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This earthcache is an auto tour and floating board walk.It is open year around conditions permitting(such as snow).Gates close at dusk.
Take your binoculars and a bird book.You are required to wear blaze orange during deer gun season.
Each year a great number and variety of birds return to Horicon Marsh. This, in turn, attracts a great number of bird watchers who come to discover, observe, and learn about our birds. Each year the same sequence of bird migration takes place. The birds return to our state in the same order, but the exact date depends on the progress of spring. Between warm and early spring seasons and late seasons, birds may be as much as 3 weeks apart from year to year.
Each group of birds, however, responds to a particular environmental condition which encourages them on their way. The geese arrive when the snow begins to melt and ducks cannot advance farther than the melting of ice and availability of open water. Woodcocks have to wait until frost is out of the ground so that their food of worms and insect grubs becomes available. Most songbirds have to wait until the weather is warm enough to assure a steady supply of insects. Therefore, the annual progress of spring determines the progression of the spring migration.
January - While the marsh may be covered in ice and snow, it is not devoid of bird life during the depths of winter. Common winter birds of the marsh include northern harrier, red-tailed and rough-legged hawks, snowy owls (occasional), lapland longspur, snow bunting and horned larks. Canada geese commonly overwinter on the marsh, but depart when deep snow covers the remaining food supply.
February - By the middle of the month, Wisconsin's first "spring" migrant, the horned lark, returns in bigger numbers. Although some remain throughout the winter, they become more abundant in the fields and along the roadsides surrounding the marsh. Canada geese usually return by late February or early March depending on when the snow melts, making food available.
March - Red-winged blackbirds and grackles return following the geese, with the first sandhill cranes returning before the middle of the month. The first arriving robins, song sparrows and killdeer return by mid-March. Mid to late March is usually the time when the ducks begin to show up on the first open water. They are followed by coots and pied-billed grebes. As water birds, they cannot advance their migration until the ice melts. Early arriving birds concentrate on the area rivers since the moving water will be the first to break the ice. As the shallow wetlands and finally the lakes open up the large flocks of ducks become more common. Great blue herons will often be seen in early to mid-March, but the majority of the birds tend to wait until nearly the end of the month before they return to their rookery at Fourmile and Cotton Islands. Once settled in they can be seen throughout the day, from April to the end of summer, in the air over Horicon Marsh and the surrounding land. Great egrets stay back for another 2 to 3 weeks, with the majority of the birds arriving in early to mid April.
April - From mid April through the end of May is the peak of activity for most spring migrating birds. With the disappearance of the ice and the warming temperatures, a great variety of birds come streaming into Horicon Marsh. Snipe can be heard over the marsh, while rails, swamp sparrows, yellow-headed blackbirds, black-crowned night herons and many others can be seen on the marsh or heard calling from the stands of cattails. This is also the time when bald eagles, osprey and peregrine falcons are most commonly seen at the marsh.By the third week of the month the great flocks of Canada geese depart Wisconsin for their northerly nesting grounds along the shores of James and Hudson Bay. Some geese will be seen on the marsh throughout the summer. These are the giant Canada geese, which is a separate subspecies that nests in Wisconsin and other sites across the mid-west.
The northerly nesting ducks depart soon after the geese. Local nesting birds are to be seen courting on the marsh just prior to nesting. Once nesting begins in May, waterfowl are less often seen at Horicon Marsh, as the females are on the nest and the males form small flocks in the marsh.
April is also the time when the shorebirds return. When water levels are low enough to form mudflats, populations can be very abundant at the marsh. They will often remain until the middle of May. During April is also when the first big waves of songbirds come through the area. The tree swallows will be seen over the marsh early in the month with the other species returning about 3 weeks later. The first of the warblers, the yellow-rumped, returns in early to mid-April, while the palm, black-throated green, black and white warblers will be seen by late April. They will be followed by the big migratory waves and great variety of other warbler species in the second and third week of May.
May - After the northern nesting waterfowl have departed the marsh the great flocks of songbirds begin to reach the peak of their migration. From late April to the third week of May is the best time to watch and listen for the spring songbirds.
