Horicon Marsh, 2025

Today I joined the Milwaukee Birders on their field trip to Horicon Marsh. The plan was to walk the length of Old Marsh Road, and we did have some rain, but the trip was not a washout by any means.

The first exciting find, at least for me, was a couple of black terns (Chlidonias niger), and it appears that they have already entered molting season. I did get to see them when I visited back in 2023, but this is the first time I’ve managed to get a picture of one.

There were also a few black-necked stilts, which I also saw back in 2023, but this time they had a couple of chicks with them, and you can see one of the little grey cuties just above and to the right of the adult.

Plus, I was able to make a couple of nice portraits.

I’ve also seen yellow-headed blackbirds before, during my visit in 2024, but this is the first picture I can show you of a breeding male in all his finery.

Another bird that was nice to see again was the marsh wren, whom we’ve seen before at Kohler-Andrae State Park and even in Estabrook during migration, and this is just one of dozens we heard calling from the reeds.

Another bird I’ve also glimpsed before, but never managed to photograph, is the Virginia rail (Rallus limicola), and here’s a youngster on the hunt. Just look at the size of that foot!

Here’s the youngster together with one of its parents.

And here, finally, is one of the elusive parents out in the open.

After we finished up with Old Marsh Road, we made a quick stop at the nearby Bud Cook Hiking Trail, and this is one of several clay-colored sparrows who were there to greet us. We first saw one at the Mequon Nature Preserve a couple of summers ago.

The main event for me, however, has got to be the small group of bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) we saw and heard as they chatted away in a few bushes just off the trail. I’ve heard them, but never seen them before, and here’s one of the stunning breeding males, with an all-black front, a yellow nape, and white on his back.

This male, with a few orange feathers mixed in with the white on his back, is a bit of a mystery, and my best guess is that he’s already starting to molt into his yellow, non-breeding plumage.

Finally, here are those two males again with a yellow female in between.

Lastly, I glimpsed a few monarchs, wood-nymphs, and even my first black swallowtail butterfly of the year, but I failed to capture any butterfly images today. Instead I did get us just our second look ever at a dot-tailed whiteface dragonfly.

That’s a wrap for the always-amazing Horicon Marsh, thanks to Donna and Katie for all the driving, and I plan to be back in Estabrook Park bright and early tomorrow morning.