Carl Schwartz

By Carl Schwartz, Team Captain

            In one incarnation or another for 14 years now, as many as seven of Cutright’s Old Coots have fielded a team to raise important support for the Great Wisconsin Birdathon and the Bird Protection Fund. Our goal has always been to see at least 150 species in a Big Day of Birding spanning roughly 18 hours and multiple counties with Ozaukee County as our base. During Covid, Birdathon rules were relaxed as our team split up to bird separately and record as many as 176 species in 2020.

After tallying 148 species in both 2023 and 2024, we fell well short of that on May 13, 2025, finding a still respectable but nevertheless disappointing132 species. Many things factor into each year’s results, including when in May we hold our Big Day, the route we plot, the number of sites we visit, recent weather and conditions on the day itself, the number of team members, our relative skills, and our advancing years…. Then, of course, there’s always the element of pure chance, i.e., being in the right spot at the right time.

So, on May 13 (three days earlier than in 2024), we were able to field only 5 of our 7 team members, with Alex Mann sidelined by illness and Tom Uttech electing to limit his birding to his Saukville farmstead. We were lucky enough to add Indiana-transplant Lisa Burr to our team, and after helping me locate an Eastern Screech-Owl at the Riveredge Nature Center, we joined Joan Sommer, Mike Wanger, and John O’Donnell at the Cedarburg Bog around 3:30 a.m. with the just-past-full moon shining through a thin layer of clouds and light drizzle at 58 degrees.

Wanger, the team’s official photographer and head bookkeeper, would filed a disappointingly thin checklist from a very quiet Bog, the first of 27 from separate locations stretching across 210 miles in Ozaukee, Washington, Dodge, Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties. That list, however, included both Barred and Great Horned Owl, as well as American Woodcock and an unexpected Common Nighthawk, an insectivorous species that has seemed more numerous this spring.

Our best early morning stop was at Hawthorne Hills County Park, where, in a third-of- a-mile walk along the Milwaukee River we would record 29 species, including five woodpeckers (highlighted by Pileated), although only four warblers. We returned briefly to Riveredge, where along the Milwaukee River we were able to locate an uncommon Louisiana Waterthrush that has shown up there in recent years.

In a meeting several days previous to plan our strategy for the day, we had decided to sacrifice several locations in Ozaukee County in order to arrive in Dodge County, and Horicon Marsh, almost three hours earlier than last year. On our way west we birded Lizard Mound State Park in Washington County, where we tallied 25 species, highlighted by American Pipit, but failed to find an anticipated Red-headed Woodpecker.

Dodge County turned out to be a very mixed bag for us. Overall, Horicon yielded about a dozen fewer species than last year. Shorebird habitat was almost nonexistent, and several herons and waterfowl eluded us as well. However, our 8 a.m. stop at Ziegler Park on the East Branch of the Rock River in Mayville, which had escaped damage from tornadoes in the area a few days previous, was the most rewarding of the day with plenteous birdsong, a carpet of wildflowers, and 40 species -- including more than half of the 20 warblers we recorded that day.

From there we would visit the Horicon Marsh International Education Center where we found a healthy Purple Martin colony as well as nesting Cliff, Barn, and Tree Swallows. We then headed north, following the east edge of the marsh all the way to Hwy. 49 and across that boundary between Dodge and Fond du Lac counties, adding to our day’s   list as we went. Highlights included good looks at Yellow-headed Blackbirds and good numbers of Great Egrets, Black Terns and American White Pelicans, which now nest at Horicon by the hundreds. Our last marsh stop was the Auto Tour at the northwest corner of the marsh, where we tallied 32 regular species.

From there we headed back east to the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest and a series of sites we had eliminated from our route last year because of poor results in 2023. Although we were unable to find several flycatcher species we had hoped for (Eastern Wood-Pewee, Willow and Alder), overall it was a good decision to return. We would locate three sparrows (Grasshopper, Henslow’s and Vesper) and four warblers (Pine, Hooded, Cerulean and Yellow-rumped) that had eluded us in 2024.

By 4 p.m., our team was down to just three as John and Mike headed off to keep other commitments and Lisa, Joan and I headed back to Ozaukee County, where a stop back at Riveredge yielded Tufted Titmouse, and Joan and Lisa’s knowledge of the county led us to ag fields where we found our lone productive shorebird spot (Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover, Spotted and Least Sandpiper). Another nearby field yielded Horned Lark, Brewer’s Blackbird (a species of State Special Concern), and a lingering flock of more than 100 Lapland Longspurs.