The best time to see them is prior to the full development of the leaves of our forest trees. Since many of these birds will be perched in the tree tops and among dense shrubs, they are more readily seen when the trees and bushes are still rather bare. In some years the leaves may develop before most of the birds even arrive making for a real challenge. In these years of warm spring weather it is an extra challenge to find the birds. The best method is to identify them by song rather than sight, but that requires training, experience and a good ear for bird songs.
Among the great variety of songbirds to be seen at Horicon and many other sites are tanagers, orioles, rose-breasted grosbeaks, vireos and flycatchers. These are known as the passerines [perching birds or songbirds]. Among them are many of the neotropical migrants. These are birds that winter in the tropical rainforests and nest in the forests and grasslands of Wisconsin, surrounding states and Canada.
As May arrives the remainder of our spring birds return. In the marsh, this includes the green heron, least bittern, marsh wren and many others. This is also the time when some of our rarest birds can be sighted here. Horicon Marsh is one place where unusual wetland birds may be commonly sighted. These include little blue herons, snowy egrets, glossy and white-faced ibis and even white pelicans.
June, July & August -Summer is the nesting season for birds. Nearly half of the birds known to the marsh remain here to rear their young. While many birds are still nesting the fall migration is beginning for others.
By late July the yellow warblers are already departing for their tropical wintering areas. By August, the first of the shorebirds, sandpipers and plovers, are arriving from their arctic breeding grounds.
September - This is the beginning of the fall migration for most birds. Shorebirds continue to arrive, while the first migrating Canada geese are seen on the marsh, arriving between the 12th and 15th of the month. Summering ducks begin to flock up while migrant waterfowl arrive to join them. The warblers, vireos, flycatchers, thrushes and other songbirds are passing through the area on their way south from northern Wisconsin and Canada.
October - As the summer songbirds begin to depart our region for their wintering areas well to the south, the Canada geese and ducks are reaching their peak numbers on the marsh. Herons, egrets, cormorants and other marsh birds depart as cooler temperatures and the coming of the first ice force them from our state.
November - While many people think of this as a winter month, the fall migration is still underway. The Canada goose flock often peaks in this month, while most of the other birds have long left the marsh. The rough-legged hawk is on the marsh to spend winter here well south of its arctic breeding grounds. Tundra swans may rest here during their long travels from Alaska to Chesapeake Bay. With the coming of ice cover the ducks and other water-dependant birds have long departed.
December - The migration comes to an end as snow cover forces the geese to move on and as winter finches, snow buntings and lapland longspurs settle down on the surrounding uplands. In certain years, snowy owls, short-eared owls, bald eagles and a variety of winter finches may be found in and around the marsh.
January & February - During the midst of winter bird populations remain rather stable as they settle in for the season. Winter bird surveys indicate that about 35 to 40 species of birds can be found even at this time of the year through careful watching.
The first signs of spring are indicated by the arrival of horned larks, red-winged blackbirds, grackles and Canada geese - the cycle begins anew. Depending on the season, by mid to late February or early Marsh, the thawing snow signals the beginning of the seasons all over again.
Over the years, a total of 268 species of birds have been sighted at Horicon Marsh. Among them are many common wetland and upland birds and some of Wisconsin's rarest bird sightings. On a single day in spring it is not unusual to find up to 100 species of birds on Horicon Marsh alone!
Horicon Marsh Geology The Horicon Marsh, as we see it today, has been a long time in the making. The series of events which led up to its creation have left their mark on the surrounding land. Over the past one million years or so, the great glaciers of the Ice Age have come and gone at least four times. With each glacial advance, the land lay buried under a massive continental ice sheet. Each retreat of the ice mass left behind an entirely altered landscape. Every major ice advance is named for the state where the evidence is best preserved. The oldest is known as the Nebraskan glaciation. Next came the Kansan and Illinoisan glaciations. Between each ice advance, the earth experienced a warmer climate. It is quite likely that our present climate is merely a warm period between periodic glacial advances.
