wind.

Man:
You don't want to stick your finger in there, oh man. There is something in here. Now remember, these are full grown.

Jo Garrett:
Bernie Brouchous reveals the animal the Night Gang netted squinting in the sunlight.

Bernie Brouchous:
These are not babies, they're full grown.

Jo Garrett:
This is a saw-whet owl. They're the stars of the Woodland Dunes annual Owl Fest. The name is saw-whet. Wisconsin's smallest owl.

Bernie Brouchous:
They may be 8 inches, wing spread maybe 14, 16 inches. They're very light. A couple ounces.

Jo Garrett:
Owl Fest provides a chance to see that petite predator up close and to gain an appreciation of how it survives in the world of night.

Woman:
Where do you see the ears? Do you see them? See that disc there? Disc shaped feathers here? They direct the sound to behind that disc and that's where the ear is. If you look, there it is, see?

Woman:
Oh my gosh.

Child:
Looks weird.

Woman:
Oh my goodness.

Woman:
These feathers direct that to the back of the disc where the ears are. One is higher, one is lower.

Jo Garrett:
This bird is a hook. A way in through an interesting animal, to an interest in the natural world. Jim Nickelbaum, the executive director of Woodland Dunes.

Jim Nickelbaum:
I hear references to “gateway species.”Along the Wisconsin River or you may have bald eagles congregating. For us it's saw-whet owls. They're very appealing to people. They're a calm bird. They're amenable to being shown and released. Being able to get people in close proximity like that forms a connection. So for us they're a gateway.

Jo Garrett:
Bernie Brouchous has been absolutely critical to making that connection. He's not a researcher. For most of his life he worked in local grocery stores.

Bernie Brouchous:
Usually we'll catch between 200 and 400 saw-whet owls each fall.

Jo Garrett:
For all of his life Brouchous has been passionately in love with birds. Bird watching and banding. Every year the saw whets migrate through the woods and wetlands of Woodland Dunes as they migrate south along Lake Michigan.

Bernie Brouchous:
It lays with its talons up waiting for me. He's snapping his beak. He wants to scare us. I band in the right leg.

Jo Garrett:
Information about these little birds is recorded. Secrets spill out of their wings.

Bernie Brouchous:
You see there are two different colors of these. These are lighter than these. So that means this is an adult. It was not hatched this year. We want to find out where they go. How long it takes them to get there. Do they come back to the same spot?

Bernie Brouchous:
How many have bird books? All right. You look in there and it tells you where the bird nests and where it goes in wintertime. That's all through the banding program.

Jo Garrett:
There was no Woodland Dunes nature center when Brouchous started banding here. In fact, it was the success of his banding efforts that put this place on the map as a migratory hot spot. Because of that, Brouchous pushed to get this place preserved. 1200 acres and 30 years later, it is. This is a bird haven. But it is the saw-whets that steal the show.

Man:
I've been fascinated by owls and I learned of this event going on and thought wow, I have to go down and be part of that.

Bernie Brouchous:
You decide who is going to adopt this owl. We need someone to raise it. We've got one, okay.

Jo Garrett:
Brouchous has spearheaded a program to adopt an owl at Owl Fest. It will help the center buy new nets.

Bernie Brouchous:
Let him go. There he goes.

Bernie Brouchous:
He went to the mulberry tree instead of the lilacs. Let's see if we can see him now. We should be able to walk up to him.

Man:
It is something to makes me feel good to know that I helped and did something that is out there in the wild.

Jo Garrett:
To be out there in the wild. Brouchous now serves as the center's environmental education director. He'd love to pass on his love of birds.

Bernie Brouchous:
We want to teach kids to love the out of doors. That's diminishing and that's a disaster. It's a piece of wilderness. These kids have never seen an owl like this before. They don't know these things exist.         

Woman:
Put him on your hand on that finger and you close your hand.

Jo Garrett:
It's a touch of wildness that hopefully will help a love of nature take wing.

Woman:
Open your hand and you'll be fine.

Man:
I'll take a picture of you. Don't pull your hand away.

Patty Loew:
This Saturday morning is Owl Fest at Woodland Dunes. Where they'll once again show off the saw-whet owls. For more information go to our website at wpt.org and click on “In Wisconsin.” The swale habitat was recently designated a site of global ecological significance from the Wisconsin DNR. There are only a few similar habitats in the world. Watch our web-only clips about the Woodland Dunes and the benefits they provide to the nearby cities of Two Rivers and Manitowoc.