With all the rare birds seen on Tuesday, I was hoping for a few more on Wednesday. Tuesday night was WSW and SW winds, so I knew it would be very good in the morning. Wow was it ever! I started at Warnimont Park just after sunrise and spent just over 5.5 hours there. When I opened the truck door, the air was filled with warbler songs. I knew right away how it would be. I had huge numbers of warblers including, 14 Golden-winged, 8 Blue-winged, 14 Orange-crowned, 33 Nashville, 14 Northern Parula, and 19 Black-throated Green! I also found 3 rare ones, Yellow-throated, Prairie and Cerulean Warblers. Most things were up rather high and photo opportunities were not that great. For the morning, I ended up with 103 species and 25 warbler species! Those kinds of numbers are a week early, but it’s what you get with the right weather. Around 10:30ish it started to get rather windy, and I would say by 11:00 it was pretty quiet. The walk back to the truck produced almost no birds, so I decided to grab lunch and call it a day. I got home, and I see a report of a Worm-eating Warbler (WEWA) at Lake Park. So, I figured I would go down there and try for it. It just so happens that it was also found in the north lighthouse ravine. Add another rare bird to that ravine for the year! I got down there just after 2:30pm. I ran into a friend, and he hadn’t seen it or knew of anyone that had. I kind of thought that may be the case too. These birds are tough to find, and the ground vegetation in the ravines is already green and 6″ tall. I walked in from the west side, so that the light was at my back. I walked extremely slow through the ravine, watching for any movement on the ground. I found 13 Ovenbirds in the first half of the ravine! Every time I saw one, I got excited, thinking it was the WEWA. About halfway down the ravine, I was watching an Ovenbird eat a moth, when something moved and caught the corner of my eye. I turned slightly and there it was, only 25′ in front of me working a fallen tree. I quick shot off a few doc photos. At that moment, a couple of girls were walking up from the bottom. I tried waving to them to stop, but they weren’t paying attention and by the time they did, they had gotten a little too close. The bird was sandwiched in by us and it flew around them and up the ravine. When they were passing, they asked what was going on, so I explained it to them. I didn’t think I would get to see it again, but someone was walking along the top of the ravine, approximately where it flew to, and they flushed it back down. I walked further down, about 35′ and waited for about 10 minutes. I didn’t see anything resembling a WEWA. I moved about 15′ further down from there and saw a few birds move. Two were Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and the other was the WEWA! It popped up into a small shrub only 10′ or so away from. It started singing very faintly and was even singing some type of song I’ve never heard from them. Normally they have a dry insect-like trill, but he was singing a bunch of different warbles before and after shorter than usual trill. If I had not seen him doing it, I would have never guessed that it was a WEWA. The bird kept working, slowly down the ravine, away from me. A friend came walking up from behind and asked if I had anything and I said I had the WEWA! He stood next to me, and I got him on it. We watched it for about 5 minutes, and it popped out into the open with a potato bug in its bill. It sat there for a good 20 seconds. Maybe it could hear our shutters and froze, which happens to me a lot, even though I had mine on silent (still makes some noise). It then flew across the ravine bottom to the south side and gave me an excellent view on a bare branch! After that we lost it. My friend moved on, and I stayed down there. I didn’t think I would see it anymore. A few other people walked through and didn’t see it as well. I made my way back down the ravine and I was standing by the water for a few minutes. I had noticed that several of the other warblers that were in the area the entire time, were now taking a bath. All of a sudden, in flies the WEWA, right into the water. Woah!!! He’s literally only 15′ away from me taking a bath! Unbelievable!!! I spent a little over 2 hours in that ravine and saw the bird 3 times. I was certainly rewarded for being patient and quiet. I took a walk around the top side of the ravine looking for the White-eyed Vireo again but didn’t see it, so I called it a day. Another awesome day with icing on the cake! Photos below are from the afternoon of 5/1. Enjoy!
