A Prairie Warbler was found at Warnimont this morning and I was able to relocate it about 200 yards to the northeast, almost an hour later. I was walking down a trail and I heard it sing. I’m very familiar with the song, which really helped out. I started walking towards the song and then waited, heard again and continued walking to it. I stopped and listened, heard again and ended up walking just past it. I went back and then a little to the north and there he was, sitting atop Red Twig Dogwood! It was on the south side of the large “butterfly” ravine in the center of the park, closer to the east. He was just singing away. After a minute or so, he flew up into a tree and fed. Shortly after feeding, flew down into the shrubs again and continued singing, along with some preening. He repeated that procedure again and that is when I left him. Also feeding with him were an Orange-crowned, Nashville, Palm and several Yellow-rumped Warblers. Another awesome warbler at the start of the warbler migration! I don’t think it was relocated much after that and if it was, not in the same spot. Good luck if you try for it tomorrow, though I don’t think it’s very chasable. Pictures are from this morning. Enjoy!
Today a Lark Sparrow was found at the entrance to the ferry. When I arrived, it was feeding in the grass right off the walking path. I was only able to watch it for a few minutes and then a person walking flushed it. It flew across the street, and I lost it. I scanned the across the street with my binoculars but couldn’t find it. By the evening, it was relocated in the same general area. Photos below are from the brief time watching it feed. Enjoy!
A great way to kick off the warbler season, with a Yellow-throated Warbler! The next four weeks warblers will be increasing each day in the Milwaukee area and it’s always nice to see some rare ones to the state. This bird was found hopping around a mulch pile, just off a walking path, that crossed the road. I walked right up to path and sat on the ground. The bird paid no attention to me, while it fed continuously on insects the entire time I was there. I sat and watched it for about 45 minutes. Such a beautiful bird and even better to have a chance to view it at extremely close distances. After I left, I was told that an American Kestrel attacked it, narrowly missing it. After that, it flew towards the pond and was seen near the steps leading to the water. As of 5pm, I heard it had disappeared. Hopefully it will stick around for others to see as well. Good luck if you try for it! Photos below are from early this afternoon. Enjoy!
* Update * As of 8:33am 4/21, it is currently being seen at the mulch pile again. Here is a pin location on Google maps if you are interested in seeing it. Good luck! https://maps.app.goo.gl/LL5aJWS5SUTun4odA
* Update * Still being seen all day, Saturday 4/23, at the map link provided in first update. Good luck!
Just a gallery featuring the ducks I was able to photograph this month, with the limited time I had available. All were taken in Milwaukee County. Enjoy!
I was in Florida for 5 weeks this winter and it was amazing! This wasn’t just a bird vacation, rather a relaxing, enjoying the daily sun and not being in Wisconsin for winter type of vacation. I think I did less bird things than I would normally do, but I still ended up with over 150 species and 12 life birds. I tried to focus on a few birds that I had not seen before and without spending too much time driving for them. Snail Kite was a top priority, which I made a separate post about earlier this week. I also saw that Vermilion Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird and Tricolored Munia (ABA bird) were being seen at Torry Island. I made several trips there but was unsuccessful with the Tricolored Munia. I found the other two, along with a Blue Grosbeak and several Painted Buntings. There was also an Indigo x Painted Bunting seen occasionally and I found that as well. Another spot I focused on was Three Lakes WMA. I saw that Brown-headed Nuthatch, Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Bachman’s Sparrow were seen among others. I had seen all three before, but I wanted to spend more time with photos on them. I did the Lake Apopka Wildlife Dr, which is only open on the weekends, and is an 11-mile one way drive. It’s basically water or marsh on both sides of the road and is incredible for photography. Another awesome place was St Marks NWR, which has been hosting an American Flamingo (ABA bird) for over a year. This time I was able to go and see it, among many other things. All in all, it was a very enjoyable time spent in Florida. I took over 15,000 photos and edited over 400, while down there! This is a very large photo gallery post, so please take your time going through it. If you have any questions or would like more info on any of the places I visited, feel free to contact me. Enjoy!
Torry Island/Lake Okeechobee, FL
St Marks National Wildlife Refuge, FL
Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL
Three Lakes WMA, FL
Lake Tohopekaliga, FL
Newton Park, FL
Apalachicola National Estuarine Reserve–Unit 4, St George Island, FL
Yesterday afternoon there was a beautiful male Northern Pintail at the yacht club. He was hanging out with 50 or so Mallards and 4 American Black Ducks, near the boat launch. This was the best view of a male that I ever had. So close and really tame! If someone would walk past or drive by, he swam out a little bit, but always came right back to the shore. I just wish I would’ve had some sunlight for the photos. I sat in my truck and watched the ducks for a little over and hour. Spring migration is definitely underway, with new birds arriving daily. Pictures are from the afternoon. Enjoy!
