Fall Warbler Migration 2019

Jeremy3 Comments

This fall warbler migration was one of my best ones ever! I tallied 26 species with 21 coming on one amazing day, 9/14 at Warnimont Park. Most days I was between 10-16 species, which I find to be a little above average for fall. Most years, I would say 8-12 species is a good day. I usually focus on the parks along the Lake Michigan in fall. I find that the bluffs and surrounding areas are loaded with birds versus the inland parks. My highlights this fall were 6 different Mourning Warblers, including my first ever adult female, several stunning male Golden-winged Warblers, and quite a few different Canada Warblers, which are my favorite.

Photographing fall warblers can be quite tough. The leaves create almost no gaps in the branches and everything is toned green. Lighting is also very harsh, with the sun casting dark shadows, under the foliage. It’s certainly not like the spring migration! All that aside, fall warblers are extremely fun. You get to see so many different plumage variations of each. I have quite a few photos of each warbler, showing the different fall plumages. All of the photos below are labelled accordingly, so you will know what each is. I will list the warblers seen this fall below, which you can click on, for expanded galleries. Not all warblers seen, were photographed. Enjoy!

Carolina Wren at Warnimont Park 10/19/2019

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There has been a Carolina Wren hanging around Warnimont Park for at least two months now. It’s usually behind the archery area, but I’ve seen and heard it just north of the drive going down to the lake, on the north end of Warnimont Park. Today, he was hanging out near the parking lot, on the north side. I was watching Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets drink sap from a couple larger vines, when I heard him singing his “cheer cheer” song. I pished a little and he responded to it, giving great views. He sure moves around fast! One minute on the left and the next, way off to the right. It was a rather nice fall morning, partly sunny and breezy. The images below are from today.

Red Knot in Milwaukee 9/3/19

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A juvenile Red Knot took a southern migration break at Lakeshore State Park on 9/2/19. I didn’t hear about it until the next day, when a friend asked me for an ID on a shorebird. I took a look at the photos and to my surprise, it was a Red Knot! I immediately text my group of bird friends, and said it might be worth checking the beach in case it hung around. Usually they don’t and are only one day birds, or even only around several hours. One of them said they could be there within the hour and check it out. A little while later, received a text saying, “it was still there!”. Now I had a choice to make, leave work, race down there and go back to work or work faster, get done sooner and leave early… I stayed and left early. I got down the park about 1:30pm and it was still around. I walked over to the beach area and laid on ground and waited for it to walk over to me. After about 10 minutes or so, it was right in front of me, feeding on the water’s edge. It was a very tame bird, considering it has probably never seen people before. It actually even took a brief, one minute nap, only 15′ from me! At one point, it was only about 5′ from me. It was so close, I slowly slid out my cell phone and recorded video of it. It’s always nice to be able to see a rarity so close! The pictures below are from the day.

My Yard 2/3/2019

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I usually have both Red-breasted/White-breasted Nuthatches and Brown Creepers over the winter. It’s been so cold lately, that being outside is not really reasonable. Today when I came home, from being out taking pictures, I could hear the three birds in my trees. So, I stood by my door with my camera and took some photos of them. The warmer weather had them quite active today. The pine tree with the suet and peanuts they go to, is only about 25′ from my front door, so I can get some very close looks at them. Below are some of the photos from today.

White-winged Scoter, Port Washington 1/27/2019

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There was a very beautiful male, White-winged Scoter at Coal Dock Park on Sunday 1/27/19, in Port Washington. Usually I only get to see and photograph first year or females scoters, so it was really nice to see this one! Beautiful colors, a bright sunny day, and very cold temperatures, made for some nice photos. He hung out very close in the harbor, providing some real nice views. He seemed to be a very tame bird, considering they are deep diving ducks, usually found further out in the lake. enjoy the photos from the day.

Hammond’s Flycatcher, 12/14/2018 near Avoca, WI

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I finally decided to try my luck with the reported Hammond’s Flycatcher today. It was first seen and reported on Sunday afternoon 12/9/18. Hoping it was still there, a friend and I made the two hour plus trip out there. When we pulled up, we saw a group of 5, all looking in the same area. As soon as they saw us, they were waving to hurry up and get over there! We grabbed our things and rushed down to the western end house. There it was, sitting in a tree 25′ away! Wow, what a beautiful bird!!! We watched it for about 50 minutes and the entire time, it fed, mostly on flies. It grabbed them off the siding on the house, from the grass and off the balcony railings. It flew about the yard, usually staying within 35′ of the road. My understanding is this is the first recorded sighting for Wisconsin. It was a perfect sunny day for a road trip and it was even better to get such awesome views for an extended time. Here are a few images of the bird from today.