A male Connecticut Warbler was singing in the locust ravine yesterday morning for several hours. I had already seen two for the year, but thought I would try to get photos, since it’s a much smaller area to forage in and less area to hide in. When I was walking up to the spot it was last reported, I heard it sing twice. I quickly got eyes on it, in the thick brush behind the stage. I would say that for Connecticut Warbler it was rather cooperative, considering they usually walk about on the ground, but he was walking in the branches grabbing midges off them. There was also a male Mourning Warbler with him, so sometimes it was tough trying to track the Connecticut. I was able to get a few, what I would call, decent shots for that bird. He then flew to the other side of the ravine and I went around and up, hopefully for a better look. I was walking across the wooden bridge, and noticed he was in the branches, a few feet off the ground. I was able to get an excellent look at him, for 20 seconds or so. I spent a little over two hours there and had 25 warbler species. There were 6 Mourning and 6 Canada Warblers, in the locust ravine area! I didn’t check anywhere else in the park, but it was quite active. Pictures below are from the morning. Enjoy!
Black-throated Gray Warbler and more… Lake Park 5/19
I had just got to Grant Park to look a Dunlin, when I received a text about a Black-throated Gray Warbler at Lake Park. I responded, “come on??? 2 years in row!!!” So I left Grant and headed to Lake Park. It seemed that a bunch of us had arrived just about the same time. We started walking the area to try and relocate it. After a little while, I walked away from everyone to the far west end of the Locust ravine. I had seen several birds fly down that direction, and wanted to check it out. Sure enough, there it was! I yelled, “got it!!!” and everyone was able to get on it. I had awesome, eye level looks at it right away. The bird appears to be a first year female. She has a yellow spot on the left side and on the right side it’s just starting to come in, only a few tufts of yellow. It looks funny seeing it half and half. The black on throat is starting to come in as well, but still fairly white. She hung in the area for about 30 minutes and then disappeared. She was then relocated about 30 minutes after that, just south of the iron bridge, by the cul-de-sac. In that location, she spent the rest of the day. I was there until sunset, and had seen her a few minutes prior to that. Hopefully she will stick around for more people to see it. Wow, consecutive springs in Milwaukee for this warbler! In addition to this wonderful bird, the park was quite birdy! I ended up with 88 species and 25 warblers. Not too bad considering it was suppose to rain all day, and of course it never did! Pictures below are from the day. Enjoy!
The others…
Ruddy Turnstone at Grant Park Beach 5/16
A single Ruddy Turnstone, in full breeding plumage, showed up at the Grant Park Beach this morning. Actually it was on the sandbar area between the yacht club and the Grant Beach. It was just hanging out with the 75 or so Caspian Terns and handful of gulls. It didn’t do much while I was there, walked up and down the beach a few times and ran up into the sand to preen. At one point all of the terns and gulls spooked from something and flew up, out over the water. The turnstone stood up high on it’s feet and looked around, then squatted down and continued looking up. I thought it would take off but didn’t, and continued walking along the waters edge. I love seeing these birds in spring, always a treat! Pictures below are from the morning. Enjoy!
Cerulean Warblers at Ottawa Lake Campground
After leaving the Emma Carlin Trail, I shot over to Ottawa Campgrounds to look for the Cerulean Warblers. I found at least 6 of them singing their hearts out, along the west side of the lake. In a few areas it worked out quite nicely, since your standing on top of the bluff and the trees their singing in are lower, they would be just above eye level for short periods. They are beautiful birds! I walked along the trail, near the waters edge and witnessed a territorial dispute. Two Palm Warblers were feeding in a tree and one of the Cerulean Warblers didn’t like that, so he chased them out. In the meantime, it must have been too close to another’s territory, because he came zipping in and the two fluttered with each other down to the ground, and rolled around for a few seconds. They both flew up to the same branch about 4′ off the ground, looked around and took off in their own directions Seeing that was incredible! I had never experienced that before. I also had 3 singing Yellow-throated Vireos, but did not get very good looks at them. They were always either behind a piece of branch or half in the sun, half in the shadows, which is terrible for photos. So I don’t even bother taking them in those situations. Pictures below are from the early/mid afternoon that day. Enjoy!
Yellow-throated Warblers in Southern Kettle Moraine Forest
There are at least a pair of Yellow-throated Warblers at the Emma Carlin Trail, in Southern Kettle Moraine. I’m pretty sure I saw a third, but it didn’t stick around long, maybe because of territory. I started by the bench, on the south side near the pond, but did not see them right away. I finally found them though, but they were closer to the parking lot. As I walking towards the parking lot, I noticed a pair of Pine Warblers and watched them briefly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bird fly across the parking lot and into one of the little trees on the edge. I threw up my binoculars and saw it was one of the yellow-throated! I hustled across the parking lot and it was still feeding in that tree. After a minute or so, it flew up into the bigger tree, right along Hwy Z on the northeast corner of the parking lot. They both ended up in that tree and feed for a few minutes. They continued onto the pines on the southeast side of the parking lot. One started on the outside branches, feeding very low and the other went into the ground shrubs to the water. They both ended up in one of the smaller trees, one feeding and one preening from bathing. They then flew up high to the pines behind the bathroom. I happened to be there at the perfect time, I guess. It is always very nice to see these birds in Wisconsin. We are at the northern edge of their range, but they have been pushing farther north in recent years. I’ve had them in Milwaukee County, each of the last three years. Photos below are from the late morning/early afternoon spent out there. Enjoy!