The last such ice advance is known as the Wisconsin glaciation. It began about 75,000 years ago and ended within the last 9,000 to 12,000 years. In its wake, it left behind the landscape we know today. Written in the hills, valleys, and the gently rolling country side, the tracks of the glaciers can still be clearly seen. In our state remain some of the finest glacial landforms and features to be found anywhere in the world.
The great Horicon Marsh is one of many outstanding natural features formed by the Wisconsin glacier. The ice front invaded Wisconsin along several major pathways. Five separate lobes of ice pushed their way across this land. One of these, known as the Green Bay lobe, encroached upon eastern Wisconsin, where it carved out Green Bay. As it moved inland, it etched out the Lake Winnebago Basin and to the south, the Horicon Marsh and Rock River Basin. It reached as far south as the Madison area before it began to retreat due to warming global climates.
As the Horicon basin was being carved out of the land the advancing ice also created a series of elongated hills, called drumlins. The 2 large hills comprising Quick's Point, the location of the DNR Field Office, are drumlins. Note the sharp rise of these hills on the north side and the long sloping sides which extend down Palmatory Street from the office to the hiking trail parking lot. The islands located within the marsh are drumlins as well. They have the same orientation as the upland hills, but have been mostly buried by sediment as the marsh developed. Dodge County and the surrounding area has the highest concentration of drumlins in the world!
Upon their retreat, the glaciers receded in successive stages, creating a moraine to mark each temporary halt of the ice-front. One such recessional moraine is located at the south end of the marsh. This natural earthen dam temporarily held back the meltwaters of the receding glacier, creating a post-glacial lake where the marsh lies today. The Rock River formed its headwaters around this lake. Glacial Lake Horicon, as it is known, found its outlet across the moraine. Within time, the river eroded away this natural dam, draining the lake. As the water levels dropped, fine silts and clay settled into the basin while peat accumulated from abundant plant growth. This resulted in this once great lake giving way to become a tremendous marsh. As this lake evolved into a marsh, it became increasingly richer as wildlife habitat. As a result, it has supported wildlife and people for thousands of years. Due to this tremendous geological history, Horicon Marsh has been included as one of the nine units of the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve as an excellent example of an extinct glacial lake.
The Ice Age National Scientific Reserve Horicon Marsh Wildlife Area is a unit of the Ice Age Reserve system, which is an affiliated area of the National Park System. Unlike our national parks, the Reserve consists of nine separate units located throughout the state and is operated by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Each of these units contains some uniquely representative evidence of the great Ice Age, also known as the Pleistocene era. On May 29, 1971, an order was published in the Federal Register formally establishing an Ice Age National Scientific Reserve in Wisconsin.
The purpose of the Reserve is to protect, preserve, and interpret our glacial heritage, which is most evident and impressive in Wisconsin. The Reserve is a cooperative venture of federal, state, and local governments. Some 50,000 acres of land are involved, of which more than half are already in public ownership. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources manages the Reserve. The individual units are state parks, forests, and wildlife areas. Horicon was selected for inclusion in the Ice Age Reserve because it is an outstanding example of an extinct post-glacial lake. Public naturalist programs are conducted at the marsh during the spring and fall seasons and focus on the area's geology, history and wildlife.
Here are 7 question.Each informational stop on the auto tour will reveal an answer.
1)What 3 types of marsh do you find at the Horicon marsh?
2)A scaup pool is important to migratory ducks and birds because it is a great resting place that offers ____ and _______.
3)Animals can be found intertwining in this habitat.
4)What river flows through the marsh?
5)What marsh animals were the first marsh managers?
6)What part of the marsh provides habitat for the sandhill crane?
7)Over ___ national wildlife refuges are in the National Wildlife Refuge System.They are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the conservation and enhancement of fish,wildlife,and other habitats.Refuges provide food,water,shelter,and space for more than __ ENDANGERED species of birds,mammals,reptiles,amphibians,fish and plants.
Be sure to take your camera and post lots of pictures.
To get Credit for your log please post a photo of a plant or animal you saw during your visit, or if you don't have a camera email me the answer to one of the seven questions above.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)