While looking for Dickcissels on Friday May 31st, I also found 2 singing Indigo Buntings. These little songbirds are absolutely beautiful! When the sun hits them, their blue color is a stunning! These colorful songbirds can be found in any open field with small shrubs for nesting. The 2 that I saw were on County Line Rd, singing along the fence line. At one point, one of the Dickcissels was chasing one of the buntings around. It must’ve been too close to his territory, although the Indigo Bunting would have been there first. I also had one fly down to the roadside and pick through the gravel. I’m not sure if it was finding seedings, insects, or just gritting. While they are common, they are a sight to see every time. Photos below are Friday afternoon. Enjoy!
I spent the week at Sax-Zim Bog, the first week of February. It was awesome! If you have never been there, it is a Black Spruce-Tamarack bog that attracts wintering owls. It has gotten quite popular in the recent years though. When I was there in ’18, I might have seen 5 people throughout the entire day. This year, there were at least 50, even during the mid-week! The weather was quite mild this year with temperatures in the mid 30’s most days. One day, it was 47 and sunny, t-shirt weather! That is a 70-degree swing from what I’m used to up there, in previous years. In 2018, it was -36 degrees and in 2020 it was -30 degrees, so I was pretty happy about the warmer temps. There was still snow on the ground when I first arrived, but it was all melted by the end of the week. I didn’t know what to expect with the warmer weather, but it worked out really well. I saw everything you would want to see, except the Sharp-tailed Grouse, which are getting rather uncommon in the area now. For the week, I took just over 13,500 photos! In those 7 days, I saw 4 Great Gray Owls, and I was able to photograph three of them. Those owls are absolutely stunning in person, and it makes your day just being able to watch them for a few minutes. I also saw a Northern Hawk Owl, which was in the same spot, posing beautifully almost every day. The Northern Hawk Owl was hanging around Byrn’s Greenhouse and you could easily spend hours watching it hunt from there. I saw it catch 5 voles, eat three of them, while caching the other two. All of this activity was less than 100′ from the highway most of the time. It was just incredible watching it! I got really lucky with an American Goshawk that week as well. I had just turned west onto Overton Ave from Owl Ave and about 3/4 of a mile down the road, I saw a hawk flying through the Birch trees. I hit the brakes and jumped out, grabbed my camera out of the back seat and the hawk circled around and flew right across the road, directly in front of me. I fired off a burst and got several very nice, in focus shots. It was perfect sunlight with bright blue skies. When I’m driving around, I always have my camera set to shoot flying birds into a bright sky. That way I’m not scrambling to adjust my settings. In previous years, the feeders throughout the bog had been very productive for the winter finches, but this year, only Common Redpolls were high in numbers. There were a few Hoary Redpolls mixed in and I found my first ever male. Unfortunately, I did not get any photos of them. The Pine Grosbeaks and Evening Grosbeaks were seen sporadically on various roads and occasionally came to the feeders, but not many. That was a little disappointing, since watching those in big numbers at close range is a special treat. There were several Bohemian Waxwings flying around and seen the week prior to me arriving. I didn’t see any and there was only one report of two flying over Bryn’s Greenhouse one afternoon. Several Boreal Chickadees had been seen on Admiral Rd, McDavitt Rd and Arkola Rd feeders. I was able to watch at least one, on two separate occasions at the south Admiral Rd feeders. Each time, it just appeared and then within 30 seconds it was gone. Canada Jays were quite frequent to all the feeders, throughout the day. Black-billed Magpies seemed to be more active this year, as I found quite a few of them. They are always extremely tough to photograph though. I was originally only staying for 5 days but extended it by 2 more after I didn’t see any Black-backed Woodpeckers. Haha, well that’s not the only reason I stayed longer, but that was a good one. The last two times I was here, I saw one once, fly across McDavitt and out of sight. That was my only experience with them. The best places to find them are at Winterberry Bog and Warren Nelson Memorial Bog. I stopped by each just about every day, sometimes twice a day, walk the boardwalk and no luck. So, Saturday morning, it was my mission to find them. After walking the Winterberry Bog, I drove down the street a little and decided to go into the Indian Pipe Bog. I walked in, all the way to the loop in the back and found a female. Finally! I watched it pound on a few trees for about 30 minutes or so and then it flew deeper into the bog. By the