$3,625

Raised of $2,000

Chirp Chasers

434 total birds seen

Team participating in Great Wisconsin Birdathon 2023

Takes place Apr 15 - Jun 15, 2023

Captained by Alison Sazama

Support our team in the Great Wisconsin Birdathon!

After a long winter, who among us hasn't smiled at the cheery warble of the Robin and delighted in the arrival of the Baltimore Oriole in all its colorful splendor? Birds bring us so much joy with their amazing diversity in song and color. But their habitat is disappearing rapidly and that's why the Chippewa County Land Conservancy has participated in the Great Wisconsin Birdathon for the past several years. Our team, the Chirp Chaser’s will set out once again to spot as many birds as possible and work to raise funds to protect them.

The Chirp Chaser’s team has challenged itself to raise $2000 this year and hopes to view at least 115 bird species. We will be birdwatching the week of May 14 through May 20.

Your support will benefit the Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation AND the Chippewa County Land Conservancy. Half of the proceeds will go to the NRF's Bird Protection Fund and half will go the the Chippewa County Land Conservancy as it works to protect valuable habitat for our native birds.

What would our lives be without birds and the beauty they bring? Please consider a donation. Your support would mean so much to us! It’s easy and no amount is too small! Even $10 will help us achieve our goal. You can make a contribution 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!)

Team Members 5

Alison Sazama

1 yr. ago

Great Wisconsin Birdathon 2023 – Chirp Chaser’s bird list!

Here is our final list for the year!

Canada Goose

Tundra Swan

Mute Swan

Wood Duck

Blue Winged Teal

Green Winged Teal

Northern Shoveler

Mallard

Redhead

Ring Necked Duck

Lesser Scaup

Bufflehead

Hooded Merganser

Gadwall

Common Goldeneye

Common Merganser

Ring Neck Pheasant

Wild Turkey

Ruffed Grouse

Pied Billed Grebe

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Yellow Billed Cuckoo

Eastern Whip-poor-will

Ruby Throated Hummingbird

American Coot

Sandhill Crane

Killdeer

American Woodcock

Least Sandpiper

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Stilt Sandpiper

Wilson's Snipe

Herring Gull

Ring-Billed Gull

Common Loon

American White Pelican

Great Blue Heron

Green Heron

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Red Tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

Merlin

Northern Harrier

Bald Eagle

Sharp Shinned Hawk

Broad Winged Hawk

Great Horned Owl

Barred Owl

Belted Kingfisher

Pileated Woodpecker

Red -Bellied Woodpecker

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

Northern Flicker

Hairy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Red- Headed Woodpecker

Merlin

American Kestrel

Eastern Phoebe

Alder Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher

Great Crested Flycatcher

Eastern Wood Peewee

Eastern Kingbird

Solitary Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Red Eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

American Crow

Common Raven

Horned Lark

N. Rough Winged Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black Capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

White Breasted Nuthatch

Red Breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Winter Wren

House Wren

Sedge Wren

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher

Ruby Crowned Kinglet

Hermit Thrush

Veery

Swainsons Thrush

Eastern Bluebird

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Brown Thrasher

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

House Sparrow

House Finch

American Goldfinch

Purple Finch

Eastern Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Lark Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

Clay colored Sparrow

Common Grackle

Red Winged Blackbird

Brewers Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Bobolink

Eastern Meadowlark

Orchard Oriole

Baltimore Oriole

American Redstart

Black and White Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Blue-winged Warbler

Canada Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Golden-winged Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Kristi Lund

1 yr. ago

3

birds seen

$3.08

Per bird seen

$9.24

Earned

While biking this week solo deep in the Chippewa River basin, a silent barred owl peered at eye level, a large bird above. Merlin simultaneously recorded a Red-shouldered Hawk! New to the list while birding Door County is the Philadelphia Vireo, a secretive bird of brushy, dense vegetation and the blue gray gnatcatcher. Close to home in a protected wetland was the Willow Flycatcher, noted for its distinctive call, "Phitzbew!".

Thank you for your generous support to protect birds!

Alison Sazama

1 yr. ago

51

birds seen

$6.12

Per bird seen

$312.12

Earned

Great Wisconsin Birdathon 2023 – Chirp Chaser’s recap

The 2023 Birdathon is nearing completion and the Chirp Chasers have had a stellar year thanks to all of our contributors. We can’t thank you enough! We raised $3,725.00 and once again emphasize the importance of your contributions to our organization and the birds.

A special shout out to our team members, Liam Kraft, Kathy Mehls, Jeff Brown and Kristi Lund. We tallied an incredible 142 species which is our all- time best.

Summer like temperatures came fast after a long cool April. Interestingly, several highlights came from backyards. A Solitary Vireo, which is rare in the Chippewa Valley and an unexpected and exciting observation from a team members’ bedroom window at midnight – the repeated call of the Eastern Whip-poor-will. The beautiful image below of the Northern Shoveler came in the early morning hours at sunrise and several members of the team spotted a pair of Northern Waterthrushes, plain little brown birds often difficult to observe.

The team was delighted to have Liam Kraft join the birding adventure. A fifth grader, Liam’s enthusiasm is contagious and it’s wonderful to see young people getting involved. Liam captured on film a shot of White Pelicans on the island at Lake Wissota as they stopped over. Liam admitted it was hard to pick a favorite sighting but decided on that of a Worm-eating Warbler and wild Mute Swans.

Contributions 56

Birdathon PledgeIt site (2).png

Your Donation Makes a Difference For Birds

Donations made to the Great Wisconsin Birdathon support the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin’s Bird Protection Fund, which has given out over $1.3 million towards Wisconsin’s highest priority bird conservation projects since its inception in 2009.

Whether it's creating Piping Plover habitat, rearing Whooping Crane chicks, spreading awareness about Connecticut Warblers, supporting community initiatives for bird-friendly neighborhoods, engaging new and underrepresented voices in the birding community, building impactful collaborations to protect Wisconsin's Important Bird Areas, or protecting our neotropical migrants on their long migratory journeys to Central America... the Bird Protection Fund is there to help.

Your donations make this work possible. Thank you for supporting on-the-ground conservation and being there #ForTheBirds!