This morning a Blue Grosbeak was found singing along the path at Warnimont Park. I had just gotten to the golf course and figured might as well just head over there instead. In the meantime, someone had also seen a female. Wow, a pair in suitable habitat! That would be very exciting if they stayed there to breed. When I got there, I was walking around the prairie area and not hearing or seeing either of them. I made it to the northern side of the prairie and saw a warm brown bird fly into the evergreen. I thought that could be it, but there were so many Brown-headed Cowbirds in the area. I got my binoculars on it and sure enough, a female Blue Grosbeak! She sat in the open for a few minutes and then went down in the shrubs. I walked back to the bluff edge and circled around to the south, walking back out to the asphalt path. As I approached the path, I looked to my left and saw a darker bird in a medium height tree. It shifted slightly and I saw a hint of blue. I knew right away what it was, so I circled back around so that the sun was at my back. It popped up higher into the next tree and started singing. I watched sing for about 5 minutes and some cowbirds were kind of harassing it. Eventually, it flew to the NW. I walked over there, and it moved about singing at the treetops. It almost seemed like he was searching for the female. He went down the side of the bluff, chased a few House Sparrows and flew back up, into the prairie and continued to sing. At that point, he provided me some excellent views, best I’ve ever had of this species. He then disappeared for a short time, but eventually was back in the larger tree near the path. Another spring day and another rarity. This week has been incredible for me so far. Hopefully it continues. Photos below are from this morning, 5/3. Enjoy!
The first major push of songbirds happened Monday night in the Milwaukee area, and Tuesday did not disappoint. Early in the morning, a White-eyed Vireo was found at Lake Park, in the north lighthouse ravine. I was at Warnimont Park when I heard and figured I would make my way down there at some point, during the day. I walked the archery range and the back nine of the golf course and it was ok. Definitely new birds, but nothing crazy. I left and headed to Lake Park. I got there around 10:30 and headed for the lighthouse ravine, in hopes of finding the White-eyed Vireo (WEVI). I walked the northern side from the statue to the stairs and then went down. I walked all the way down the ravine to the bridge and then back up to the stairs. No WEVI heard or seen. I walked around the south side of the ravine and was watching some warblers, when a towhee popped up and started singing. I got my binoculars on it and it was a Spotted Towhee (SPTO) not an Eastern Towhee. Holy s***!!! I certainly did not expect to see that bird. What a bonus! I was with a friend, and she didn’t see it. So, we walked towards the bridge, to go down into the ravine to try and relocate it. About halfway down the steep ravine, next to the bridge, I heard the WEVI (Pik-chicka-weew). I turned and said, I heard the vireo! Now I just needed to track it down by the song. I finally got eyes on it. We watched it move quickly, singing and feeding through the shrubs, all the way to the end of the ravine near Lincoln Memorial Dr. There we lost it, searched for about 10 more minutes and gave up. We headed back up the ravine to look for the SPTO. As we got underneath the bridge, I noticed several birds taking baths, so we snuck up closer to the water and watched. All of a sudden, the SPTO came out of nowhere and started scratching in the leaves above the water. I said, “there it is!” It was blocked by a bunch of branches but working its way down to the water. It popped out right in front of us and gave pretty good views, though we still had sticks in the way. A couple other friends were coming down from the other end and didn’t know we were there. Birds don’t really like when there are people on both sides of them, and it flew up the ravine. After that, we tried for the vireo again, without success. We made our way back up to the north side of the ravine and while we were walking along the top, I saw the towhee again. It was foraging with a male Eastern Towhee, near the pump shed. We got some really good views this time for several minutes before something scared all the birds and they went back down the ravine. We went our separate ways, and I ran into another friend, gave him the details of the two birds, where we saw them, and I left to get a late lunch. About 15 minutes after I left, He found a male Summer Tanager (SUTA) in the ravine. So of course I headed back down there after my lunch. I was walking around the north lighthouse ravine looking for it when another friend text me and said he just got there as well. I told him no luck so far. 5 minutes later, he texts me that he has it over by the waterfall ravine. I quickly made my way over there and this bird was putting on an absolute show! It worked between the waterfall ravine and north lighthouse ravine, on the east side of the bluff catching and eating bee after bee. This was by far the best views I’ve ever had of a SUTA. I bet we watched it for an hour. Its bee catching ability is quite incredible! Since he found the tanager for me, I figured I’d help him find the SPTO. We walked from the waterfall ravine to the north side of the lighthouse ravine and found it immediately near the large brush pile behind the pump shed. We laughed about hoe easy that was and decided to split up and try to find the WEVI. I ran to the truck to swap batteries out and he text and said he may have another SUTA or if it was the same one, it was on the south side, by the lighthouse. I went over there, and we watched it for a while again. We compared photos and it was the same bird, just moved a little farther south. It was getting pretty late in the evening, and I received word that there was a Western Tanager (WETA) about 5 minutes north at Shorewood Nature Preserve. There was about an hour of light left so we hauled a** to the vehicles. We got to the nature preserve and Alex, who found it, was looking up at it on the northern end of the park. It was actively feeding in the tree tops the entire time we were there. This was tough conditions for pictures, shooting up into a bright gray sky with barely any light left, but it was completely worth it! Icing on the cake for the day! This last Tuesday of April turned out to be a pretty epic day. Three rare birds in the same area, in the same park and then a fourth only 5 minutes away. The only bummer for the day, no pictures of the vireo. Sometimes, that’s just how it works. Pictures below are from 4/30 throughout the day. Enjoy!
