Horicon Marsh Bird Club
Jeff Bahls, President
N4686 Blackbird Rd
Beaver Dam, WI 53916
(920) 210-4832
For festival registration questions
call 920-485-4663
check us out on Facebook
email the president
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Your Tour Guides
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Dennis Gustafson
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Dennis holds a PhD in biology. He was a Biology teacher at Rufus King High School in Milwaukee for 35 years. He has birded for 48 years, primarily in southern Wisconsin. Dennis has been birding Horicon Marsh for most of those years.
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Jack Bartholmai
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Jack has been photographing birds in and around the Horicon Marsh for the last 15 years. Jack has also been doing frog surveys for the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge for the last 7 years. This has given him the opportunity to be in the marsh after dark and become familiar with not only the sounds of frogs and toads calling, but also the birds that call from dusk into dark.
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Marc Zuelsdorf
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Marc’s family has owned and operated Horicon Marsh Boat Tours since 1994. Marc, who purchased the business from his father, Roland, (founder of the business in 1963) has been guiding tours since the age of eleven. Marc enjoys leading and educating visitors through the marsh in an effort to preserve the natural state of Horicon Marsh. In March of 2007 the business received a “Travel Green” certification from the WI Dept. of Tourism and WI Environmental Initiative for there effort in environmentally sustainable business practices.
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Jeff Bahls
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Jeff is a life long resident of Dodge County, Wisconsin. He has been an avid waterfowler for nearly 40 years. He has vast knowledge of the Horicon Marsh where he works part time for the Wisconsin Dept of Natural Resources. Is a Member of Horicon Marsh Bird club for the past 15 years and current President. He currently sits on the board of the Wood Duck Society, a nation wide organization devoted placement and care of wood duck boxes and wood duck habitat, Jeff was a member of 2007-search team for Ivory Billed Woodpecker in Arkansas..
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Marty Evanson
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Marty has been interested in bird watching since the early 1980’s. He has participated in various bird surveys such as the Christmas bird counts, breeding bird surveys throughout Wisconsin since the early 90’s. He participated in the Wisconsin bird atlas project. He has led numerous bird hikes for youth groups, co-lead bird walks for the Friends of the Nature Lakeshore Preserve (Picnic Point) and led bird trips for the Madison Audubon Society. Marty being a very active birder has accumulated a Wisconsin life list of over 315 bird species.
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Erin Railsback
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Erin works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a Visitor Services Specialist at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge. She is responsible for the environmental education, interpretive, and volunteer programs at the refuge - programs that provide opportunities for numerous youth, visitors, and volunteers to learn about and connect with the Horicon Marsh.
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Wendy Woyczik
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Wendy is the Wildlife Biologist at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and has been at Horicon for the last four years. Previous to working at Horicon, she was a biotech with the Leopold Wetland Management District for three years. Some of her duties include monitoring and adjusting water levels and conducting wildlife and vegetation surveys
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Mike McDowell
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Mike is an accomplished birder and photographer who gives talks on birding and is a field trip leader for Madison Audubon Society. He also contributes photos to various wildlife calendars and tourism guides, as well to the Wisconsin State Journal's Outdoors page.
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Barbara Harvey
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Barbara has been a Licensed Bird rehabilitator who has specialized in Raptors for over 17 years. She is an active speaker and educator with her focus being the life cycle and protection of all birds of prey. She has given programs and talks to schools, groups and events and is one of the most sought after raptor speakers in this part of Wisconsin. Barbara has left a lasting impression on 1000’s of school age children and adults who are in some way carrying on her goal of raptor and environmental protection.
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Lawrence Vine
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Lawrence worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as a Wildlife Research Technician at Horicon Marsh since 1975. He was the Master Bird Bander for the DNR for five years at the time of his retirement. In 1984 he founded & designed Marsh Haven Nature Center with the help of numerous volunteers.
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Holly Bartholmai
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Holly became interested in birding when she and Jack moved to 22 acres of varied habitat in rural Beaver Dam a place they call Hickory Springs - and began feeding the birds in their yard. She has assisted Jack in monitoring their nest box trails. They are avid backyard birders with a list of 170 some species of birds that have visited their Hickory Springs home over the years.
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Brad Webb
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Brad started birding several years ago and it quickly became a passion. He is a founding member and tour leader of a new group scheduling bird walks in Dodge and Jefferson County. Brad enjoys introducing new members to the pleasures of birding and sharing birding moments with experienced birders as well. A member of the Horicon Marsh Bird Club, he is often found somewhere on the marsh checking out residents and migrants alike.
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Tom Schaefer
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Tom has been a Field Trip Leader for the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology and was involved in updating the Pike Lake State Park checklist in 2008. An active birder for over 30 years, Tom is also a 10-year veteran Bluebirder, with over 60 nest boxes and has a backyard bird list of over 190.
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Gary Turk
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Gary has pursued birding throughout the Midwest since childhood. He has compiled a world life list of over 1000 species, and has kept a record of first spring migrants in Wisconsin for over 40 years. He has taught and guided individuals as well as school and Boy Scout groups. Over the past 20 years he has been active in several bird surveys in Wisconsin, and participated in the Wisconsin Breeding Bird
Atlas. He has birded in most of the 48 states plus Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Morocco, Costa Rico and Canada. He is currently retired and tutors in the Sun Prairie school system.
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Liz Herzmann
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Liz Herzmann is a naturalist for the Department of Natural Resources at the Horicon Marsh International Education Center. She is responsible for the educational programming and special events held at the Education Center. These programs allow people of all ages to experience the wildlife and natural resources of Horicon Marsh. Previous to working at the Education Center, Liz worked for Northern Illinois University teaching outdoor education at a field campus to 4th-8th grade students.
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Andy Paulios
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Andy Paulios, Coordinator of the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative (WBCI) since 2002 for the Wisconsin DNR.Andy has been birding since he was a little kid growing up in Rochester, MN. He received his BA from Luther College and MS degree from UW Green Bay. He is motivated by all things with feathers. Much of his childhood was spent identifying waterfowl and other marsh birds along the Mississippi River south of Wabasha MN. Andy spends most of his time watching birds or thinking about bird conservation. Currently his favorite bird is the Magnolia Warbler, but he's partial to just about anything with feathers. He lives in McFarland, WI with his wife, two kids, and dog, Buster.
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