Grant Park Birds in November

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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

Green-winged Teal

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-bellied Woodpecker

House Sparrow

Yellow-rumped Warbler

White-throated Sparrow

Red Crossbills at Warnimont Golf Course 7/22

JeremyAdd comment

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!

Red Crossbills in Kewaunee County on 11/4/20

Jeremy2 Comments

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!