Swainson’s Hawk in Oak Creek

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On Monday 4/28, I was only at work for just over an hour, when Brad found a Swainson’s Hawk hunting a field in Oak Creek. Obviously, I had to go, but with the morning traffic, I was a little over 45 minutes away. By the time I got there, it had flown into the tree line and out of sight. Sigh… I spent the next hour searching the area for it, without any luck. I made a semi loop around the area and almost went the other way to head back to work but decided to drive back to the original spot for a last look. I’m glad I did, because I found it! I was looking into the field, and I saw it fly down. It didn’t stay very long but flew up into a dead tree instead of hiding. It sat here for quite some time and was still there when I left. This was a life bird for me! It was a great way to start off the week. Photos below are from 4/28. Enjoy!

Rough-legged Hawk (dark morph) Hunting the Fields in Oak Creek

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A few weeks ago, I was watching this dark morph Rough-legged Hawk hunting on the corner of Oakwood Rd and Pennsylvania Ave. It was sitting in perfect light, eye level and just putting on a show! This stunning bird provided the best experience I ever had with a Rough-legged Hawk. It went down to the ground three times trying for mice or voles. It caught one and missed two. I missed the photos of it catching one, because the grass was in the way. There wasn’t much to it though, as it flew down grabbed it and swallowed it. It happened really fast, and it flew back up to a small Oak tree. On the two misses, it flew down and then hopped around in the snow trying to get its prey as it moved around, under the snow. I’m guessing either a field mouse or a vole. After each miss, it would return to the top of a small Oak tree, which there were several of in the field. This all happened about 50′-150′ away from the road. I watched this particular hawk for about 30 minutes. Photos below are from Saturday 1/20. Enjoy!

Common Merganser Diving for Frogs

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I stopped by Bender Park last week and saw a few ducks in the boat launch area. I drove down close to the water and shut off my truck. I counted 3 Red-breasted Merganser, 3 Common Goldeneye, 1 Common Merganser all swimming, along with 2 Mallard sleeping on the sand bar. I have stopped here dozens of times before and I know that if you park close to the water, shut off you truck and be quiet, the ducks will come back, close to shore. On this particular day, the Common Merganser swam in, slightly off the newly formed sand bar, and started diving. After the first dive, she popped up with a something and I got my camera on her. I thought it was a fish, and I started snapping photos in a burst, so that I wouldn’t miss anything. After the sequence was done and I looked at some photos, I realized it was actually a frog she caught. I was quite surprised by this. After a few more dives, I saw her pop up with another frog! This time though, a male Red-breasted Merganser started chasing her. After about 100′ feet of scooting through the water, he got really close, and she dropped the frog. He grabbed it and enjoyed her catch. The photos below show these events happening and I tried to capture the entire sequences. However, not all photos are in focus during the event, so I picked the ones that were. The photos below were taken on 1/11 in the late afternoon. Enjoy!

Snowy Plover in Milwaukee County 7/22/21

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I received a text from a friend this evening about a Piping Plover on the South Metro Pier Beach, in Oak Creek. I didn’t get to see one in spring, so I went down there quickly. I walked down to the beach and found it right away. I took a distant doc photo, just in case it would take off. It didn’t look right to me, though. I walked closer and got a pretty good look at it and realized it was not a Piping Plover, but rather a Snowy Plover! Wow, completely unexpected!!! I just got my lifer in Florida, this past February. This was an adult bird in breeding plumage, very beautiful. It was running up and down the beach, feeding among the washed up algae. It was rather skittish, although several times came right past the front of me. Hopefully it will stick around for others to see it. Pictures below are from this evening. Enjoy!

Lake Vista Park 4/28/19

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One of my stops along the lakefront today, was Lake Vista Park, in Oak Creek. Although it’s a relatively small, grassy field area, it produces some really cool birds throughout the year. I check it every time I’m along the lake. This morning was a great time to be out, sunny and some snow on the ground, which gave the photos some nice backgrounds. The Eastern Meadowlarks and Savannah Sparrows were all over, singing and chasing each other around. Today I had 9 meadowlarks and 14 savannahs. I’m sure there were more, but I did not walk around just stayed in my truck. I parked in several different areas for awhile and watched the birds in action. By the time I left, most of the snow was already gone. Here are some photos from this morning.