While watching the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in Two Rivers, there were a handful of other shorebirds. At the time, Semipalmated Sandpiper was assumed to be one of them. However, after reviewing the photos, it appears it could be a Western Sandpiper. Most of these photos are heavily cropped and not what I would normally keep or share, but for this ID they are needed. I wish I would’ve spent more time taking photos when it was closer, but all my attention was focused on the SHTS. I will list the differences between WESA and SESA below. Feel free to comment with your thoughts as to which ID you believe it to be. For ID purposes, this bird is in a basic nonbreeding plumage.
Western Sandpiper
small, rather chunky shorebird
longer, slightly drooping dark bill (bill length and shape is quite variable)
larger head, heavier bodied look
dark legs
pale gray above, white below (nonbreeding plumage)
little to no streaking on the breast
whitish face
Semipalmated Sandpiper
small shorebird with short neck and small head
appears slimmer looking
short, straight dark bill (bill length and shape is quite variable)
A Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was found on Wednesday morning in Two Rivers, Manitowoc County. It was just east of hwy 42 on Hillcrest Road. I wanted to go right away but had too many things going on at work. I waited until Thursday morning and got up a littler earlier than normal to drive up. I arrived about 15 minutes before sunrise, but it was light enough to make things out. I was the first person there that day, which surprised me. I parked on the side of the road, on the east end of pond. I was looking through the windows with my binoculars, but all I could see were 2 Greater Yellowlegs. There was only a small area to look through, that didn’t have shrubs or cattails. I got out of the truck and walked a little west on the road to get a different vantage point. I could faintly see a few smaller birds closer to the back corner, near the weed edge. I looked through my binocs and there it was! Woohoo!!! This was a life bird for me. In addition to the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, I found 2 Greater and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, 3 Dunlin, 3 Pectoral Sandpipers and a single Semipalmated Sandpiper. I walked back to my truck and setup my camera equipment. I saw that everything was still wet from the morning dew, so I grabbed an extra sweatshirt to sit on, and walked down into ditch and up onto the berm. I threw down the sweatshirt and set up shop. At this point, the birds were only 30′ from me, but it was still rather dark and not good enough for photos. I sat there and watched them, while it ever so slightly got lighter. It felt like the sun was moving extra slow that morning! They continued to feed fairly close for about 20 minutes or so, but lighting was still rather low. I took a bunch of photos anyway (99% did not turn out), just in case it flew off. It was finally starting to get light out when the birds flew to the other side of the pond. I waited around my spot for a while, but they continued feeding on the other end. By now, several people had arrived to see it. I decided to walk down to the other end. I got a few good shots of it in the sunlight, and it took off, with 3 Dunlin and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs. Most of the times, shorebirds will fly a bit and circle back around and land in the same general area. I watched them fly with binoculars and it seemed like they were going farther away than usual. They circled back around but went down into a pond further off the road. I saw the general area they went and decided to walk back there. They ended up about 300 yards off the road, but not visible from it. I saw them briefly, but that was it. I returned to the road and there were about 15 people now. I let everyone know where it had gone and where it was. I said it was not worth trying to go back there but hope that it returns to this pond. Several of us were standing around talking when someone said, “birds just flew in from the north and landed on the far side of the pond.” We walked over there to look, and it was the 3 Dunlin that had left before, but still missing the SPTS and LEYE. While most of the people waited, we were watching the other shorebirds. They were pretty close to us and made for some good photo ops. After 45 minutes or so, I heard a single “tu” call and thought it was the Lesser Yellowlegs from earlier. I made a comment about hearing it and two others said they did too. I never saw anything though. Five minutes later, something caught my eye, all the way on the eastern edge of the pond. I looked through the cattails with my camera and saw a bird that appeared more reddish. I said, “I think I’ve got it!”. Everyone walked over to the other side. There it was again! It must’ve flown in when I heard that single call note. The bird was tucked back into the corner, behind two clumps of grass. It made its way out into the open and everyone was able to get a look at it. Shortly after, it flew to the other side and joined the group of birds. It was there that it put on quite a show! What a beautiful bird! The Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is an ABA code 3 bird. It is very uncommon, and I missed out on the one at Horicon several years ago. I was very excited to see this one, especially at such close range. It was a great morning out, with good friends and meeting a few new ones. Photos below are from Thursday morning. Enjoy!