I have been on vacation for a while in Florida and one of my main target birds this year was Snail Kite. I saw a couple last year while I was here, but very brief views and no photos. I tried several of the known locations for them right away but was unsuccessful. I finally found a female at Torry Island, in Bella Grade on the south side of Lake Okeechobee. I was talking to a local woman about a Painted x Indigo Bunting, when it flew up from the marshy area. I saw the general area where it landed, so I walked over to and climbed the observation tower to scan for it. After a few minutes, I finally found it sitting really low to the water, but it was at least 200 yards away. Of course, it was on the south side of me, sitting in terrible light. After a few minutes, it flew down to a stump in the water and then again quickly flew and grabbed a snail. It took the snail and flew to another perch and started eating it. This was a really slow process and since it was further away, I gave up watching after 40 minutes or so. This area was also hosting a beautiful male Vermilion Flycatcher and two Tropical Kingbirds. Both of those birds were life birds for me, so I focused on them for a little while. I came back to the observation tower after, and the Snail Kite was still in the same spot and hadn’t moved. I guess I didn’t miss anything to fun. Below are the photos from that day. Enjoy!
Lake Tohopekaliga
A couple weeks later, we took an airboat tour on Lake Tohopekaliga, with Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures. I didn’t bring my equipment with me, as I thought it just going to be a fun boat ride. Well, that was a huge mistake! We saw 6 Snail Kites, which like most birds in Florida are extremely tame. We got within 75′ of a female sitting on a post hunting, in a large, loud airboat! The captain turned off the boat and explained to the others what bird it was and that it’s endangered. I couldn’t believe it, best view I ever had and no camera, unbelievable! After the tour, I talked with our boat captain, and he suggested I do a private tour just for the Snail Kites. So that’s what we did. I booked it for the following day, early in the morning, to get the best possible light. It was amazing and well worth it, if you are interested in getting up close and personal to them. On the private tour we saw 8, including two males, one of which posed beautifully for me. I highly suggest doing one if you’re down ever down that way. Photos below are from the private airboat tour. Enjoy!
Snail Kite information
I’ve included a few links with more information about them.
These owls are very hard to find and blend in with their surroundings incredibly well. You can be looking right at them and not see them. They are nocturnal and sleep during the day. Consistent activity around a roosting site can cause them to expend too much energy that is needed for the nightly hunting. If you ever stumble across a roost, please use discretion and proper etiquette. That being said, they are very approachable (within reason) and will let you know if you are too close based on their facial expressions. I will try to show you the various stages that they show you, with the 4 owls at this particular roost, in the following pictures:
Acknowledging you but showing content
Notice that they might look at you, but their eyes are mostly closed. They still watch their surroundings, in case of any potential threats, but are fine with your presence. They will most likely go back to sleep, but you should keep your distance.
A little too close for comfort
Notice how their eyes are mostly open. They are intent on watching you, to make sure you are not a threat to them. At this point you should move away slowly and give them their space, so they can return to sleeping.
Too close, back off
Notice their eyes are wide open and they consider you an immediate threat. If you end up at this point, try to move away very slow and quietly. Failure to do so will most likely end up in flushing one or more from the roost.
I was still sleeping from New Year’s Eve, when I was awoken to my phone’s text messages going off. I’m thinking who on earth is texting me at 7:30am, on New Year’s Day! I reached for my phone to silence it, so I could go back to bed. Obviously, I had to see who it was and when I saw it was our group text, I clicked on it and saw Purple Sandpiper at McKinley Marina. So much for any extra sleep! I raced down there, and it was still around. An awesome way to start the new year off. It was in the corner of the marina, where the walkway starts for the fisherman’s pier. There is a little patch of sand that has built up, which it was feeding on. It was cold and windy, with waves crashing over the rocks spraying water everywhere. It was still very early and pretty dark, making it extremely challenging for pictures. Thankfully it was very close for viewing, that I could take off my extender and shoot at a 600mm, with a F-stop of 4, allowing more light into my camera. A nice bonus for using a lens like that! It sounds like a good amount of people were able to view it, before it flew off about 9:15am, with a Ruddy Turnstone. The turnstone has been around for a while but wasn’t there until closer to 9. I can’t imagine they left, rather just flew out and sat in the rocks somewhere. Might be worth a check early tomorrow morning. Good luck! Pictures below are from the morning. Enjoy!
A Tufted Duck was found on Sunday 12/26, at the Hoan Bridge Harbor/Petroleum Pier in Milwaukee. It was still present as of today, 1/1. This bird has been enjoyed my many people from different states. I think it will be the third state record. Unfortunately, it’s usually far out and a scope is needed for good looks at it. I’m only 15 minutes away from the area and had off of work last week, so I was able to check every day for it. Finally, yesterday morning it came rather close when moving from the South end to the North end. I was able to get fairly decent photos of it. Of course, the sun was nonexistent for most of the week, so lighting was terrible which is typical for winter in Wisconsin. It’s nice that it stuck around for people to see, and it seems like it will be here for a while, as long as there is open water. I’m sure most people have seen it that wanted too, if not, good luck if you try for it! Photos below are from the week. Enjoy!
* Help to view the Tufted Duck… There are 3 access points underneath the Hoan Bridge. The southern one is usually locked. The middle one is usually open and gives you access to 75% of the area. The Northern one is right in front of the Petroleum Pier and gives you access to the last 25%. The Tufted Duck prefers to hang around the pier area, sometimes going on the north side of it, with very little view and no access. I have seen the duck on the southern end twice, so they all move around. It’s usually 100-200 yards out.