Usually, I see these ducks in Florida, but the last few years they have been seen more frequently in Wisconsin. I have seen them 3 of the last 5 years in Milwaukee County. Today while I was out watching shorebirds, I heard there were 4 seen in Oak Creek. Surprisingly enough, they showed up at the same residence as one did, back in 2021! What are the odds of that??? The homeowner gave me permission to go into his backyard and photograph them. I walked around to the backyard and didn’t see them at first. I was walking very slowly and being cautious as to not scare them. Finally, I found them down by the pond, staring at me. Here, they were watching me the whole time! They were near a couple of geese with some fledglings. A Wild Turkey was up near the feeders and when it ran towards the water it scared the birds and ducks. They flew out about 50′ in the water, so I sat down on the grass and waited. About 5 minutes later they slowly swam back to the shoreline. By now it was raining, and conditions were pretty bad for photography. I waited another few minutes and they were right on the edge of the shoreline feeding in the shallow water. However, there was a bench blocking my view, as well as the goose family. They seemed like they were content in that spot and if I moved, they probably would have swum out. Also, I figured the rain wasn’t going to stop, so I left. Photos below are from the late morning, 4/28/24. A big thank you to the homeowner Eric M.! Enjoy!
The ’23-’24 winter has been excellent to me for owls! I finally got to photograph the very tiny and adorable Northern Saw-whet Owl. When I saw this owl, it had a Deer Mouse in its talons, most likely a catch from the night before. It appeared to be half eaten, from the head. It was in a rather open spot, although still hidden very well, but excellent for photos. I watched it for about 20 minutes. I was able to see it cough up a pellet as well. Of course, my camera lost focus on that event, which was very irritating. I did capture the weird faces/poses it made before and after though. Photos below are from the late morning, that day. Enjoy!
This past week I was working in Port Washington. There was a very beautiful sunrise on Monday, so I brought my ultra-wide lenses to work the rest of the week. The next few days did not disappoint! I took a few pictures from Hwy 32 into town and then some more from Coal Dock Park. On Tuesday, there was a heavy frost and it made for beautiful colors as the sun came up. I was right downtown on the marina and went back over to the park a few hours after sunrise for a couple more photos. I have not done many landscape photos, but it is something that I love looking at when out and about, especially since I’m usually out at sunrise and sunset for wildlife. Let me know what you think of these photos, I’m curious. You can comment below, thank you. Enjoy!
The same day that I saw the Black Scoter in the previous post, I was able to watch a male Hooded Merganser catch a Crawfish (crayfish) and eat it. This was quite an action sequence, as he needed to keep moving it around to avoid getting a claw to the bill. He ended up taking it down, facing away from me, so I never really saw if he swallowed it whole or just bit pieces off. All of this was a little farther out than I would prefer, but I think enough detail comes through in the photos, especially with bad lighting for the day. Photos were taken on Saturday 1/27. Enjoy!
Behind the Milwaukee Art Museum a few weeks ago, there were 1500+ ducks! There was an excellent variety of them as well, with the water still being open. There were 11 duck species including a very cool hybrid, Common Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser. One of the species was a beautiful male Black Scoter in full breeding plumage. I had never seen one like that before, only in basic plumage. When I saw him, he was closer to the north side of Veteran’s Park. He was hanging with a smaller group of ducks diving and feeding. At one point, he was even calling and appeared to be courting a female Greater Scaup. He must have had a long Friday night! The other duck species present were, Mallard, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Greater & Lesser Scaup, White-winged Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser and Red-breasted Merganser. The photos below are from Saturday 1/27. Enjoy!
