Female Belted Kingfisher

This female Belted Kingfisher was loudly and incessantly chattering behind the Horicon Marsh Education and Visitors Center.  She has an extra chestnut band that the male Belted Kingfisher does not have.  It is one of the few bird species in North America in which the female is more colorful than the male.  She is a beautiful blend of slate gray, copper, and chestnut brown.  Belted Kingfishers nest by burrowing three to six feet into a bank and making a dome shaped chamber at the end.

Dickcissel

This colorful Dickcissel was flitting among the shrubs by the Education and Visitors Center.  This grassland finch will likely soon migrate to Venezuela, the most common spot you might find them in the winter.

Cooler nights and morning dew showcase the intricate work of spiders.  It is amazing to see hundreds of webs glistening across a meadow.

Ring-billed Gull

A Ring-billed Gull enjoys the calm, sunny morning near the auto tour off of Highway 49.

Gulls need to stretch in the morning, just like humans.

Cedar Waxwing

The exquisite coloring on the Cedar Waxwing is striking with red tipped wings and yellow tipped tail feathers.  Waxy red secretions highlight the wing tips.

This little frog was content to sit under the boardwalk at the Education and Visitors Center.  The boardwalk provides easy hiking into the marsh with several benches to sit and enjoy the wildlife.