Limpkin in Racine (July ’22) – Wisconsin’s 1st State Record

A Limpkin finally showed up in Wisconsin, back in July. This will be the 1st state record, when accepted. Unfortunately, it was at a private residence, and they did not want swarms of people coming to their small, quiet neighborhood. However, I was lucky enough to get an invite, thank you John! The houses wrapped around a small pond, and this is where the bird was. I went on 7/24, and it had been there for several days before I saw it. The day I went, it was a dark gloomy day, with lots of misting type rain. Of course, it wasn’t ideal for taking photos, go figure! I watched it for at least an hour, probably closer to two. It mostly fed and moved about the edge of the water. It also walked up onto shore and preened for a while. After that it flew across the pond, to the side that I was on. It started feeding along the edge and walked towards me. It got close enough that I had to take off the extender on my lens. It continued even closer that I could no longer take photos, as it was too big to fit in my frame. Appeared to be just as tame as the Florida birds as well. Despite the crappy weather, a very exciting late morning and some excellent views at a new state bird! I think it stayed for a couple of weeks and then moved on. It’s certainly possible that this is the same bird being seen in Sheboygan County now. I see them every year in Florida, so not a life bird for me, but a state bird. They are a large, loud bird with huge feet and a heavy, thick bill. They eat apple snails, and this particular bird was finding snails in the pond. It appeared to also eat some type of worm from the water as well. It was hard to tell from the photos. Photos below are from the late morning/early afternoon on 7/24. Enjoy!