Piping Plover in Milwaukee

Jeremy2 Comments

A Piping Plover showed up at McKinley Beach on Tuesday. It stuck around into the next day, but moved on by midday, presumably south. I was down there very late in the evening, with little light. For the most part it hung out in the corner, feeding and walking around. It called a few times, but I think that was because the gulls were getting too close. With about 30 minutes of light left, it moved a little further down the beach and about 20′ from the water’s edge to lay down for the night. It blends right into the sand and even when looking for it, it was nearly impossible to see. A friend sent the band info to the site www.greatlakespipingplover.org for data recording. This is the info he got back, “Thanks for sharing this sighting and photo! This is a 2-year-old female that hatched at Sleeping Bear Dunes. We call her PoNY for her pink, brown and yellow band combo. She had a nest on North Manitou Island at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore this year. Unfortunately, she lost her mate to a Merlin, when her 3 chicks were still very young. The chicks survived for a week and a half but then disappeared. Hopefully she will have better luck next year! It appears she is head south for a rest and vacation for the non-breeding season.” That explains the mid-summer sighting in Milwaukee. While it’s always nice to see these birds in county, it’s too bad this sighting had to be at that expense. Photos below are from 7/2. Enjoy!

Black-bellied Plover at Lakeshore State Park 9/3/21

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I received a text this afternoon, there was a Black-bellied Plover at LSSP. I didn’t go at first, but then realized I did not have one for the year. I got down there just before 5pm. I walked out to the beach area and couldn’t find it. I thought I missed out. Then I saw movement right by the two signs in the middle of the beach, close to the water. It was using them as cover. I guess I had never seen that before down there, so I wasn’t expecting it. I walked close to the water and sat on the ground. It was casually walking around and feeding, moving slowly. This was a hatch year bird and for probably never seeing people before, was really tame. It walked right up to me, as close as six feet! At the same time a young Great Blue Heron landed fairly close and walked right past me in the water. It’s crazy how close those two birds were from me! I just sat there, didn’t move and watched them, as they were too close for photos. I watched the plover for about 30 minutes. It didn’t do much or move too far, but would occasionally pick in the pebbles for food. Summerfest was going on and there was a lot of loud music coming from all around. Surprisingly, it didn’t seem too bothered by any of it. Another cool bird for the day. 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!

American Golden Plovers at Wind Lake Sod Farm 8/30/20

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My friend gave me a heads up, that he had 5 American Golden Plovers, at the sod farms on Saturday night. I figured they would still be around on Sunday, with it being south winds all day. I waited for the evening, when the sun was in the west and lighting would be perfect. I stopped near the northernmost field first and saw about 50 or so Brewer’s Blackbirds. They were very close to the road, but with a large flock of starlings constantly flying around, they spooked as well, and moved farther back. I continued south to the field with the “Wind Lake Sod Farm” sign in it. There I found the jackpot of shorebirds! 12 American Golden Plovers, 2 Black-bellied Plovers, 1 Semipalmated Plover, 1 Buff-breasted Sandpiper, 6 Baird’s Sandpipers, 2 Least Sandpipers, 1 Pectoral Sandpiper and 1 Semipalmated Sandpiper. There was also a Killdeer convention in service, in which I counted 52, but it’s nearly impossible to count them, moving around so much. I’m guessing there were more than 75. Most of the golden plovers were fairly close to the road and gave excellent views. The images below are from the day. Enjoy!