We got very lucky this year with Nelson’s Sparrows in Milwaukee. We might get one or two somewhere along the lake, during migration, but this year we had 4 on 9/23 and 13 on 9/28! They were continuing for over a week. The Juneau lagoon is extremely high with water this year. On the east side, the flooded area, created a nice swampy, muddy area, that attracted numerous birds, including these rare sparrows. The best part about it was the sparrows, which are normally very sulky, came right out on the mud flats and gave great unobstructed views! They were eating little red worms, among other insects. These are very beautiful birds and it was extremely pleasant to get to observe them like this. You can also click on the name below, to go directly to the Nelson’s Sparrow page for more photos. Images below are from 9/23. Enjoy!
Pine Siskins in My Yard 10/7/20
I’ve had Pine Siskins at my house since 9/23. The number seems to grow a little each day. I’m guessing there are over 60 right now! I counted 42 on the ground at one time and could still hear and see them flying around my trees. I figured I would photograph them today, since they were so active at my feeding areas. Usually a few come down, but the majority stay up in the maples or arborvitaes. Not today though, as most were eating thistle seed. After eating they fly to drink water and then back to the tree tops. Some of them are extremely yellow, more than I’ve ever seen on siskins. Having that many around, you really get the variation in color between each one. Some show very little yellow, others a decent amount and still others show more whitish than brown. I have quite a few images, but they show the variation I was talking about. All images are from today. Enjoy!
Rare Sparrows at Grant Park Beach Area 10/6/20
I was at Sheridan Park this afternoon, but not much was going on. There were a ton of butterflies though, so I decided to head over to the Grant Park Beach area. It can be very good for butterflies, along the south side of the parking lot. As soon as I got out of the truck, I hear “hey!” I look over and Lorri is telling me she just had a Harris’s Sparrow. I started walking the area that she saw it, but could not relocate it. After about 30 minutes, I was watching several Yellow-rumped Warblers feeding on the ground, and in flies the Harris’s Sparrow and lands right in front me! It hung out in the grass, near a clump of trees, on the west side of the parking lot. I continued walking around and in the flowering area on the south side of the parking lot, I scared up a Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow! Wow, two rare sparrows within 100′ of each other! I started off looking for butterflies and ended up watching rare birds, funny how that works sometimes. There were a bunch of Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers, mostly feeding on the ground. I also had approximately 35 Pine Siskins, one flock of about 20 flew south and 15 or so remained in the tree tops to the northwest. All images below are from this afternoon. Enjoy!
Fall Shorebird Migration 2020
For the most part, I do the majority of my picture taking in the Milwaukee area. The last few years have not been very good here for shorebirds though, this year included. We did get several Buff-breasted Sandpipers at Lakeshore State Park, which were awesome! There was also a Stilt Sandpiper in a flooded field off County Line Rd. We got two there in spring as well. The hotspot around me this migration season was the Wind Lake Sod Farms. There was an Upland Sandpiper, 10+ Buff-breasted Sandpipers, over 30 American Golden Plovers, several Black-bellied Plovers, a few Semipalmated Plovers, hundreds of Killdeer, 10+ Baird’s Sandpipers, 1 Sanderling and several Least, Pectoral and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Most of the birds provided great looks, with a little patience. I think they had certain areas closer to the roads, that were turned over, creating good close spots for the birds this year. All the photos below were taken in August and September. Enjoy!
American Golden Plovers at Wind Lake Sod Farm 8/30/20
My friend gave me a heads up, that he had 5 American Golden Plovers, at the sod farms on Saturday night. I figured they would still be around on Sunday, with it being south winds all day. I waited for the evening, when the sun was in the west and lighting would be perfect. I stopped near the northernmost field first and saw about 50 or so Brewer’s Blackbirds. They were very close to the road, but with a large flock of starlings constantly flying around, they spooked as well, and moved farther back. I continued south to the field with the “Wind Lake Sod Farm” sign in it. There I found the jackpot of shorebirds! 12 American Golden Plovers, 2 Black-bellied Plovers, 1 Semipalmated Plover, 1 Buff-breasted Sandpiper, 6 Baird’s Sandpipers, 2 Least Sandpipers, 1 Pectoral Sandpiper and 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper. There was also a Killdeer convention in service, in which I counted 52, but it’s nearly impossible to count them, moving around so much. I’m guessing there were more than 75. Most of the golden plovers were fairly close to the road and gave excellent views. The images below are from the day. Enjoy!