Several Nelson’s Sparrows were seen at Lake Park between 9/29-10/09. They were along the east side of the soccer field and magic hedge, near the Linnwood Water Treatment Plant. I tried a couple times to find them but couldn’t. I walked the entire area several times, but when birds would flush, they would not stay up long enough to ID. On 10/5, I finally found one! I saw it on the rocks, in the corner area of the magic hedge and water treatment plant. I only saw it for a few moments though. It was pretty skulky, as you can see in the photos below. I only got one real good shot of it, before it flew into the heavy brush. I tried to relocate it, without luck. I didn’t spend too much time though, since it was getting dark out. Photos below are from evening of 10/5. Enjoy!
An Eared Grebe was spotted along the shore of Lake Michigan, just below the bluff of Sheridan Park on Sunday 10/16. It was staying very close to the shoreline and sometimes hard to see from above. I decided to walk down the service road to the shoreline. I walked north from there about 100 yards, and it was swimming and diving between two of the jetties. I sat down on the rocky beach area and watched it for about 15 minutes. It was actively diving the entire time. After several dives, it popped up fairly close to me, stared me down and dove again. Every time it would go down and come up, then look at me and continue about its business. This bird appears to be a hatch year and in a plumage I have not seen before. I’m glad that it was reported and stuck around for the day. Enjoy!
I had just walked down the waterfall ravine at Lake Park to search for a Louisiana Waterthrush, when I received a text from a friend. It said, “at Lakeshore State Park”. I assumed a photo was coming next. When it finally came through, I clicked on it and said to myself, “Wow, our second Purple Sandpiper of the year!” This one was different though. Instead of the usual adults in winter plumage, this was a hatch year bird! I had never seen one before, so I quickly made my way back to the truck and headed down the street to LSSP. It was on the south end of the park feeding on the rocks, near the water’s edge. It was kind of hidden and not a good angle to the sun, so I walked out onto the large rocks to the very edge. I still couldn’t see it from that angle, but just stood and waited, hoping it would come around the rock that was blocking it. After several minutes, it flew right towards me and looked like it was going to land on the rock I was standing on! It saw me and looped around, landing only 25′ away. It looked at me, trying to figure out what I was, since I wasn’t moving and wearing a bright green shirt. A few waves crashed on it and then it started feeding. I watched it at close range for about 5 minutes and then it flew back to the original rock it was on. Guess I was really lucky that day! Photos below are from 9/15. Enjoy!
Yesterday an Eastern Whip-poor-will was found at the Northwestern Mutual Building downtown. It was probably a window strike during the night and flushed up in the morning, to sit on a ledge of the building. Later in the day, I saw a rare bird report that someone found it sitting in a Maple Tree. It was on my way home, so I decided to see if I could find it. I figured it couldn’t be that hard to find. I haven’t been there in a while and when I arrived, I realized just about every tree there was a Maple! I walked towards the building and then a little east, walking along the concrete walkway, and then turned to the south and there it was! I thought to myself, “wow that was easy!” Very rarely does it ever work out like that. It was only about 10′ off the ground and very cooperative. I had to walk back to my truck and grab my small lens, as it was way too close for the 600mm. There were several angles that provided decent views, but still covered by leaves. It’s been decades since I’ve seen one and I have never photographed one. It was still being seen today, but in a different tree. Today, it was about 25′ up on a dead branch, somewhat blocked by leaves from below, still camouflaged enough to be hidden. Enjoy!
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!