A few weeks ago, I was watching this dark morph Rough-legged Hawk hunting on the corner of Oakwood Rd and Pennsylvania Ave. It was sitting in perfect light, eye level and just putting on a show! This stunning bird provided the best experience I ever had with a Rough-legged Hawk. It went down to the ground three times trying for mice or voles. It caught one and missed two. I missed the photos of it catching one, because the grass was in the way. There wasn’t much to it though, as it flew down grabbed it and swallowed it. It happened really fast, and it flew back up to a small Oak tree. On the two misses, it flew down and then hopped around in the snow trying to get its prey as it moved around, under the snow. I’m guessing either a field mouse or a vole. After each miss, it would return to the top of a small Oak tree, which there were several of in the field. This all happened about 50′-150′ away from the road. I watched this particular hawk for about 30 minutes. Photos below are from Saturday 1/20. Enjoy!
I spent the week at Sax-Zim Bog, the first week of February. It was awesome! If you have never been there, it is a Black Spruce-Tamarack bog that attracts wintering owls. It has gotten quite popular in the recent years though. When I was there in ’18, I might have seen 5 people throughout the entire day. This year, there were at least 50, even during the mid-week! The weather was quite mild this year with temperatures in the mid 30’s most days. One day, it was 47 and sunny, t-shirt weather! That is a 70-degree swing from what I’m used to up there, in previous years. In 2018, it was -36 degrees and in 2020 it was -30 degrees, so I was pretty happy about the warmer temps. There was still snow on the ground when I first arrived, but it was all melted by the end of the week. I didn’t know what to expect with the warmer weather, but it worked out really well. I saw everything you would want to see, except the Sharp-tailed Grouse, which are getting rather uncommon in the area now. For the week, I took just over 13,500 photos! In those 7 days, I saw 4 Great Gray Owls, and I was able to photograph three of them. Those owls are absolutely stunning in person, and it makes your day just being able to watch them for a few minutes. I also saw a Northern Hawk Owl, which was in the same spot, posing beautifully almost every day. The Northern Hawk Owl was hanging around Byrn’s Greenhouse and you could easily spend hours watching it hunt from there. I saw it catch 5 voles, eat three of them, while caching the other two. All of this activity was less than 100′ from the highway most of the time. It was just incredible watching it! I got really lucky with an American Goshawk that week as well. I had just turned west onto Overton Ave from Owl Ave and about 3/4 of a mile down the road, I saw a hawk flying through the Birch trees. I hit the brakes and jumped out, grabbed my camera out of the back seat and the hawk circled around and flew right across the road, directly in front of me. I fired off a burst and got several very nice, in focus shots. It was perfect sunlight with bright blue skies. When I’m driving around, I always have my camera set to shoot flying birds into a bright sky. That way I’m not scrambling to adjust my settings. In previous years, the feeders throughout the bog had been very productive for the winter finches, but this year, only Common Redpolls were high in numbers. There were a few Hoary Redpolls mixed in and I found my first ever male. Unfortunately, I did not get any photos of them. The Pine Grosbeaks and Evening Grosbeaks were seen sporadically on various roads and occasionally came to the feeders, but not many. That was a little disappointing, since watching those in big numbers at close range is a special treat. There were several Bohemian Waxwings flying around and seen the week prior to me arriving. I didn’t see any and there was only one report of two flying over Bryn’s Greenhouse one afternoon. Several Boreal Chickadees had been seen on Admiral Rd, McDavitt Rd and Arkola Rd feeders. I was able to watch at least one, on two separate occasions at the south Admiral Rd feeders. Each time, it just appeared and then within 30 seconds it was gone. Canada Jays were quite frequent to all the feeders, throughout the day. Black-billed Magpies seemed to be more active this year, as I found quite a few of them. They are always extremely tough to photograph though. I was originally only staying for 5 days but extended it by 2 more after I didn’t see any Black-backed Woodpeckers. Haha, well that’s not the only reason I stayed longer, but that was a good one. The last two times I was here, I saw one once, fly across McDavitt and out of sight. That was my only experience with them. The best places to find them are at Winterberry Bog and Warren Nelson Memorial Bog. I stopped by each just about every day, sometimes twice a day, walk the boardwalk and no luck. So, Saturday morning, it was my mission to find them. After walking the Winterberry Bog, I drove down the street a little and decided to go into the Indian Pipe Bog. I walked in, all the way to the loop in the back and found a female. Finally! I watched it pound on a few trees for about 30 minutes