We Went Green
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Go Green!
Saturday, May 5 was our 5th Annual Go Green event and it was a great success.
Every year in early May Girl Scout troops from around the Milwaukee area join us to learn about the environment, land stewardship practices and volunteering.
This time 120 Girl Scouts and 30 moms came out with boots on their feet and smiles on their faces.
They descended upon our Kratzsch Conservancy in Newburg where they helped us to blaze a trail, remove invasive shrubs and build a boat rest area along theMilwaukeeRiver. Along the way they learned about native fish from a local expert and wildlife monitoring from our Conserv ation Specialist Katie “Tree” Weber. (Pictured showing off tadpoles)
Tree? We found out that Girl Scouts give each other camp nicknames to make everyone feel comfortable. They had names like “Raccoon,” “Goofball,” and “Fluffy.” We liked the idea, so by the end of the day Shawn Graff became “Sugarcube, "Mike Hoffer was “Mayonaisse” and Steve Henkel was “Bambi.”
We might just keep the nicknames.
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Great Wisconsin Birdathon
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The Ozaukee Washington Land Trust (OWLT) is part of the first-ever Great Wisconsin Birdathon this May. Funds raised will support OWLT’s Forest Beach Migratory Preserve as well as the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin’s Bird Protection Fund. These programs help meet the year-round needs of birds that live in, or migrate through, our state.
“With bird habitats dwindling across the continent, Forest Beach Migratory Preserve is an increasingly important rest area,” said OWLT Stewardship Manager Mike Hoffer. “We’ve already documented of 200 species at the site, but we expect that the true number is much greater than that.”
Whether you are a novice or an expert birder you can take part in OWLT’s Great Wisconsin Birdathon. Here’s how you can participate:
On Saturday, May 5, visit the Bird Day Celebration at the Forest Beach Migratory Preserve located in northeastern Ozaukee County. A variety of activities have been scheduled from 7:30 am until noon including guided bird walks, live bird presentations, bird banding and bird-related activities for kids.
Bird watchers will spend the morning hours scouring the Preserve’s varied habitats, including the Lake Michigan shoreline, trying to identify as many bird species as possible. Internationally renowned birder Noel Cutright will arrive in the pre-dawn hours and will start listening for birds from the Bill Cowart Hawk Watch Platform. He and others will stay until noon trying to build a robust bird species checklist.
To participate as a birdwatcher:
- Visit www.Wisconservation.org for complete instructions, a Wisconsin Birds Checklist, pledge forms and other information
- Arrive at the FBMP in the morning on May 5 and identify as many bird species from the property as you can.
- When you are finished birding, stop by the clubhouse, the center for the day’s activities, and add your species to the OWLT Birdathon checklist.
To participate as a donor or to solicit pledges from others:
- You can either pledge a certain amount per species or a lump sum amount. Since this is the first year for the event, it is difficult to predict how many species might be identified, but it should be between 50 and 100. So, if you pledge a half dollar per species and 70 species are identified, your pledge amount would be $35.
- Ask friends, relatives, neighbors, coworkers, Facebook friends—or even people you don’t know—to pledge. Lots of people love birds and want to help!
- All pledge information should be sent to OWLT, 200 Wisconsin Street, West Bend, WI 53095 or emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. "> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Following the event:
- All persons making a pledge will be sent an informative blow-by-blow account of the morning’s birding activities along with how to make their payment for their pledge.
Find more information about the Great Wisconsin Birdathon at www.Wisconservation.org
Waterbird Watch – Harrington Beach State Park
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The Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory located at the Forest Beach Migratory Preserve in northeastern Ozaukee County has obtained sufficient funding to launch a new project this week aimed at quantifying the chronology and volume of migrating waterbirds along the western shore of Lake Michigan. This spring (March-May) Watch will record migrating geese, ducks, loons, grebes, cormorants, pelicans, wading birds, and shorebirds at Harrington Beach State Park (HBSP) in northeastern Ozaukee County. This location is considered by many to be among the very top locations along this shoreline to observe near-shore migrants. Other bird species presence will be noted as time allows. A temporary/semi-permanent blind is being constructed at the sitting bench on the bank just south of the Point at HBSP.
Waterbirds tend to migrate directly and rarely linger like some raptors and many songbirds. Off course, there are exceptions, including shorebirds, some waterfowl species, gulls, and some loons and grebes. And these along with some reverse migrants on some days present a challenge to the counter. Regardless, most waterbirds tend to migrate from south to north in spring and the opposite direction in the fall. Interpreting the waterbird data, like all bird counts or censuses, must be done in the long term. Visibility is the prime concern during waterbird counts, but some of the most inclement days can have some of the highest numbers of migrating waterbirds, but if it is foggy, the ability to detect the passing migrants is impossible.
The Watch will be coordinated this spring by someone familiar to many, Seth Cutright. He will be entering data into eBird, and he'll probably blog about his experiences. Visitors are welcome to the Watch site, especially those with sharp eyes and those bringing homemade cookies, AND hot chocolate when the weather is raw. Park your vehicle with a park admission sticker attached in the lower parking lot and walk south on the blacktop path toward Quarry Pond and the Point. I'll let Seth communicate with you about how he can be reached via email or cell phone to determine if he is likely to be present on a particular day. I'm unsure what cell phone coverage is like at the Point. A new bird checklist for HBSP is being prepared, and we hope to have copies available at the Watch soon.
We plan to conduct a fall Watch as well, and hopefully funding can be obtained to continue these spring and fall counts for many decades.
Also this late-winter/early spring, Bill Mueller, through the Observatory and with funding from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, is coordinating aerial waterbird surveys along the western shore of Lake Michigan.
Noel Cutright, Ozaukee County
Founder - WGLBBO - wglbbo.org
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