Green-winged Teal

Grant Park is my second favorite park along the lake. It can be excellent at times, and November happened to be one of those times. There are a couple feeders, right in the middle of the park, next to a parking lot. These feeders host the “common” feeder birds all year long. However, during migration (spring/fall) or times with inclement weather, it gets overloaded with birds. In early November, there were a couple of rare birds seen at/near the feeders. 2 Spotted Towhee (male and female) and several flocks of Red Crossbills (75+ total). The towhees were around for a few days but took off. I thought they might stay all winter, since they were in a perfect spot, with plenty of food. The Red Crossbills can probably still be seen almost daily. There is a tall group of pines on the east side of the parking lot and also about 100′ west of the parking lot, that they visit, while flying around. In addition to the rare birds, there were also a few uncommon ones, 2 Tufted Titmouse (first I’ve ever seen there), 3 Purple Finches, and 12 Pine Siskins. And of course, the numerous common feeder birds. One day it snowed, and I went down there because I thought it could be good. It was awesome! There was a solo Red Crossbill that day, that came down to the feeder four times. I had never seen them eat out of a feeder before. That day the Pine Siskins, a male Purple Finch, and both Tufted Titmouse visited numerous times as well, along with all the common ones. All of these birds make this park an extremely fun place to spend hours at a time, with a camera. Outside of the feeder parking lot, I had a beautiful male Green-winged Teal, mixed in with 75+ Mallards on Mill Pond. He was very close to the road and provided excellent views. On the 7th, I was looking for deer and stopped on the side of the road, by the 17th tee box. I was looking out into the golf course and 40 or so Snow Bunting took flight from the sand trap, near the green. They circled over the golf course and headed south. This is a large gallery post with all photos taken during the month of November, at Grant Park. Enjoy!

Spotted Towhee

Red Crossbill

Tufted Titmouse

Pine Siskin

Purple Finch

House Finch

Black-capped Chickadee

Brown Creeper

White-breasted Nuthatch

Blue Jay

Northern Cardinal

Downy Woodpecker

Dark-eyed Junco

American Goldfinch

American Crow

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-bellied Woodpecker

House Sparrow

Yellow-rumped Warbler

White-throated Sparrow

The waterfowl migration is an exciting time, with most arriving in my area during the month of March. This year proved to be another excellent one. On the 4th, under the Hoan Bridge, there was an excellent variety of ducks, including 2 Surf Scoters and 1 White-winged Scoter. A nice size group of Ruddy Ducks had been there all winter and were still around. Unfortunately, all the gates were still locked from the strong east winds and monster waves, that destroyed a lot of lakeshore things, so I was unable to take pictures of them. Then on the 7th, an excellent variety were seen on the Kinnickkinnic River. Redheads, Canvasbacks, American Black Ducks, and a White-winged Scoter were among the more common ones. The next day, 5 Trumpeter Swans and 8 Greater White-fronted Geese were at the dance studio in Oak Creek. Also present that day were, Northern Shovelers, Gadwall and Redheads, along with a few other common breeds. On the 10th, under the Hoan Bridge I saw several scoters, including 3 black. On the 20th, there was a nice variety behind the dance studio in Oak Creek again. Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal and Hooded Merganser were the highlights, among the common ducks. On the 26th, at Grobschmidt Park, another good day with nice variety. Ring-necked Ducks were plentiful, with 15 right along the eastern edge, close to the road. There was also a Common Loon and 11 Pied-billed Grebes, which were all hanging together in the corner along the cattails. Grobschmidt seems to get at least 1 loon every year. The following day, I had 6 Wood Ducks at Greenfield Park. I was able to get a lot of nice photos to document the month. All of the photos below are from the month of March, in Milwaukee. Enjoy!