Our game plan had called us for us to conclude our Big Day in Port Washington -- where nature threw us a curve. As we neared Lake Michigan, temperatures dropped from 73 to 57 as a fog bank rolled in. Visibility was so limited we thought we might be forced to list species based solely on what we heard and even that was limited. But the fog lifted enough that we were able to identify three species of gulls and both Caspian and Common Terns. To our great surprise, as the fog lifted so did a flock of more than 600 Ring-billed Gulls that had been parked on the lawn at Coal Dock Park that until then had remained silent and out of sight.

The final three new species of the day were Peregrine Falcons seen in their nest box atop the power plant in Port, a Hooded Merganser in a pond at Forest Beach Migratory Preserve and a Great Blue Heron perched on a snag at Stonecroft Pond. So by 7:30 p.m., after 16 hours of birding, we called it quits.

All that remained was for yours truly to write this report and to thank all of you who have already donated to support the Natural Resources Foundation and its Bird Protection Fund and to encourage everyone else to do the same. Your support in past years has made a huge difference in the amount of conservation work the Bird Protection Fund has been able to undertake.

Make a donation online by clicking "donate" above, or mail a check to: Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, ATTN: Great Wisconsin Birdathon, 211 S. Paterson St., Suite 100, Madison, WI 53703 (and include our team's name in the memo line!)

Cutright’s Old Coots
Great Wisconsin Birdathon
Big Day: May 13, 2025

132 species

Bold: 16 species seen in 2025
but not in 2024
Deleted: 32 species seen in 2024
but not in 2025
Italics: Species renamed
 
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Gadwall
Mallard
American Black Duck
Gren-winged Teal
Redhead
Lesser Scaup
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Virginia Rail
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Black-necked Stilt
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Semipalmated Plover
Short-billed Dowitcher
American Woodcock
Spotted Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Bonaparte's Gull
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
American Herring Gull
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Forster's Tern
Common Tern
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Black-crowned Night Heron
Green Heron
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
American White Pelican
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Eastern Screech-Owl
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Alder Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Horned Lark
Bank Swallow
Tree Swallow
Purple Martin
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northen House Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
American Pipit
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Lapland Longspur
Grasshopper Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Henslow’s Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Brewer’s Blackbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Northern Waterthrush
Golden-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Connecticut Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Cerulean Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Dickcissel

By Carl Schwartz, Team Captain

            In one incarnation or another for 14 years now, as many as seven of Cutright’s Old Coots have fielded a team to raise important support for the Great Wisconsin Birdathon and the Bird Protection Fund. Our goal has always been to see at least 150 species in a Big Day of Birding spanning roughly 18 hours and multiple counties with Ozaukee County as our base. During Covid, Birdathon rules were relaxed as our team split up to bird separately and record as many as 176 species in 2020.

After tallying 148 species in both 2023 and 2024, we fell well short of that on May 13, 2025, finding a still respectable but nevertheless disappointing132 species. Many things factor into each year’s results, including when in May we hold our Big Day, the route we plot, the number of sites we visit, recent weather and conditions on the day itself, the number of team members, our relative skills, and our advancing years…. Then, of course, there’s always the element of pure chance, i.e., being in the right spot at the right time.

So, on May 13 (three days earlier than in 2024), we were able to field only 5 of our 7 team members, with Alex Mann sidelined by illness and Tom Uttech electing to limit his birding to his Saukville farmstead. We were lucky enough to add Indiana-transplant Lisa Burr to our team, and after helping me locate an Eastern Screech-Owl at the Riveredge Nature Center, we joined Joan Sommer, Mike Wanger, and John O’Donnell at the Cedarburg Bog around 3:30 a.m. with the just-past-full moon shining through a thin layer of clouds and light drizzle at 58 degrees.

Wanger, the team’s official photographer and head bookkeeper, would filed a disappointingly thin checklist from a very quiet Bog, the first of 27 from separate locations stretching across 210 miles in Ozaukee, Washington, Dodge, Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties. That list, however, included both Barred and Great Horned Owl, as well as American Woodcock and an unexpected Common Nighthawk, an insectivorous species that has seemed more numerous this spring.

Our best early morning stop was at Hawthorne Hills County Park, where, in a third-of- a-mile walk along the Milwaukee River we would record 29 species, including five woodpeckers (highlighted by Pileated), although only four warblers. We returned briefly to Riveredge, where along the Milwaukee River we were able to locate an uncommon Louisiana Waterthrush that has shown up there in recent years.

