Jackson Park, a birding paradise, launches a new Friends Group
January 5, 2026 | Topics: Places
By J.O. Haselhoef
Photography by Tom Pipia
A lot of regulars walk paved trails around Jackson Park on Milwaukee’s southside. Two women who look like sisters chat nonstop. A male runner, now wearing red earmuffs, ran shirtless and buff in the summer. And the tall, lanky guy with the grey goatee who carries a camera with a long lens, Tom Pipia, stops to look in the direction of the lagoon’s larger island.
“I got some great photos of an Osprey and a Great Blue Heron eating fish on that island,” he said. He photographs the wildlife and natural scenes of Jackson Park just about every morning of every season and still describes them with a tinge of amazement.
Pipia’s photos grace the Facebook page of the new organization, Friends of Jackson and Manitoba Parks (FoJMParks). Started in November, 2025, the group aims to improve and activate those two Milwaukee County Parks through a combination of volunteer efforts, fundraising initiatives and community-centered programming.
Pipia started his walks through Jackson Park for his health. Slightly bored with the simplicity of a good walk, he took a few photos of birds for his granddaughter’s school project. Then he harkened back to his work in the military, where he learned to photograph as a criminal investigator.
“As I started taking pictures, I saw more and more wildlife in the park — some amazing and strange.” Pipia said. His eight years of photographing daily resulted in 128,000 photos, stored on his computer. “It’s not all about animals,” he said, as he likes nature in general, landscapes, trees. “But I basically shoot birds.”
Jackson Park shows itself well in photos
Pipia photographs with a Nikon T-1100, a one-piece SLR-type, with a built-in lens allowing him to focus on an object that lies between an inch and 100 feet away. It helps him adjust quickly from summery landscapes to nesting songbirds in branches of a maple tree to persistent red crabapples, contrasting against the snow. A number of people who follow him on Facebook are friends who can’t, don’t or won’t get out anymore. His work is, in part, for them.
“Tom takes beautiful photographs,” said Art Vannoy, FoJMParks co-founder and Milwaukee Public Schools art teacher. “His photographs help us recognize the, sometimes, missed value of these natural spaces. Tom’s photography reminds us of what’s there and can help us engage the community’s interest.”
Birds hold their own in a landscape that offers variety
Jackson Park’s 117 acres is a favorite place for many park visitors. Some come for the youth soccer organized by Milwaukee Kickers. Others, for the 16-week Farmers Market held in summer. Milwaukee County Parks new tennis, futsal and pickleball courts, dedicated in October, are already gathering interest.
While a team of young men plays Sepak Takraw, also known as kick volleyball, youngsters run through the forest, oblivious to the bird habitat around them. They think the leaf-strewn paths are just shortcuts from the picnic shelter to the lagoon.
Some birders call Jackson Park a birding hot spot. From 2017 to 2020, Pipia counted over 150 different species in Jackson, Wilson and Greenfield Parks — all with similar spaces for water and trees.
“During the pandemic years, I noticed a lot more birds coming into Jackson Park that I hadn’t seen before,” Pipia said. “I saw bald eagles and a lot of strange birds, like swans.” He thought it was due to fewer cars driving through the park.
FoJMParks wants to mitigate the impact of change on parks
A variety of city, county and state projects are or will soon be under construction at Jackson Park. Milwaukee County Parks partnered with Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District in 2020 to store more floodwaters during heavy storms and to naturalize the river. Many of the trees along the river that provide cover for wildlife will be removed, much like the naturalization done at nearby Pulaski Park. Pipia suspects he’ll see a drop in the number and kinds of wildlife until the newly planted trees and shrubs grow large enough to provide the proper cover.
FoJMParks is focusing on parks’ natural aspects. A committee formed to ensure natural habitat is maintained and not lost due to lack of money or short-sighted decisions.
“Good stewardship requires people caring about the park and doing something to keep it in its natural state,” said Mike Goodman, a co-founder of FoJMParks and volunteer. “Milwaukee County Parks doesn’t have the resources to have staff pulling invasive species. Only volunteers have the time and dedication to help with projects like that. It’s one of the ways Friends groups come into play.”
Meanwhile Pipia continues to enjoy and photograph Jackson Park and its wildlife occupants. He saw a doe and her fawn living in the little wooded area by the statue a couple of summers ago. Two months ago, he saw black vultures and turkey vultures and, more recently, coyotes. “But when I saw a rooster walking through Jackson Park,” he said, “I was like, ‘Nah, I didn’t see that. Somebody put that there … yeah?’”
Jackson Park continues to amaze — even Tom Pipia.
Invitation:
Tom Pipia’s work will be on view at the official launch of Friends of Jackson and Manitoba Parks. The event will be held Saturday, January 10 from 9:15 to 11 a.m. at the Zablocki Branch of Milwaukee Public Library, 3501 W. Oklahoma Ave. The public is encouraged to attend.
Related stories:
Kickoff event for new group: Friends of County Grounds Park
Work in progress: Friends of Doctors Park Annual Report
Grown Up Summer Camp rocks Washington Park!
Rose Park is honored by The Park People
J.O. Haselhoef is the Co-founder and Coordinator of Friends of Jackson and Manitoba Parks. Tom Pipia is a Collaborator with FoJMParks. All photographs by Tom Pipia except as noted.
The Natural Realm blog is part of A Wealth of Nature, which is a project of Preserve Our Parks.
About Preserve Our Parks
Preserve Our Parks, Inc. is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of parks and green spaces. Our mission: To advocate for and promote Milwaukee area parks and open spaces and to strive to protect the tenets of Wisconsin’s Public Trust Doctrine.
For more than 25 years, we have been a leader in advocating for the protection of Milwaukee County park lands, halting many proposals to develop, privatize, or sell local parkland and lakefront spaces. More information about POP, including past accomplishments, is available at www.preserveourparks.org.
Some fun photos!