Grant Park Birds in November

JeremyAdd comment

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

Grasshopper Sparrow at Grant Park Beach 4/18/23

Jeremy2 Comments

A Grasshopper Sparrow was discovered near the Northern Mockingbird this morning at the Grant Park Beach. It was on the north side of the parking lot, along the tree line and out into the grass area. I stopped after work and it was still in the same general area. It moved around with several Dark-eyed Juncos and a couple American Robins. This bird is a little early for the year, and is the third good sparrow in the last five days in Milwaukee County. While not as rare as the last two, this one is still not as common. I really enjoy seeing this species each year. Photos below are from the afternoon. Enjoy!

Northern Mockingbird at Grant Park Beach 4/17/23

JeremyAdd comment

After work today, I thought I’d head down to Grant Park and see if the feeder area had any good birds. When the weather is brutal, like it was this afternoon, the feeders usually host some good birds. On my way to the feeders, I stopped at the beach parking lot and decided to walk out to the concrete pier and see what was around. No more than 30′ from my truck and I find a Northern Mockingbird! I didn’t even bring my camera with me. I ran back to the truck and got it setup. I walked to where I last saw it but I could not find it. I figured it had to be in the grasses somewhere, so I walked towards the lake. As I walked farther, there is a gap between the grass dunes and there it was! So, I circled back around towards the parking lot, to try for a better view. As soon as I got over there, it flew right out in front of me and fed for several minutes. It was quite active, moving very fast over the grassy areas, feeding. It was hanging with 7 American Robins, 1 Savannah Sparrow and 1 Field Sparrow. I watched it go from the sandy area of the beach, all the way to the west side of parking lot and then across the outlet to the yacht club side. Eventually, it ended up on the parking lot side again. It was extremely windy and very chilly, especially compared to the last week of beautiful weather. This was a completely unexpected bird for the day, which makes it all the more rewarding. Photos below are from the afternoon. Enjoy!