Worm-eating Warbler is uncommon in Wisconsin. However, I think Milwaukee County has gotten one the last several years. This year I saw two! One was along a creek at Whitnall Park (5/9), and the other was singing at Warnimont Park (5/15) in the wooded area, east of hole #6. I was able to track down the one at Warnimont and sneak quietly within 25′ of him. I watched him eat spiders, caterpillars and midges, and was also constantly singing. The song is a dry, almost insect-like trill, similar to Chipping Sparrow. It was very hard to get wide open views of him though, as he stayed very low and in patches of thick brush. I still managed decent photos considering the thickets and it was the first time I was able to get one singing, which I love. Northern Waterthrush & Ovenbird are very common in Wisconsin, especially in Milwaukee County during migration. On 5/1, I had 10 Northern Waterthrush and 9 on 5/10, both at Whitnall Park. They can be found anywhere near any kind of water. They are usually singing throughout the entire day. There are many variations of the song, but for the most part it is a loud, ringing, three-part sweet sweet sweet swee wee wee chew chew chew chew. I find that they are very skittish, unless you’re standing still, and they fly and land near you. As soon as you move though, so do they. As for Ovenbird, I had 7 on 5/9 and 6 on 5/10, both at Whitnall Park as well. Ovenbird is found walking the forest floor, picking through leaves and downed branches, looking for insects. They sing a rather loud song, starting quieter and getting louder with each note. It is a rapid, resounding tea-cher, Tea-cher, TEA-cher, TEA-CHER. The photos below were taken in May. Enjoy!
These four warblers are very common in the Milwaukee area during spring migration, and this year was excellent for them. All of them can be found almost anywhere. They are so abundant that I usually see males, females and first spring birds of each. I really enjoy photographing the different plumages of them all as well. Each photo in this post, as is in every post, labeled (male, female or 1st spring) if you click on them. This way you can check to see if you know the correct plumages of each. A Chestnut-sided Warbler arrived on 4/25, the first of the two consecutive fallout days at Warnimont Park. I think this will be a record early arrival for the state. On 5/11 at Warnimont, I had 45 of them and on 5/15 I had 32. Chestnut-sided Warblers sing short fast song sounding like, pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha! I saw my first Black-and-white Warbler on 4/24, and numbers continued to grow until 5/11 when I found 27 at Warnimont. These warblers are usually found working along dead branches or tree trunks like a nuthatch or creeper. They sing a high-pitched, repetitive weesy, weesy, weesy, which may be difficult for some to hear. It is a very pretty song. I also saw my first Black-throated Green Warbler on 4/24 and my big day for them was also on 5/11, with 39. These warblers are constantly singing in spring and very easy to pick out. It is a rather loud, zee zee zee zee zo zee. I didn’t have my first Magnolia Warbler until 5/8 and on 5/11, I had 42 at Warnimont Park. I also had 33 on 5/15 at Warnimont as well. I find Magnolia Warblers, along with Chestnut-sided to have the most variable spring plumage, most likely because so many pass through the area. I see lots of females and first spring birds with both. Magnolia Warblers sing a very short song that is a whistled weta, weta, WETA, with last note being the loudest. All photos below are from the last 5 weeks in Milwaukee County. Enjoy!
Canada Warbler is my favorite! I love the color combination and their beautiful song. This was an excellent spring for them as well. My big day for them was on 5/15, when I saw 12 at Warnimont. They can be found just about anywhere, I usually see them in the low, thicker shrubs. Their song is a loud rapid warble of notes. Canada Warblers also linger late to the end of May. The Hooded Warbler is a very striking bird when seeing in the field. The black that surrounds the males face is very bold and unmistakable! Unfortunately, they aren’t very common, however there seems to be a decent amount that pass through Milwaukee County each spring. Warnimont Park in particular, gets one every year behind the archery range, which I’m willing to bet is the same one each year. This year, he showed up very early, 4/25 along with a bunch of other warblers that day, in our fallout at that park. He continued there for the next two days and was even joined by another as well. They have a very pretty song as well that is a clear weeta-weeta-weet-tee-o. On 5/1, I had a very cooperative female at Whitnall Park. She was along a creek in the middle of the park. Wilson’s Warblers are usually a little later, like the Canada and stay longer. There were lots of them this spring, as usual with 9 being seen on 5/11. 5/15 was also a great day with 8. Both of those days were at Warnimont Park. Photos below are from the last month in Milwaukee County. Enjoy!