Upland Sandpiper in Racine County 8/9/20
An Upland Sandpiper was seen yesterday near the sod farms. It was still around today. The bird was seen on the east side of Britton Rd, between Olsen and Burmeister. When I arrived, it was maybe 75yds out, feeding in the grass. I would say it provided fairly good views, but the heat distortion was terrible! I watched it for about 30 minutes, and the last 10 or so, it went into the stubble field and was harder to find. With the storms and wind still from the south, it’s possible it would still be around tomorrow, good habitat for it. I was able to manage a few photos despite the heat distortion. Enjoy!
Prairie/Kirtland’s Warblers in Adams County 6/13/20
I was staying at a friend’s cabin over the weekend in Wautoma and I decided to try for a few warblers in Adams County. I arrived to a sight, where I had Kirtland’s Warblers last year, just after sunrise. It was a sunny, rather chilly morning, only 41 degrees. I did not hear any singing, so I waited around for a little over 30 minutes, thinking maybe it was a slow start with the lower temps. Still nothing, so I moved on. I checked another area and finally heard one singing while I was driving. I turned around and parked on the side of the road. Within minutes, I could hear 3 different males singing, in about a 150 yard stretch. One was singing from the newer pine growth closer to the road and another in a tree, at the border of the more mature pines. I never saw the third. About 200 yards to the north, in another 150 or so yard stretch, I heard another 4 different males singing, bringing my total to 7!
I continued on to the location where the Prairie Warbler was being seen. I arrived and parked on the side of the road, just north of Bighorn Ave, on 17th Ave. I saw other cars there, but did not see anyone. I walked around a little bit, but didn’t hear anything. I finally saw the other birders walking back to their car and asked if they had seen or heard it. They said they had, just west of 17th, on Bighorn Ave, over the hill. I walked over there and could immediately hear him singing. I walked out a bit and he was extremely cooperative, singing non-stop the entire time I was there. He flew around from tree top to tree top. When he sings, he cocks his head way back and straight up in the air! A very beautiful bird. I walked back to my truck and a second one was singing from the NE corner of the intersection, right where I had parked. Crazy that there are two of them at the same area, especially when you don’t usually see one, in the entire state! Images below are from the day. Enjoy!
23 Warbler Species at Whitnall Park 5/13
Today was excellent at Whitnall Park, with 23 warbler species seen including several uncommon. Hooded, Mourning, Golden-winged, Blackburnian and Black-throated Blue Warblers were the highlights. The Mourning Warbler has been along the creek for the last four days a week now. It has been the most cooperative Mourning Warbler I have ever seen. I also saw 2 Black-throated Blue and 2 Blackburnian Warblers. I watched a Hooded Warbler fly around like crazy, eating insects and may flies for about 20 minutes, then go sit on a branch and fall asleep for a few minutes. Very cool to see. I usually find Golden-winged Warblers hopping around the ground, hunting for spiders. Today was exactly that. They look for the dried, curled up leaves and then stick the head inside and pull out insects, mostly spiders. It’s quite a site to see. There are multiple of all of the common warblers and double digit of a few. Most have been feeding on the ground or flying around catching insects, only several few feet of the ground. Yesterday, a female Cerulean Warbler came out and fed for about 20 minutes, providing some nice views as well. It looks like the next few days are going to be very good for some new birds. Hopefully this continues! Images below are from today. Enjoy!
Black-throated Gray Warbler in Milwaukee County 5/5/20
A beautiful male Black-throated Gray Warbler has been seen the last couple days along the Menomonee River Parkway, although it hadn’t been publicly reported until today. As soon as I saw the email come through, I went straight there. After the short ride over, I started searching for it. Several minutes later I was joined by many and we continued to look. He was finally found, along the western bank of the river! There was also a nice variety of warblers hanging with it, including 1 Tennessee, 3 Orange-crowned, 1 Black-and-white, 1 Palm and 1 Yellow Warbler. What a Stunning bird, and a life bird for me! Images below are from today. Enjoy!
Ruff in Walworth county 4/24/20
A Ruff was being seen in a flooded field off hwy 67 in Walworth County. I wasn’t going to go, but after I saw a photo of it on the rare bird report, I knew I had too. I saw a Ruff at Horicon a few years ago, but that was a nonbreeding male. When I arrived, there were a lot of people there. I parked on the side of the highway and got my camera on it. As soon as I was about to snap my first picture, it flew. I thought I had missed out. However, it flew and landed 25′ from my truck. I couldn’t believe it! What a beautiful and cool looking bird! Being so close to it was awesome! It flew a short time after that, and I watched it land in the farmers field to the southeast. I stayed and watched the numerous other shorebirds. About 15 minutes later, it flew back in, but landed way out in the muddy field. After a few minutes of foraging, it flew back into the water, on the far end. After a little foraging, it again flew and landed right by me. I watched for another 40 minutes or so, and by then light was fading quickly in the overcast sky. Images below are from the evening. Enjoy!
