White-tailed Kite at Crex Meadows SWA

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I spent a few days in Crex Meadows at the end of June. I went up to try for the White-tailed Kite that had been seen, along with some of the northern butterflies that I won’t get in the Milwaukee area. I attempted to find the kite first. I didn’t see it on my first pass around the pump house, where it was hanging out in a group of tamaracks. I saw some storms headed my way in the distance, so I went looking for butterflies, before the sun disappeared. Once it started raining, I thought I would swing back through and see if it was out yet. I got back over by the tamaracks and to my surprise, there it was! It was sitting lower, about halfway up in a tree and was facing the rain with it’s wings spread out. I sat there for about an hour, waiting out the rain. When it finally stopped, it went up to the top of the tree and was drying off and preening. Then the kite flew across the road and started hunting, hovering over the bog. It went down and came up with something, which looked like a small rodent of some type. It took its catch out to a very small bush in the bog and ate it. Then it flew back across the street to the tamaracks. It always returned to the same one, on the west side of them, that appeared to be broken off at the top. This time it stayed there for about 30 minutes and then flew across the street to hunt again. Within minutes, it caught something and repeated exactly what it did last time. When it flew back over to the tamaracks this time, I took off and went to look for butterflies. I had watched it for several hours and it that was good enough for me. It seemed very comfortable and ate at least two rodents in the time I was there.

I came back the next day and actually kept an eBird list for the day, even though the majority of it was spent chasing butterflies. I ended up with 95 species for the entire day, across about 15 miles of the wildlife area. The White-tailed Kite was in the same tree, every time I looked for it. I was even able to point it out to several other people who didn’t even know about it. I thought that was pretty cool. I spent many hours on Main Dike Rd that day, because the butterflies were insane! I ended up with 39 species of butterfly as well! I will include a link to the butterfly sighting, that shows what species I saw, for those of you that are interested in them. Pictures below are from the couple days I spent up there. Enjoy!

Sighting for June 29 — wisconsinbutterflies.org

Eared Grebes in the Kewaunee Harbor

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I stopped at the Kewaunee Harbor to see if I could find the two Eared Grebes that had been seen recently. It was 90, hot and sunny, and I get to the harbor and it’s 70 and foggy, with the wind blowing straight in off the lake. I was sitting in my truck, debating on whether or not to even waste my time walking out there, when I happened to look out and see them right off the pier, maybe 100′ away. I figured since they were right there, I might as well try to get photos, even if the weather wasn’t cooperating. I walked out on the pier and they would swim out a little, but then come back in. So I sat down on the pier and waited, hoping they would come closer to me. After about 20 minutes, a handful of fisherman showed up and started making their way out. It worked in my favor, as the grebes swam back in towards me and away from them. They came fairly close and despite the really foggy conditions, I was still able to see them pretty well. I’ve only seen this species one other time, so I don’t have much experience with them. They acted like a pair though, rather than just two birds. One of them, presumably the male, would hang out from the pier about 20′, while the other would dive and feed right along the wall. If someone would walk past, the one along the wall would quickly swim out to the other. They hung very close to each other at all times. The one that was keeping an eye out, had an orange wash to the bottom of the golden plumes versus the other with just gold coloring. Photos below are from the afternoon there. Enjoy!

Wisconsin Spring Shorebird Migration 2021

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This is very large photo post, with the all the places I stopped and photographed shorebirds, this spring. The birds are labelled, if you are unsure of one, just click on them. In Milwaukee County, there wasn’t any rain or habitat for shorebirds in May, everything dried up the last week of April. The only spots that had any were the lakefront beaches, which is fairly common, but usually sporadic. Highlights include American Avocets and Willets at LSSP, Short-billed Dowitchers and Ruddy Turnstones at Grant Park, and of course Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (Auto Tour) with just about everything you can expect to see, plus a few extras this year. I had great looks at a Red Knot (rare), both Red-necked and Wilson’s Phalaropes, Dunlin and White-rumped Sandpipers. It started off rather slow this year, but got really good the last week of May. There have been a decent amount of the common ones still showing up along the lakefront beaches in Milwaukee this past holiday weekend (5/29-5/31). All Photos were taken this spring and labelled at the appropriate places. Enjoy!