time I got back to the truck and was heading back towards highway 7 it was almost noon already. Time sure flies up there! I knew that an American Three-toed Woodpecker had been seen about an hour north of the Sax-Zim Bog, so I pulled over and debated about going up there and looking. It had not been reported in a few days, but figured it still had to be around, so I decided to go. I arrived on Plum Creek Rd/Buboltz Rd just after 1pm, where it was reported and saw another person looking. I stopped and chatted, and they hadn’t seen it. I made my way a little further west and parked. I started walking down the road and heard some tapping on a tree. After a few minutes, I finally found a Hairy Woodpecker. That was not what I wanted! Fast forward an hour and half, no luck, so I decided to head back to the bog. I got into the truck, turned around and started heading back towards the highway. I was driving slowly and looking into the trees and saw a tree with at least 4 holes in it. I backed up and while I was doing that, I saw something fly. I got out and tried to relocate it. Within a minute, I found it, an American Three-toed Woodpecker!!! It gave me extended, wonderful looks making this life bird an exciting road trip. On my last day there, I started on Lake Nichols Rd in search of the owls, no luck. I made my way over to Arkola Rd and I saw several people with cameras on the side of the road, which is usually a good sign. I pulled up and was looking in their direction to see what they were looking at and saw a woodpecker. I pulled all the way over and got out. It was a beautiful male Black-backed Woodpecker! Finally! It moved a few trees and then flew across the street to the stump of a Black Spruce. It stayed there, pounding and stripping the bark of it for a good 5 minutes, before moving in the bog a little deeper. I walked down to the feeders and chatted with a few people for 20 minutes or so. I looked over and saw two guys aiming into the trees again and saw that the woodpecker made its way back out. It sat at eye level pounding on a Black Spruce for over 10 minutes! I couldn’t believe it. After not seeing these birds in all my time there, the 2 extra days I stayed and was rewarded with excellent views. Sometimes that’s just how it works. I found numerous Ruffed Grouse most days. Several on the sides of the roads, which I was able to photograph. Most evenings, just before sunset, they come into the birch trees and eat the seeds. That is tough lighting and lots of branches/sticks in the way though. One evening, I found 2 of them on the south end of Owl Ave. I stopped and looked at them through my binoculars and thought to myself they had a little more yellowish and barring on the sides and belly. It was rather dark, and I didn’t take any photos, although I could have made it work. When I got back to the hotel, I was looking at Sharp-tailed Grouse, Ruffed Grouse and Spruce Grouse on the Audubon App. It was then I realized I had seen 2 female Spruce Grouse! Oh no, a lifer and I didn’t take photos!!! I was pretty upset with myself that evening. I’m normally very good with identifying subtle differences and I just kind of wrote it off, even after making those small mental notes to myself. Oh well, next time, I guess. Lastly, the animals of the bog were showing quite nicely the week I was there. At least 3 American (pine) Marten were being seen at the Admiral Rd feeders. They would come out and eat the beef fat that was put out or they really liked the peanut butter that people would spread out. Short-tailed Weasels (Ermine) were being seen at the Welcome Center and Arkola Rd feeders. I saw one, for about 2 minutes at the Welcome Center and never got any photos. That was my only bummer on the trip. I’ve seen them plenty of times around Whitnall Park, but I really wanted to watch them in their all-white winter coat. I saw hundreds of deer, but only doe. I had a Red Fox but was driving on highway 7 and didn’t see it soon enough, to stop. While watching the Northern Hawk Owl, an American Mink popped out of the ice in the ditch. It stayed out for a minute or so and the 8 of us watching the owl got decent looks at it. Red squirrels are everywhere throughout the bog and are very common at the feeders. They chase each other around and are very noisy. Some of them are very red and really pretty. While driving around the western side of the bog, I found 2 Porcupines sleeping in trees. I had seen them up there in past years, but they were always on the south side of the road. This year, they were both on the north side of the road in perfect light. I’m still waiting to see a Timber Wolf or a Moose up there. So, that’s my story of this year’s bog trip. All in all, it was an excellent vacation and I’m glad I spent a week there. I ended up with 33 species, including 2 lifers! This is a very long photo gallery, hopefully you will enjoy as much as I did editing it. If you see a name underlined, you can click it, to be taken to its homepage gallery for more photos. Enjoy!
