Black-tailed Gull at Waukegan Municipal Beach, IL (Mega Rarity)

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A Black-tailed Gull was found Wednesday at Waukegan Municipal Beach, but not IDed until very early Thursday morning. Thankfully, it was relocated in the morning and stuck around the entire day, providing some excellent views to those who came. It was hanging out with a large group of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls. I was able to get down there in the late afternoon, after work. Just as I was driving down the beach road, I saw a Discord message come through saying it had just flown south. So, I parked, got my gear together and made my way out to a group of people on the beach. After a few minutes, I saw a gull land and thought I saw black on the tail. I said to everyone, “I think it just flew in behind us.” Sure enough, that was it! The next hour or so, it sat on the beach, sleeping, preening and moving around slightly. At one point, a parent let their child run through the flock of gulls, but they only moved a short distance and did not take flight, thankfully. Heat distortion was atrocious! I took just over 1600 photos in that short time, because I knew most would not turn out. I wanted to stay until sunset, but I had to get back home to take care of the puppy. I figured the cool air coming off the lake would ease the heat distortion later, plus the lighting would have been perfect. When I started looking at the photos later, I threw away the first 850 of them, which is exactly what I thought would happen. I did manage to get several decent ones and even a few in flight, that show the beautiful black band on the tail. I don’t usually get too excited for gulls, but as soon as I saw photos on the original eBird checklist of it, I thought the bill was so cool and knew I wanted to see it! Photos below are from Thursday afternoon. Enjoy!

American Flamingos… in WISCONSIN!!! 1st State Record!!!

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On Friday, around 11:20am I received a message in the Milwaukee RBA chat that there were 5 American Flamingos in Port Washington. Obviously, everyone went nuts on the group chat trying to figure out if this was real or not. Meanwhile, I was at work, so I immediately started cleaning up my tools and locked everything up for the day. I figured worst case; I would just turn around if it wasn’t real. About 40 messages later, several texts to friends, and 20 or so minutes, I was able to confirm it! 5 American Flamingos at South Beach in Port Washington, WOW!!! I was already halfway through Milwaukee when I received confirmation, so I’m glad I left right away. When I arrived, around 12:20pm, the parking lot was already full and there were at least 50 people on the beach, half of which were just local residents, who were in awe as well. Everyone there couldn’t believe what they were seeing! There was 3 adults (pink) and 2 hatch year (gray) birds. They were only about 40′ offshore which was even more crazy! They were so close and did not mind all the people. While I was there, they were mostly resting. They would occasionally lift their heads and walk around but that was about it. I had heard that they were eating some kind of food, but I’m not sure what it was though. They also took baths and preened. Then at 5:12pm, they took flight and have not been seen since. These birds were blown into the US from hurricane Idalia and made their way up to us through the south winds this past week. What an epic day in the bird world of Wisconsin! The photos below were taken on Friday 9/22. Enjoy!

Red Crossbills at Warnimont Golf Course 7/22

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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!

Worm-eating Warbler at Shorewood Nature Preserve 5/8/23

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I went to Shorewood Nature Preserve this afternoon/evening to look for the reported Summer Tanager. The rain was supposed to stop by 2pm, then by 5pm and it’s still raining as I type this at 9:30pm. The local meteorologists sure know how to do their job!!! So, I was stuck walking around this park in the rain. Also reported from there this morning, were Yellow-throated, Prothonotary and Hooded Warblers. Of course, I wanted to get photos of those three as well. When I arrived, I walked down the bluff, headed on the north path and made a loop. It was very quiet, and I didn’t see or hear much. I then went towards the lake and found a small pocket of warblers, mostly Palm and Yellow-rumped. I walked the beach north, to the park edge and still nothing. I walked back to the path, and I finally found the Summer Tanager. It was feeding high in the treetops. I watched it for a little while and it never came lower or cooperated for that matter. I gave up on it and focused back on finding the warblers. I headed back north and as soon as I crossed the large fallen tree, a dull warbler jumped up from the ground in the raspberry bushes. I assumed it was an Orange-crowned, since they are usually low in the thicker growth and the color matched. It was very close to me, but there were to many branches to clearly see. I looked through my binoculars, tried to quickly focus and got a fast glimpse of black stripes on the head. I knew right away, Worm-eating Warbler!!! I love finding these guys. Of course, I lost it right away. There is so much thick undergrowth in the park, I wasn’t sure if I would find it again. I continued on the path and ended up circling back around to where I first saw it, no luck. I walked forward again going towards the lake and taking a different path north. I started getting close to the black fence at the park edge and saw a bird fly a short distance. I got it in my binoculars, and it was a Northern Waterthrush. Sigh. Then I saw something right next to the waterthrush move and there it was! A couple of weak chip notes and it was gone again, flying towards the brush pile at the base of the bluff. I didn’t know if it went in there or continued up the bluff. So, I set up shop by the brush pile and waited. After 15 minutes or so, it popped out and provided some pretty short, decent looks. I was shooting in silent mode on my camera, but I think it still heard or maybe just was knew I was there, because it flew up the bluff a short distance. At that point, I figured I wouldn’t see it anymore. By this time, I had already spent almost 3 hours walking around in the rain. I made one more quick loop through the entire park and most singing had already stopped, so I called it a night. I did find Blue-winged and Hooded Warblers though and ended with 18 warbler species. I missed on the Yellow-throated and Prothonotary Warblers. I guess I will need to wait for a later date with those two. Photos below are from this evening, while rain soaked and a chilly east wind. The pin location below is approximately where I last saw it. Good luck! Enjoy!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/V7ijcXd6hqPuY8Rp9

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!