Lakeshore State Park, Milwaukee County 2021

Grant Park, Milwaukee County 2021

Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (Auto Tour), Dodge County 2021

Hwy KK and Hwy H flooded field, Ozaukee County 2021

Vernon Marsh, Waukesha County 2021

Red-necked Phalaropes at Horicon Marsh

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In continuation from my post on the ibis’ at Horicon Marsh, I also had 2 Red-necked Phalarope. They landed right in front of me and I didn’t even know it. I was watching a White-rumped Sandpiper and I kept hearing something to the right of me. I finally turned and saw 2 additional birds where a Lesser Yellowlegs was feeding. I looked at them and I saw they were phalaropes! I’m like, “holy crap!” I turned my camera and they took off. Bummer, I thought I missed an excellent opportunity to photograph these birds at close range. I didn’t even even get to see what they were either. As I said before, all of the shorebirds would take flight every 5 or 10 minutes. They fly around and come back to a different area, pretty common for these birds. This had just happened, and I saw the phalaropes land a little ways away from the larger group. I got my binoculars on them and realized they Red-necked Phalaropes, in full breeding plumage!!! It appeared to be a pair. I got really excited! I got my camera on both and got a view photos. After a minute or so, they took flight again, but this time the phalaropes landed right back by me. I started snapping pictures as they swam in circles feeding like crazy. I was still sitting in the same spot as when the Ibis’ flew in, which was a little bit too far left of good lighting. I figured I would not be able to move, because they would take off, but then I looked through my camera again and saw my batteries were flashing. “Oh no, now I had to move!” I moved very slowly up and out, back up to the road. They didn’t fly, whew! I walked very fast down to my car and swapped out batteries. When I came back they were still in the same spot, feeding with the yellowlegs. This time, I positioned myself with the sunlight directly behind me, for perfect lighting. I crouched down and crept back down to the rocks and got setup again. They still didn’t fly! The 3 birds fed right in front of me for about 30 minutes, only moving side to side. The phalaropes appeared to be following the yellowlegs around, shadowing his movements. 2000 pictures and an hour later, I figured I should have enough! I got up slowly and went back up to the road. They continued feeding and I walked back to my car. Along the way back, I told everyone who was farther down that there were 2 Red-necked Phalaropes feeding at the other end. In addition to the Red-necked Phalaropes, there were also 2 Wilson’s Phalaropes, 2 Black-necked Stilts, 1 White-rumped Sandpiper, 1 Baird’s Sandpiper, 66 Dunlin, 20+ Semipalmated Plovers and Sandpipers, 15+ Least Sandpipers, 4 Spotted Sandpipers, both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and several Killdeer. What an amazing morning! I was hoping for a good one, but never expected that. The pair were absolutely beautiful! Photos below are from the morning. Enjoy!

White-faced Ibis at Horicon Marsh

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I was on the auto tour on Monday morning (5/24) watching the shorebirds, but it was foggy and not a very nice morning for pictures. I wanted to see the Red Knot though, so it was worth it. I looked at the weather and decided to come back again on Tuesday, as it was suppose to be better by 7ish. Of course it wasn’t, the weather report was wrong… shocker!!! With the southwest/west winds Monday night, I thought there was a chance to have some cool birds blow through. I arrived just past sunrise, but it was cloudy, so alas no sun. I sat down by the rocks on the drawn down pond that has been holding the shorebirds, pretty much in the same spot I was on Monday. They would move around quite a bit, but always came to the one spot that was closer to the road. It might take 20 to 30 minutes, but it was worth the wait each time! After an hour or so of sitting there, I hear a couple of strange calls coming from the right. I look over and here come 2 ibis flying in. They end up landing, just to the right of me, about 100′ away! I move my camera around, get them in focus and realize they are White-faced Ibis. Wow, that was unexpected! There was only one other person on the auto tour at that time, but they were way south, near the red rock and still in their vehicle. The two ibis fed for about 10 minutes before flying off to the north. I’m not even sure they saw me sitting there. If that wasn’t good enough, about an hour later, 2 Red-necked Phalarope and 1 Wilson’s Phalarope flew in, again landing right in front of me! What is going on??? All 3 were in full breeding plumage. I just got my lifer Red-necked Phalarope about a week prior, but it was far out and not in breeding plumage. By this time, there were a handful of vehicles on the road and numerous people walking by. Good thing the phalaropes were rather tame and did not spook every time the other shorebirds would move around. My day went from ok, to great, to amazing, all in about an hour and a half! Photos below are from the morning. Enjoy!

Mourning Warblers in Milwaukee County

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This spring has been excellent for Mourning Warblers, in Milwaukee. Just the last week alone, I have had no less than 4 at any park I go to. These are one of my favorite warblers and I love when we have years like this! In normal years you just go sit by the logjam at Whitnall Park, and wait to see them come hopping through. Since we can’t do that anymore, I thought it would be tough to get good looks at any, especially with the leaf out weeks early. That hasn’t been the case though. It’s almost like I’ve been spoiled by them. Lake Park has been incredible for Mourning Warblers! A couple of days there, I had at least 6. They can usually be found foraging on the sides of the ravines. Warnimont Park was also very good and Whitnall Park had a few, along the creek on the north side of the park, away from the Wehr Nature Center. Pictures below are from the last couple weeks, in Milwaukee County. Enjoy!