Here is a link to the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog, which should provide you with all the information you need.
Several Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches were found at Devil’s Lake State Park on Monday afternoon. Two up on the East Bluff Trail and one about a mile and a half east, down on S Lake Rd. I figured I would get out there at sunrise on Tuesday and attempt to relocate them. I started out by the Old Sandstone Trailhead parking lot, which is near the crossing of the scenic trail, where one was seen gritting on the side of the road with some juncos. About 5 minutes after arriving, I saw an eagle come down from the bluff and head east. The sun had risen, according to time, but it still wasn’t very light out yet, due to clouds and landscape. I put my binoculars on the eagle and thought it could be a golden. Since I still have not seen a Golden Eagle yet, I pointed my camera at it and started snapping photos for documentation. I was caught off guard by it, my settings were not set properly, and I did not have very much time to get photos. After a few seconds of pictures, it was out of view. When I looked on the back of the camera, sure enough, a Golden Eagle. A new lifer for me! Walking around the area produced several common birds, but no Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. I decided to head over and hike up to the East Bluff Trail where two more were seen the day before. I went up the CCC Trail, and the headed west on the East Bluff Trail. After walking quite a bit to the west, I found a bird, just sitting on the trail. I stopped and got my binoculars on it, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch!!! Wow, there it was! Another lifer for the day. I setup my camera low to the ground and sat down. It was feeding, not more than 25 feet away. I was soon joined by at least 10 other people and the bird just kept feeding, picking small seeds up off the trail. Several of us heard a second one calling while watching this one feed, although I thought it was strange that it never showed or came down to the other bird. The calling bird was giving harsh like cheep cheep notes. I would guess we watched it for 10 minutes or so, when it took off and flew down the bluff and to the east. After that, I figured I might as well try for a Townsend’s Solitaire too. I continued west along the trail to Devil’s Doorway and found 1 Townsend’s Solitaire there. It was sitting atop an evergreen in the wide open. Another one flew up and the first one started calling, which sounds like a “squeaky eeek”. I didn’t hang around there too long, as I’ve seen them plenty of times in the state before. Plus, it didn’t seem like they would be providing good enough views to make waiting around worth it. I made my way back east to the CCC Trail to hike back down the bluff. A beautiful morning, with 3 awesome birds for the state! It always makes the trip much more enjoyable when you get to see what you want. Photos below are from Tuesday morning (12/12). Enjoy!
At least one Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch was still being seen near sunset today (12/13). The pin location below is the latest update. Good luck if you try for it!
I heard my phone vibrating several times Saturday morning. I figured I’d better check it, since it is usually bird related that early. Sure enough, 17 Red Crossbills at Warnimont Golf Course parking lot! I grabbed my camera and quickly headed down there. By the time I arrived, they had already been feeding in the pine trees for almost an hour. I was able to watch them for about 15 minutes and then something scared all of the birds. I think a hawk was in the area, but I never saw it fly over. There is a Cooper’s Hawk nest about 50′ into the woods, north of the parking lot, so it could have been one of them. 3 flocks of crossbills left the trees very noisily and joined to form one flock, which I counted as 21. They flew NW out over the golf course and did not return. I tried using Merlin app to record their calls, but of course the one time I wanted it to work it doesn’t! It would only pick up Cedar Waxwings. It would have been nice to know what kind they were. It appears that crossbills are showing quite well in Wisconsin this summer, more than the usual breeding ones. My guess, the wildfires in Canada are the reason. Interesting to see how the winter finches show this year. Photos below are from the morning of 7/22. Enjoy!
