Black-tailed Gull at Waukegan Municipal Beach, IL (Mega Rarity)

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A Black-tailed Gull was found Wednesday at Waukegan Municipal Beach, but not IDed until very early Thursday morning. Thankfully, it was relocated in the morning and stuck around the entire day, providing some excellent views to those who came. It was hanging out with a large group of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls. I was able to get down there in the late afternoon, after work. Just as I was driving down the beach road, I saw a Discord message come through saying it had just flown south. So, I parked, got my gear together and made my way out to a group of people on the beach. After a few minutes, I saw a gull land and thought I saw black on the tail. I said to everyone, “I think it just flew in behind us.” Sure enough, that was it! The next hour or so, it sat on the beach, sleeping, preening and moving around slightly. At one point, a parent let their child run through the flock of gulls, but they only moved a short distance and did not take flight, thankfully. Heat distortion was atrocious! I took just over 1600 photos in that short time, because I knew most would not turn out. I wanted to stay until sunset, but I had to get back home to take care of the puppy. I figured the cool air coming off the lake would ease the heat distortion later, plus the lighting would have been perfect. When I started looking at the photos later, I threw away the first 850 of them, which is exactly what I thought would happen. I did manage to get several decent ones and even a few in flight, that show the beautiful black band on the tail. I don’t usually get too excited for gulls, but as soon as I saw photos on the original eBird checklist of it, I thought the bill was so cool and knew I wanted to see it! Photos below are from Thursday afternoon. Enjoy!

Cerulean Warbler at Mangan Woods

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A Cerulean Warbler was singing his little heart out on the morning of May 12th. He was in the treetops, NE of the parking lot. He was moving constantly and chasing other warblers out of the tree he was in. This bird was quite crazy and covering about a 100-yard radius. Cerulean Warblers have nested in this area before and he was acting like he might stick around. However, I stopped by a couple of days later and he was gone. No singing and no sign of him. At any rate, the day he was singing, I had several nice looks even though he was quite high up. Photos below are from the early morning 5/12. Enjoy!

Nelson’s Sparrow at Lake Park/Linnwood Water Treatment Plant

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A Nelson’s Sparrow was found along the lakefront on May 17th. It was seen in the tall grasses near a fallen tree, along the rocks. When I arrived, there were a couple of people looking at one and as I walked up, I flushed another. After that, I think I flushed another one! There were at least 2 of them and quite possibly 3. The grassy area was already so tall, and those birds move extremely fast through it, it’s tough to find them. The one bird kept circling back to the fallen tree and I just waited around for it to show itself a few times. I never got an unobstructed view, as is usually the case with these birds, but plenty of decent looks. Photos below are from 5/17 in the late afternoon. Enjoy!

Unfortunately, for those of you who look forward to my spring migration photos each year, this is one of my last posts. My new puppy yanked my laptop off the table and smashed my external hard drive. The 40,000 photos I took the during my 3-week vacation are all gone! I did manage to get out a few days this week for some lingering birds, but nothing close to what I had. Hopefully the fall migration will make up for it.

LeConte’s Sparrow at Lake Park/Linnwood Water Treatment

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On Monday, May 13th a LeConte’s Sparrow was found along the lakefront by Lake Park/Linnwood Water Treatment plant. It was about halfway between both ends of the soccer fields. This small, skulky sparrow is usually very hard to get good looks at. However, on this day, I literally walked right out to the location I was provided and it was sitting on the rocks underneath a tree, all fluffed up. It couldn’t have been any easier to find this bird! There were numerous other birds near it, mostly Common Yellowthroats. I watched it for a few minutes and then it went down into the ticket vegetation and out of sight. People tried before and after me with and without luck. I guess I was lucky! This might have been my best views ever of this beautiful little sparrow. Photos are from the late afternoon, May 13th. Enjoy!

Prothonotary Warbler at Menomonee River Parkway

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On May 9th, a friend alerted me to a Prothonotary Warbler (PROW) along the Menomonee River, near Hoyt Park. Of course this was the one rainy day. I waited out the rain and thought I might as well give it a shot, since there are no guarantees, it would stick around. I got there just after 4pm and started walking the river from the east side of the Oak Leaf Trail. The location I had for it was pretty quiet, so I continued west. About halfway to Hoyt Park, there is a small inlet to the river, maybe 5′ wide or so, that goes south towards the train tracks about 75′. This is where I saw a bright yellow bird fly into, from the river’s edge. I snuck over to the water and there it was, feeding along the bank. I was able to watch it for about 20 seconds, when a couple of people came walking down from the other way. The bird flushed and I did not see which way. I thought it went out and left or upriver. I continued that way and walked all the way up to where it opens up and the habitat is not very good for PROW. I knew it didn’t come this far up, so I turned around and headed back down river. When I got close to the inlet, I found the PROW on the opposite side of the river. I lifted my camera, and he flew right towards me and back on my side! A friend joined me, and for the next 40 minutes or so, it hung around that area and provided us with really good looks, feeding on the bank, logs and in the trees. I love seeing the males every spring, because they are so bright yellow, and it contrasts so nicely with its bluish wings. Photos below are from the rain-soaked evening of May 9th. Enjoy!