In a meeting several days previous to plan our strategy for the day, we had decided to sacrifice several locations in Ozaukee County in order to arrive in Dodge County, and Horicon Marsh, almost three hours earlier than last year. On our way west we birded Lizard Mound State Park in Washington County, where we tallied 25 species, highlighted by American Pipit, but failed to find an anticipated Red-headed Woodpecker.

Dodge County turned out to be a very mixed bag for us. Overall, Horicon yielded about a dozen fewer species than last year. Shorebird habitat was almost nonexistent, and several herons and waterfowl eluded us as well. However, our 8 a.m. stop at Ziegler Park on the East Branch of the Rock River in Mayville, which had escaped damage from tornadoes in the area a few days previous, was the most rewarding of the day with plenteous birdsong, a carpet of wildflowers, and 40 species -- including more than half of the 20 warblers we recorded that day.

From there we would visit the Horicon Marsh International Education Center where we found a healthy Purple Martin colony as well as nesting Cliff, Barn, and Tree Swallows. We then headed north, following the east edge of the marsh all the way to Hwy. 49 and across that boundary between Dodge and Fond du Lac counties, adding to our day’s   list as we went. Highlights included good looks at Yellow-headed Blackbirds and good numbers of Great Egrets, Black Terns and American White Pelicans, which now nest at Horicon by the hundreds. Our last marsh stop was the Auto Tour at the northwest corner of the marsh, where we tallied 32 regular species.

From there we headed back east to the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest and a series of sites we had eliminated from our route last year because of poor results in 2023. Although we were unable to find several flycatcher species we had hoped for (Eastern Wood-Pewee, Willow and Alder), overall it was a good decision to return. We would locate three sparrows (Grasshopper, Henslow’s and Vesper) and four warblers (Pine, Hooded, Cerulean and Yellow-rumped) that had eluded us in 2024.

By 4 p.m., our team was down to just three as John and Mike headed off to keep other commitments and Lisa, Joan and I headed back to Ozaukee County, where a stop back at Riveredge yielded Tufted Titmouse, and Joan and Lisa’s knowledge of the county led us to ag fields where we found our lone productive shorebird spot (Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover, Spotted and Least Sandpiper). Another nearby field yielded Horned Lark, Brewer’s Blackbird (a species of State Special Concern), and a lingering flock of more than 100 Lapland Longspurs.

Our game plan had called us for us to conclude our Big Day in Port Washington -- where nature threw us a curve. As we neared Lake Michigan, temperatures dropped from 73 to 57 as a fog bank rolled in. Visibility was so limited we thought we might be forced to list species based solely on what we heard and even that was limited. But the fog lifted enough that we were able to identify three species of gulls and both Caspian and Common Terns. To our great surprise, as the fog lifted so did a flock of more than 600 Ring-billed Gulls that had been parked on the lawn at Coal Dock Park that until then had remained silent and out of sight.

The final three new species of the day were Peregrine Falcons seen in their nest box atop the power plant in Port, a Hooded Merganser in a pond at Forest Beach Migratory Preserve and a Great Blue Heron perched on a snag at Stonecroft Pond. So by 7:30 p.m., after 16 hours of birding, we called it quits.

All that remained was for yours truly to write this report and to thank all of you who have already donated to support the Natural Resources Foundation and its Bird Protection Fund and to encourage everyone else to do the same. Your support in past years has made a huge difference in the amount of conservation work the Bird Protection Fund has been able to undertake.

Make a donation online by clicking "donate" above, or mail a check to: Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, ATTN: Great Wisconsin Birdathon, 211 S. Paterson St., Suite 100, Madison, WI 53703 (and include our team's name in the memo line!)

Cutright’s Old Coots
Great Wisconsin Birdathon
Big Day: May 13, 2025

132 species

Bold: 16 species seen in 2025
but not in 2024
Deleted: 32 species seen in 2024
but not in 2025
Italics: Species renamed
 
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Gadwall
Mallard
American Black Duck
Gren-winged Teal
Redhead
Lesser Scaup
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Virginia Rail
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Black-necked Stilt
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Semipalmated Plover
Short-billed Dowitcher
American Woodcock
Spotted Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Bonaparte's Gull
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
American Herring Gull
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Forster's Tern
Common Tern
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Black-crowned Night Heron
Green Heron
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
American White Pelican
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Eastern Screech-Owl
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Alder Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Horned Lark
Bank Swallow
Tree Swallow
Purple Martin
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northen House Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
American Pipit
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Lapland Longspur
Grasshopper Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Henslow’s Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Brewer’s Blackbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Northern Waterthrush
Golden-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Connecticut Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Cerulean Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Dickcissel