On Monday, we went on a Habitat Birding by Bus and Boat excursion as part of the Horicon Marsh Bird Festival. The weather was perfect. The day was sunny and started out in the upper 40s/low 50s at 6:00 a.m. and ended in the mid to upper 70s. We were clearly the amateur birdies and were surrounded by people who could pick birds out of a fully leafed out tree and identify the type of warbler by it's call. But we had fun and saw a lot of birds. Our group collectively identified 106 species.
We started the day along a gravel road bordered by trees on both sides and this is where we found many warblers along with sparrows, woodpeckers, orioles, bluejays, etc. We spent 1.5 hours walking 1/2 mile.
We then explored a grassy field and continued on to the marsh. Later in the afternoon we took a pontoon boat into the marsh and along with many birds saw quite a few turtles including a snapping turtle basking in the sun and a mink run along the shore.
Here are a few photos of some of the birds (and other animals) we saw:
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| Indigo Bunting |
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| Rose breasted grosbeak |
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| Blue Winged Teal |
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| American Pelican |
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| Geese |
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| Yellow Headed Blackbird |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Bald Eagle |
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| Snapping Turtle |
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| Sandhill Cranes |
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| Tree Swallows |
