Upcoming Programs / Field Trips

Thursday, August 6, 2009
Annual Potluck Picnic
Johnson's Park, Racine Co.
Details TBD

FIELD TRIP : Saturday, August 22, 2009
Horicon Marsh

   We will take the Birding Adventure at the Horicon Marsh Boat Tours. located at Highway 33 and the river bridge. This is a 2 hour pontoon boat tour of the marsh. We must have 10 people to make this trip go. Adults- $18. Age 12-15 $10.50.
   Meet 8:00 A.M. at the park and ride lot on Highway 20. Schedule 10:00 Video. 10:30 Boat ride. 12:45 lunch at Mother's Restaurant. There are several birding spots near Horicon that we can hit in the afternoon.
   WSO is having a field trip the next day on Highway 49. If you would like to stay over and go to that talk to me about lodging.
   Directions : I 94 to I 894 to US 45 To US 41 To Wis 33. Go west. Near the edge of Horicon there may be a detour around Horicon.. If so, there will be a sign saying go straight there will be access to the businesses in Horicon. Signs in Horicon direct you to businesses will have a goose flying pointing you where to go. Go to Horicon Marsh Boat Tours. If the detour is no longer take 33 to the Boat Tour at the bridge over Rock River.
      For questions regarding this field trip or suggestions for future trip, contact Bob McFall at or (262) 697-5167.

Highlights of the Hoy Audubon Field Trip
to Zeloski Marsh and Rose Lake State Natural Area! by Jenny Wenzel

On April 4, 2009, Hoy Audubon members enjoyed a field trip to Zeloski Marsh and Rose Lake State Natural Area in Jefferson, WI. We joined up with fellow Madison Audubon members Nolan Kollath and Karen Eherhale who were happy to give us a tour of the marsh and point out all of the wonderful areas of interest there! They shared a wealth of knowledge about the local and migrating birds in the area! Members of the Lakeland Audubon Society also joined us for the trip.

When we first arrived at the marsh, we were greeted by hundreds, if not thousands of migrating waterfowl in the distance, swirling and landing in the marsh...it was quite a sight to see! Then we saw a mature Bald Eagle in flight before beginning our trek to the marsh.

After the nice long hike to the marsh carrying our scopes, binoculars, and a few cameras, we spotted hundreds of waterfowl on the marsh and many other birds on the way! Highlights included American White Pelicans, Greater White Fronted Geese, Green-Winged Teals, Gadwalls, Widgeons, Pie-Billed Grebes, Coots, Sandhill Cranes, hundreds of Northern Pintails, and a few Shovelers, Canvasbacks, and Northern Harriers. Typical waterfowl that we see here on Lake Michigan in Racine were also noted. Many Tree Swallow enjoyed swooping around us to collect insects and check out the variety of nesting boxes that were available to them in the area. Nolan shared with us that the marsh is also a great place for migrating shorebirds later in the spring and fall.

After the marsh we stopped for sandwiches at a local pizza/sub shop and ate our lunch in the picnic area of our next stop, Rose Lake State Natural Area, which has a wonderful wooded area leading up to a lookout where we set up our scopes to view the birds there. There we saw an Eastern Bluebird, many Ring-Necked ducks, and many similar waterfowl that we had seen earlier at Zeloski.

It was a great trip and a fun opportunity to meet new birding friends!

Highlights of the Hoy Audubon Field Trip
to Bong Recreation Area for Winter Birding! by Jenny Wenzel

   On January 31, 2009, Hoy Audubon hosted a field trip to Bong Recreation Area for the purpose of enjoying winter birds. The day turned out to be rather cold and windy, which kept many birds in hiding, but the event was a great success! Fourteen people gathered and enjoyed seeing a nice
variety of birds, including 2 Northern Shrike, which turned out to be a life bird for many of us (thanks to Rick Fare for spotting them!). The Short-Eared owls that we had hoped to find had \already left the area, but we spotted a nice variety of other birds, including an unusually tame
Northern Bobwhite and a variety of birds at the Bong feeders. We were able to spot the difference between House and Purple finches, as well as sighting Downy woodpeckers, Goldfinches, Juncos, etc. and 2 American Tree Sparrows! The Rough-Legged Hawks didn't make an appearance, but we were happy to see a Red-tailed hawk perched in the trees! All in all, it was a great event and a wonderful opportunity to see birds and share our experience with others!

WISCONSIN SOCIETY FOR ORNITHOLOGY

The Wisconsin Society for Ornithology (WSO) sponsored field trips are open for anyone to attend. 
For a listing of 2009 Field Trips, click here.

Bring a bag lunch or cooler. For the WSO field trips, severe weather conditions may cancel the trip. In the event of cancellation, every attempt to notify participants via the WSO Hotline (call 262.784.4032 for recording) and WisBirdNet (recent postings at http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/WISC.html )

Organic and Fair Trade Coffee For Sale

Organic and shade grown coffee provides invaluable habitat for our neotropical migrants in contrast to that of full sun monocultures which require chemicals inputs. Coffee that is slower to ripen, as in shade grown coffee, better converts its starches to sugars and is richer in flavor. Fair trade certified coffee also guarantees the people working a fair wage and good working conditions.  A 12oz. bag of regular ground or bean coffee is $10.  A portion of the proceeds support Hoy Audubon.  Available at our general meetings.

New Annual Renewal Date for Hoy Audubon Society Chapter Membership***

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Purchase a gift membership in Hoy Audubon

Enroll a friend or relative as a member of Hoy Audubon Society. Gift memberships are a wonderful way to help our club grow.  Plus, they introduce others to the benefits of belonging to Hoy, such as field trips-both local and distant, informative programs at the monthly meetings, and social events, including the annual picnic and Holiday party.

Federal Duck Stamp

On July 1, a new Federal Duck Stamp became available at post offices, national wildlife refuges, some national retail chain stores, and various sporting-goods stores nationwide. The Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, which is the Duck Stamp's official name, has been a magnificent success story in its 70-year history. Started in the mid-1930s, to address a major crisis in bird conservation and wetland habitat loss, the stamp has been used as a highly effective funding mechanism for our refuge system, having accrued over $670 million and having been used to secure more than five million acres of valuable wetland habitat for the system. About $25 million a year is currently collected through yearly stamp sales. Proceeds from the $15 stamp go into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, used to purchase valuable wetlands for the National Wildlife Refuge System. (Indeed, about 98 percent of the revenue from the stamp goes through the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to purchases these refuge wetlands.)

Wisconsin Bird Checklist 

Last updated - 06/30/2009