Orioles and Grosbeaks at Whitnall Park
In addition to the wonderful selection of warblers this past week at Whitnall Park, there have been a lot of orioles and grosbeaks. They have also been in the flowering trees, picking at the buds, petals and eating insects and worms or caterpillars. Baltimore Orioles have been busy building nests too, with one hanging over the waterfall creek, in the large willow tree. I found a Rose-breasted Grosbeak nest in an apple tree, too. I’m not sure if they are incubating yet, but both the male and female take turns on the nest, so I assume they are. An Orchard Oriole has been around the last couple days as well. He sings from the flowering trees and is quite skittish, as they usually are. These trees have sure produced the birds this spring, which has been a pleasant surprise. All of the photos below are from the past week at Whitnall Park. Enjoy!
Baltimore Oriole
Orchard Oriole
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Merlin devours Dark-eyed Junco in Menomonee Falls
On my way home this afternoon, I saw a larger bird in a tree along the side of Good Hope Rd. As I drove past, I realized it was a Merlin! I turned around and luckily, there was enough shoulder for me to pull off on. I stopped right alongside of it, on the opposite side of the street. I thought for sure it would fly, like they always do, but it didn’t! As soon as I got my camera on it, I saw it had just snagged a bird. Wow, what perfect timing! As it flipped the bird around, I could see that it was a junco. I sat there in my truck, snapping hundreds of photos, trying not to miss any of the action. When it was all finished, I managed to take just over 1000 photos! I was amazed that it didn’t pay any attention to me, rather only looking around occasionally, to make it was safe from other predators. Once the junco was consumed, I drove off and the Merlin was still sitting in the tree. I’m sure glad I had my camera with me! Images below are from today, but beware, they are not for the faint-hearted! Enjoy!!!
Laughing Gull in Port Washington
A Laughing Gull showed up in the Port Washington Harbor on Saturday 1/16/21. One of my jobsites is currently in Port, only about 5 minutes from downtown. I was able to get away for a little while on Monday, to try for it. I did see it, but it was pretty far out, sitting on the wooden posts of a dock. After 15 minutes or so, it flew off towards the power plant and I saw it go down somewhere over there. I didn’t bother driving around to try and relocate it. The clouds were rather low and lighting was pretty terrible for photos anyway. I also figured I had the rest of the week to try as well. Then on Tuesday, I saw it was starting to get sunny out, so I stepped away quickly, to see if it was any closer. It was! It was sitting on the rocks, on northern most part of the marina. I watched it for about 25 minutes and then it again flew off to the south. Some other people had stopped by looking for it, and I told each of them they just missed it. About ten minutes later, it came back to the north and landed on the blue concrete wall. There has also been a Harlequin Duck hanging out on the north side of the marina. I saw it both times I went this week, and the previous two times earlier this month, that I went. He is starting to get more color and defining marks. Hopefully he sticks around little longer, while his colors continue to develop. Pictures below are from this week at the harbor. Enjoy!
Spotted Towhee in Milwaukee County 1/9/21
I got my lifer Spotted Towhee less than two months ago, a beautiful male in Ozaukee County. Then two days ago, a female is found in Milwaukee County, at Greenfield Park! Someone who doesn’t belong to any group or use eBird, had a picture on his camera and showed it to someone who is, saying he thought it was a Spotted Towhee. Sure enough it was! It was confirmed Friday afternoon just before dark. So I thought I would try for it right away Saturday morning. It was being seen on the east side of the park, near the waterfall on the little pond. There is some seed thrown out, under a few trees and it’s attracting a decent variety of birds, including the towhee. I got there around 8 a.m. and friends that were already there said it showed very briefly about 7:30. With it nowhere in sight, I decided to take a walk behind the pond to the railroad tracks and look around back there. I had also heard a Carolina Wren singing from back that way, so hoped to see that as well. I couldn’t find either, so I walked back to the feeding area. I was standing there talking with a few friends and it flew in from behind us, landing in the very thick brushy area. After a few minutes, she popped out and gave very good views for at least 10 minutes. Then she flew up into the trees and flew back behind the pond, into the wooded area. A beautiful bird and a great chilly morning with friends. Since I now have very good photos of both the male and female, I’ll include the male photos from just over a month ago, so you can see the difference between the two. Enjoy!
Male from Ozaukee County 11/27/20
Allen’s Hummingbird in Wisconsin!
An Allen’s Hummingbird was coming to a private residence since the week before Thanksgiving. It was banded on 12/17/20, which confirmed the ID of the species. It is the first state record for Wisconsin! The home owner was extremely nice and allowed people to visit her yard to see it! Thank you!!! I tried for it on Saturday morning 12/19, and saw it almost immediately after arriving. It was very cooperative and came to the feeder quite frequently. The last time viewing it, he sat in a few different trees and came to the feeder several times, spending about 5 minutes in view, providing excellent looks. Life bird for me! Photos below are from the morning of. Enjoy!