Lake Park

Warnimont Park

Whitnall Park

Connecticut Warbler at Lake Park 5/22

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A male Connecticut Warbler was singing in the locust ravine yesterday morning for several hours. I had already seen two for the year, but thought I would try to get photos, since it’s a much smaller area to forage in and less area to hide in. When I was walking up to the spot it was last reported, I heard it sing twice. I quickly got eyes on it, in the thick brush behind the stage. I would say that for Connecticut Warbler it was rather cooperative, considering they usually walk about on the ground, but he was walking in the branches grabbing midges off them. There was also a male Mourning Warbler with him, so sometimes it was tough trying to track the Connecticut. I was able to get a few, what I would call, decent shots for that bird. He then flew to the other side of the ravine and I went around and up, hopefully for a better look. I was walking across the wooden bridge, and noticed he was in the branches, a few feet off the ground. I was able to get an excellent look at him, for 20 seconds or so. I spent a little over two hours there and had 25 warbler species. There were 6 Mourning and 6 Canada Warblers, in the locust ravine area! I didn’t check anywhere else in the park, but it was quite active. Pictures below are from the morning. Enjoy!

Black-throated Gray Warbler and more… Lake Park 5/19

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I had just got to Grant Park to look a Dunlin, when I received a text about a Black-throated Gray Warbler at Lake Park. I responded, “come on??? 2 years in row!!!” So I left Grant and headed to Lake Park. It seemed that a bunch of us had arrived just about the same time. We started walking the area to try and relocate it. After a little while, I walked away from everyone to the far west end of the Locust ravine. I had seen several birds fly down that direction, and wanted to check it out. Sure enough, there it was! I yelled, “got it!!!” and everyone was able to get on it. I had awesome, eye level looks at it right away. The bird appears to be a first year female. She has a yellow spot on the left side and on the right side it’s just starting to come in, only a few tufts of yellow. It looks funny seeing it half and half. The black on throat is starting to come in as well, but still fairly white. She hung in the area for about 30 minutes and then disappeared. She was then relocated about 30 minutes after that, just south of the iron bridge, by the cul-de-sac. In that location, she spent the rest of the day. I was there until sunset, and had seen her a few minutes prior to that. Hopefully she will stick around for more people to see it. Wow, consecutive springs in Milwaukee for this warbler! In addition to this wonderful bird, the park was quite birdy! I ended up with 88 species and 25 warblers. Not too bad considering it was suppose to rain all day, and of course it never did! Pictures below are from the day. Enjoy!

The others…

Ruddy Turnstone at Grant Park Beach 5/16

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A single Ruddy Turnstone, in full breeding plumage, showed up at the Grant Park Beach this morning. Actually it was on the sandbar area between the yacht club and the Grant Beach. It was just hanging out with the 75 or so Caspian Terns and handful of gulls. It didn’t do much while I was there, walked up and down the beach a few times and ran up into the sand to preen. At one point all of the terns and gulls spooked from something and flew up, out over the water. The turnstone stood up high on it’s feet and looked around, then squatted down and continued looking up. I thought it would take off but didn’t, and continued walking along the waters edge. I love seeing these birds in spring, always a treat! Pictures below are from the morning. Enjoy!

Cerulean Warblers at Ottawa Lake Campground

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After leaving the Emma Carlin Trail, I shot over to Ottawa Campgrounds to look for the Cerulean Warblers. I found at least 6 of them singing their hearts out, along the west side of the lake. In a few areas it worked out quite nicely, since your standing on top of the bluff and the trees their singing in are lower, they would be just above eye level for short periods. They are beautiful birds! I walked along the trail, near the waters edge and witnessed a territorial dispute. Two Palm Warblers were feeding in a tree and one of the Cerulean Warblers didn’t like that, so he chased them out. In the meantime, it must have been too close to another’s territory, because he came zipping in and the two fluttered with each other down to the ground, and rolled around for a few seconds. They both flew up to the same branch about 4′ off the ground, looked around and took off in their own directions Seeing that was incredible! I had never experienced that before. I also had 3 singing Yellow-throated Vireos, but did not get very good looks at them. They were always either behind a piece of branch or half in the sun, half in the shadows, which is terrible for photos. So I don’t even bother taking them in those situations. Pictures below are from the early/mid afternoon that day. Enjoy!