• Saturday, Oct 9 starting at 6am, though arrive anytime and stay as long as you can
• Forest Beach Migratory Preserve 4970 Country Club Rd
• Sit is on the Bill Cowart Memorial Hawk Watch Platform
• Questions? Reach out to Carl Schwartz or Marilyn Bontly

Big Sit! events are held at multiple locations each fall in Wisconsin as part of an annual, international, noncompetitive birding event held during the second weekend in October. The Big Sit! is like a Big Day or a birdathon in that the object is to tally as many species as can be seen or heard within 24 hours. The difference lies in the area limitation from which you may observe.
      Some people have called it a “tailgate party for birders.” Find a good spot for bird watching, preferably one with good views of a variety of habitats. Next, create a real or imaginary circle 17 feet in diameter and sit inside the circle for as long as 24 hours, counting all the bird species you see or hear and recording them via eBird.
     Our 34-year-old club invites its members and other interested birders to spend time enjoying the sights and sounds of one of Ozaukee County’s outdoor treasures. The Sit’s 17-foot circle is on the perfectly-sized hawk watch platform at Forest Beach.

The 34-year-old Noel J Cutright Birding Club invites its members and other interested birders to spend time enjoying the sights and sounds of one of Ozaukee County’s outdoor treasures. The Sit’s 17-foot circle is on the perfectly-sized hawk watch platform at Forest Beach (red circle on NW corner of property map)

     The property, at 4970 Country Club Rd., is owned and managed by the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust and is the former site of the Old Squires Golf Club. The club’s old pro shop formerly housed the Observatory, whose mission is to advance knowledge of bird populations and their conservation through coordinated research, monitoring and education. The late Noel Cutright founded the Observatory and launched the Forest Beach count in 2009 as a way for the Riveredge Bird Club (since renamed in his honor) to support the Observatory.

     Since 2007, birders have recorded a total of 262 species at Forest Beach, with 13 of them new just in the last five years: Blue Grosbeak, Spotted Towhee, White-eyed Vireo, Grasshopper Sparrow, Common Raven, Trumpeter Swan, , Swainson’s Hawk, Bell’s Vireo, Iceland Gull, Brewer’s Blackbird, Eurasian Collared Dove, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and Eastern Whip-poor-will. The high Big Sit count at Forest Beach was 70 species in 2014; in 2018, there were 66 species were recorded.
     The 116-acre site is one of the largest tracts of open land remaining in Ozaukee County along Lake Michigan. Its geography – and the extensive habitat development and creation of 27 wetlands begun in 2009 — have achieved a significant part of Cutright’s vision for the Preserve: diverse habitat, abundant seed and invertebrate sources for migratory birds. It’s large species list demonstrates what excellent stopover habitat makes possible: a place for a diverse group of migratory birds to rest and refuel – as well as a great place to stage a Big Sit. So please join us on the morning of Oct. 9. Carl Schwartz for more details, cschwartz3@wi.rr.com

Riveredge Bird Club meets (virtually) on first Tuesdays at 7pm

October 5 Topic: Charles Hagner’s Birds of Wisconsin