or so and then it flew deeper into the bog. By the time I got back to the truck and was heading back towards highway 7 it was almost noon already. Time sure flies up there! I knew that an American Three-toed Woodpecker had been seen about an hour north of the Sax-Zim Bog, so I pulled over and debated about going up there and looking. It had not been reported in a few days, but figured it still had to be around, so I decided to go. I arrived on Plum Creek Rd/Buboltz Rd just after 1pm, where it was reported and saw another person looking. I stopped and chatted, and they hadn’t seen it. I made my way a little further west and parked. I started walking down the road and heard some tapping on a tree. After a few minutes, I finally found a Hairy Woodpecker. That was not what I wanted! Fast forward an hour and half, no luck, so I decided to head back to the bog. I got into the truck, turned around and started heading back towards the highway. I was driving slowly and looking into the trees and saw a tree with at least 4 holes in it. I backed up and while I was doing that, I saw something fly. I got out and tried to relocate it. Within a minute, I found it, an American Three-toed Woodpecker!!! It gave me extended, wonderful looks making this life bird an exciting road trip. On my last day there, I started on Lake Nichols Rd in search of the owls, no luck. I made my way over to Arkola Rd and I saw several people with cameras on the side of the road, which is usually a good sign. I pulled up and was looking in their direction to see what they were looking at and saw a woodpecker. I pulled all the way over and got out. It was a beautiful male Black-backed Woodpecker! Finally! It moved a few trees and then flew across the street to the stump of a Black Spruce. It stayed there, pounding and stripping the bark of it for a good 5 minutes, before moving in the bog a little deeper. I walked down to the feeders and chatted with a few people for 20 minutes or so. I looked over and saw two guys aiming into the trees again and saw that the woodpecker made its way back out. It sat at eye level pounding on a Black Spruce for over 10 minutes! I couldn’t believe it. After not seeing these birds in all my time there, the 2 extra days I stayed and was rewarded with excellent views. Sometimes that’s just how it works. I found numerous Ruffed Grouse most days. Several on the sides of the roads, which I was able to photograph. Most evenings, just before sunset, they come into the birch trees and eat the seeds. That is tough lighting and lots of branches/sticks in the way though. One evening, I found 2 of them on the south end of Owl Ave. I stopped and looked at them through my binoculars and thought to myself they had a little more yellowish and barring on the sides and belly. It was rather dark, and I didn’t take any photos, although I could have made it work. When I got back to the hotel, I was looking at Sharp-tailed Grouse, Ruffed Grouse and Spruce Grouse on the Audubon App. It was then I realized I had seen 2 female Spruce Grouse! Oh no, a lifer and I didn’t take photos!!! I was pretty upset with myself that evening. I’m normally very good with identifying subtle differences and I just kind of wrote it off, even after making those small mental notes to myself. Oh well, next time, I guess. Lastly, the animals of the bog were showing quite nicely the week I was there. At least 3 American (pine) Marten were being seen at the Admiral Rd feeders. They would come out and eat the beef fat that was put out or they really liked the peanut butter that people would spread out. Short-tailed Weasels (Ermine) were being seen at the Welcome Center and Arkola Rd feeders. I saw one, for about 2 minutes at the Welcome Center and never got any photos. That was my only bummer on the trip. I’ve seen them plenty of times around Whitnall Park, but I really wanted to watch them in their all-white winter coat. I saw hundreds of deer, but only doe. I had a Red Fox but was driving on highway 7 and didn’t see it soon enough, to stop. While watching the Northern Hawk Owl, an American Mink popped out of the ice in the ditch. It stayed out for a minute or so and the 8 of us watching the owl got decent looks at it. Red squirrels are everywhere throughout the bog and are very common at the feeders. They chase each other around and are very noisy. Some of them are very red and really pretty. While driving around the western side of the bog, I found 2 Porcupines sleeping in trees. I had seen them up there in past years, but they were always on the south side of the road. This year, they were both on the north side of the road in perfect light. I’m still waiting to see a Timber Wolf or a Moose up there. So, that’s my story of this year’s bog trip. All in all, it was an excellent vacation and I’m glad I spent a week there. I ended up with 33 species, including 2 lifers! This is a very long photo gallery, hopefully you will enjoy as much as I did editing it. If you see a name underlined, you can click it, to be taken to its homepage gallery for more photos. Enjoy!
Here is a link to the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog, which should provide you with all the information you need.
