This morning I decided to try my luck at Samuel Myers Park, a small restored park/beach, on Racine’s lakefront. This park is a great birding spot year round and certain days can be extremely rewarding, especially during migration. Today was one of those days! I was there for a little over two hours and tallied 40 species. The best part of today, was the terrible weather, which forced everything to the ground. There were hundreds of birds feeding about the grassy area on the beach. The highlights were 35+ Golden-crowned Kinglets, 10+ Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 25+ Dark-eyed Juncos (1 Oregon), 20+ Song Sparrows, and 10+ Yellow-rumped Warblers (1 leucistic), all of which were flitting about the ground. I actually had a Golden-crowned Kinglet fly between my legs and land, using me as cover from the wind! They are so tiny, when you are that close to them. There were 50-75 mixed blackbirds scattered amongst the trees, mostly Red-winged and Common Grackle, but I thought I heard a Rusty or two on several occasions. I couldn’t confirm that though, and didn’t count them, even though some have been reported there. I also had the following FOY’s 3 Barn Swallows flyover, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs flyover, and 1 Northern Shoveler. I’m sure glad I decided to brave the conditions, because it was an exciting couple of hours! I would’ve stayed longer, had it not started raining. This is my checklist from today and some of the images of the kinglets and warblers.
Canada Goose 2
Blue-winged Teal 18
Northern Shoveler 1 FOY
Mallard 8
Greater Scaup 8
Common Goldeneye 4
Red-breasted Merganser 13
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Killdeer 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 1 FOY
Ring-billed Gull 17
Herring Gull 15
Mourning Dove 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Eastern Phoebe 2
American Crow 1
Barn Swallow 3 FOY
Black-capped Chickadee 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown Creeper 6
Golden-crowned Kinglet 35
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 13
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 6
European Starling 8
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 11
American Tree Sparrow 5
Fox Sparrow (Red) 4
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 22
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 1
Song Sparrow 24
Swamp Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird 20
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
Common Grackle (Bronzed) 18
House Finch 4
American Goldfinch 6
House Sparrow 4