A pair of Evening Grosbeaks have been coming to the Grant Park feeders since Sunday morning. They seem to be very specific though. They arrive between 7:30-8:00 a.m., and then take awhile to decide whether or not to come down. They eat for several minutes, fly off, and do not coming back for the rest of the day. I skipped out of work for about an hour on Monday morning, but never saw them. I again tried for an hour or so on Tuesday afternoon and didn’t see them either. So, I figured I would head out and try again today, before throwing the turkey on the smoker. I got there about 7:10 a.m. and waited around… and around… and around… They finally showed about 7:55 a.m.! It took about 10 minutes for them to fly down to the feeder. I almost left too, because I didn’t think they were coming and knew I needed to get the turkey on. Today was different than the previous four days, because around 11:30 a.m. they showed up again, but this time there was 4! All of them were females. They do call when flying and sitting in the trees, so hopefully they can attract a male or two! Photos below are from today. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving… I DID!!!
I went to try for the Ash-throated Flycatcher that was seen on 11/3. I really wanted to go that day, but couldn’t. I knew I’d probably miss out, but had to try, since I was off anyway. It was being seen at private residence and when I arrived, Brian (homeowner) came out to talk to us (another person looking). He was very nice and allowed us to walk about his property, in search of the bird. Right off the bat, there were 8 Red Crossbills at the top of his spruce trees. They flew right across the street into two spruce trees that were a little shorter in height. I figured since there was no sign of the flycatcher, might as well photograph these “bonus” birds! I don’t usually get to see them anyway, so it was nice. I also had one flyover White-winged Crossbill and several Pine Siskins. The day that Brian found the flycatcher, he also had some Evening Grosbeaks quickly stop by for a snack. Apparently his yard was a hotspot this week! The flycatcher however, was never seen again. Oh well, next I guess. Images below are from the morning. Enjoy!
I stopped by Forest Beach Migratory Preserve on 10/27 and was able to see the crossbills in the afternoon. I only saw them for a short time and got just a few doc shots. They were a life bird for me that day, so I was still excited. I think I had 30 or so. I was off on Friday 10/30 and thought I would try for them again, and hopefully get some decent photos. I walked the path back and found them almost right away. I setup and started taking pictures. They flew almost immediately. This time though, there were at least 45 of them. I watched them land and headed over to the next group of trees. Again I setup and started taking pictures, and again they flew almost right away. Now, I always wear camo and don’t have anything really flashy with me, trying to always blend in. I was thinking these birds sure are skittish! I watched them fly away and land in a few trees over, so I packed up and went over there. I setup and and took one photo and off they flew again! I couldn’t believe it, not sure why they were so jumpy. This time they looped around me and went to the southwest, so I had to walk all the way around them to get the sun back on my backside. This time I decided to turn my camera shutter on silent (6fps), instead of the normal (10fps), and see if my shutter noise was spooking them, although I can’t imagine it was. It worked though! Either coincidence or my shutter was really too loud for them. From then on, I followed them around tree to tree and back to previous trees, eating seeds and throwing pine cones around, without spooking them. They would eat in a tree anywhere from five to fifteen minutes. Then move on to the next. They flew all over the preserve and even went all the way south, to the line of trees along County Hwy P. From there, they went to the marsh area, just south of the parking lot and all went down for water. They sure move around quite a bit! I spent several hours there and took over 1500 photos, trying to get some nice behavior shots. All photos are from Friday 10/30. Enjoy!
I’ve had Pine Siskins at my house since 9/23. The number seems to grow a little each day. I’m guessing there are over 60 right now! I counted 42 on the ground at one time and could still hear and see them flying around my trees. I figured I would photograph them today, since they were so active at my feeding areas. Usually a few come down, but the majority stay up in the maples or arborvitaes. Not today though, as most were eating thistle seed. After eating they fly to drink water and then back to the tree tops. Some of them are extremely yellow, more than I’ve ever seen on siskins. Having that many around, you really get the variation in color between each one. Some show very little yellow, others a decent amount and still others show more whitish than brown. I have quite a few images, but they show the variation I was talking about. All images are from today. Enjoy!