Pine Warbler at Whitnall Park

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I was walking around the flowering trees at Whitnall Park, in the area leading up to the botanical gardens. For the most part, it was rather quiet. I found a few birds moving around in a pink flowering tree. I setup my camera and waited for them to get to my side. It was a Northern Cardinal, 2 Black-capped Chickadees, and a beautiful male Pine Warbler (PIWA). The Pine Warbler is easily in my top 3 for warblers! I have always loved seeing them and this year, it was my first male. I’ve only seen several females thus far. In previous years, this has been a good area for PIWA. They usually come through earlier in the spring and well before the trees are in full bloom. However, with the early spring, the apple trees are couple weeks early, which made for spectacular views! He was feeding constantly, and I watched him catch and eat several caterpillars and spiders. Just before exiting the tree, he started singing and then flew up into the pine stand and continued to sing for the next 30 minutes or so. I could hear him singing until I was out of range to hear it. Being this late in the spring for PIWA, I would think it is on territory in those trees. I will be keeping an eye out in the coming weeks to see if he is still around singing. Photos below are from the afternoon of 5/7. Enjoy!

Harris’s Sparrow at Warnimont Park

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A friend found a Harris’s Sparrow at Warnimont Park today. It was first seen along the asphalt trail, about halfway down the 1st fairway, eating seeds from Dandelions. I was just leaving the Warnimont Kelly Senior Center, so it was perfect timing. I arrived and walked that way, there wasn’t a sparrow in sight! I checked the grassy area, walked south into the first part of shrubs and onto the 1st fairway, then all the way back to the Dandelion field, nothing. I couldn’t believe it, I must’ve walked around for 30 minutes without seeing any sparrows, except 3 Chipping Sparrows. I decided to check the evergreens by the parking lot, since they like to have cover to come in and out of. I walked up the hill and there it was feeding off the cart path, right near the evergreens. I got some good views and then it flew into the closet pine and then down underneath it to the edge of the branches. It was not coming back out, so I walked around to the other side of it. Of course, by that time, it had come back out and was feeding in almost the same spot. I should have just stayed put, oh well. I snuck into the pines and was kneeling down, looking at it through the branches. It fed in front of me for a good 5 minutes, before getting close to the clubhouse. There were also a Lincoln’s Sparrow and a few White-crowned Sparrows, which I was watching as well. When I looked back for the Harris’s, I didn’t see it. I never saw it fly either, so I’m not sure where it went off too. I heard later in the afternoon, it was relocated about halfway in between the original location and where I had it. It’s not too often we get to see these in breeding plumage. The black on their face and head is really bold and striking! Always a treat to see one. Photos below are from this morning, 5/7. Enjoy!

White-eyed Vireo at Warnimont Park

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I saw the White-eyed Vireo (WEVI) at Lake Park on 4/30, but I was unable to get photos of it, as it moved so fast through the thick cover of the ravine, and then out of sight. I never relocated it that day, but there were 2 other rare birds as well that I spent time photographing. On Wednesday 5/1, another WEVI was found singing at Warnimont Park. I finally had a chance to try for it this morning (5/5). It was a little north of the original location, in the grassy shrub area, on the northside of the path. It has been seen or heard every day since 5/1 and seems to be on territory now. I watched it move about the trees in a 150′ radius or so, constantly singing. I hope he sticks around all summer. Even better, he finds a mate! Lately, I have been seeing these birds almost every spring, which is great, because they are so unique, with that striking white eye! Photos below are from early this morning (5/5). Enjoy!

Swainson’s Hawk in Oak Creek

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On Monday 4/28, I was only at work for just over an hour, when Brad found a Swainson’s Hawk hunting a field in Oak Creek. Obviously, I had to go, but with the morning traffic, I was a little over 45 minutes away. By the time I got there, it had flown into the tree line and out of sight. Sigh… I spent the next hour searching the area for it, without any luck. I made a semi loop around the area and almost went the other way to head back to work but decided to drive back to the original spot for a last look. I’m glad I did, because I found it! I was looking into the field, and I saw it fly down. It didn’t stay very long but flew up into a dead tree instead of hiding. It sat here for quite some time and was still there when I left. This was a life bird for me! It was a great way to start off the week. Photos below are from 4/28. Enjoy!

Varied Bunting at Lion’s Den Gorge in Ozaukee County, yes I said a Varied Bunting!!!

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I had just parked and started walking onto the Warnimont Park Golf Course, when I received a notification for a Varied Bunting at Lion’s Den. I had to reread it and still said to myself, “what the hell is that???” I googled it and saw its range was Mexico. I immediately turned around and started walking back to the truck! I thought to myself, this is a repeat of last year with the Flame-colored Tanager. I drove up and I was pulling into the parking lot, and it was relocated. Now I was really excited. I parked and walked as fast as I could, carrying my gear. When I arrived at the location, there were 10 or so people there, who just had it. Within 20 seconds it was spotted again. It was bouncing around an apple tree, eating and moving fast. It was sunny and the light was somewhat at our backs. WOW, what a beautiful bird!!! It moved around the entire tree and then went down out of sight. I moved around the area and saw it another 10 times or so, helping dozens of people find it. It seemed like it would stay in roughly a 100-yard radius and circle around with a mixed flock of warblers. Every time I saw it, it was in an apple tree. It was still being seen when I left, but it was rather foggy and slightly misting. I felt I had decent enough photos from the early morning, that I didn’t need to stick around any longer in that weather. A mega find by Alex and Braden! Thank you for getting the word right away! This has been an incredible week so far, with something awesome being found almost every day in Milwaukee or Ozaukee. This is a 1st state record and life bird for me. Photos below are from the morning. Enjoy!

As of this writing, 3:20pm the bird is still being seen. For updates, you can follow the Wisconsin Birds server on Discord at the link below. This app is an excellent way to follow the state or certain counties for bird alerts. It’s highly customizable to suit your wants and needs. For example, if you live in Milwaukee and only want notifications for Milwaukee, you can set it to that. I definitely recommend at least trying it out. If the link doesn’t work or expires, feel free to contact me for help. Good luck!

https://discord.com/invite/paRWFrdt