Dickcissels are late arriving spring migrants, typically showing up the last few days of May. One of my favorite places to find them is at the Franklin Landfill. On Friday May 31st, I saw at least 12 of them along the South side and Southeast corner of the hill. I went after work, in the late afternoon. They sing along the fence line and move around a bit, feeding in between. I had one pop out of the grasses near the edge of the road, eating a cricket. Luckily, I was able to capture that moment! These birds usually sing from the top of a perch and lean back to belt out their loud song, a buzzy “dick-dick-see-see-see.” I only saw males, so I’m not sure if the females are even back yet. They are down in the grasses most of the time, and hard to see anyway. Photos below are from Friday afternoon. Enjoy!
A Nelson’s Sparrow was found along the lakefront on May 17th. It was seen in the tall grasses near a fallen tree, along the rocks. When I arrived, there were a couple of people looking at one and as I walked up, I flushed another. After that, I think I flushed another one! There were at least 2 of them and quite possibly 3. The grassy area was already so tall, and those birds move extremely fast through it, it’s tough to find them. The one bird kept circling back to the fallen tree and I just waited around for it to show itself a few times. I never got an unobstructed view, as is usually the case with these birds, but plenty of decent looks. Photos below are from 5/17 in the late afternoon. Enjoy!
Unfortunately, for those of you who look forward to my spring migration photos each year, this is one of my last posts. My new puppy yanked my laptop off the table and smashed my external hard drive. The 40,000 photos I took the during my 3-week vacation are all gone! I did manage to get out a few days this week for some lingering birds, but nothing close to what I had. Hopefully the fall migration will make up for it.
On Monday, May 13th a LeConte’s Sparrow was found along the lakefront by Lake Park/Linnwood Water Treatment plant. It was about halfway between both ends of the soccer fields. This small, skulky sparrow is usually very hard to get good looks at. However, on this day, I literally walked right out to the location I was provided and it was sitting on the rocks underneath a tree, all fluffed up. It couldn’t have been any easier to find this bird! There were numerous other birds near it, mostly Common Yellowthroats. I watched it for a few minutes and then it went down into the ticket vegetation and out of sight. People tried before and after me with and without luck. I guess I was lucky! This might have been my best views ever of this beautiful little sparrow. Photos are from the late afternoon, May 13th. Enjoy!
A friend found a Harris’s Sparrow at Warnimont Park today. It was first seen along the asphalt trail, about halfway down the 1st fairway, eating seeds from Dandelions. I was just leaving the Warnimont Kelly Senior Center, so it was perfect timing. I arrived and walked that way, there wasn’t a sparrow in sight! I checked the grassy area, walked south into the first part of shrubs and onto the 1st fairway, then all the way back to the Dandelion field, nothing. I couldn’t believe it, I must’ve walked around for 30 minutes without seeing any sparrows, except 3 Chipping Sparrows. I decided to check the evergreens by the parking lot, since they like to have cover to come in and out of. I walked up the hill and there it was feeding off the cart path, right near the evergreens. I got some good views and then it flew into the closet pine and then down underneath it to the edge of the branches. It was not coming back out, so I walked around to the other side of it. Of course, by that time, it had come back out and was feeding in almost the same spot. I should have just stayed put, oh well. I snuck into the pines and was kneeling down, looking at it through the branches. It fed in front of me for a good 5 minutes, before getting close to the clubhouse. There were also a Lincoln’s Sparrow and a few White-crowned Sparrows, which I was watching as well. When I looked back for the Harris’s, I didn’t see it. I never saw it fly either, so I’m not sure where it went off too. I heard later in the afternoon, it was relocated about halfway in between the original location and where I had it. It’s not too often we get to see these in breeding plumage. The black on their face and head is really bold and striking! Always a treat to see one. Photos below are from this morning, 5/7. Enjoy!
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!
Several Nelson’s Sparrows were seen at Lake Park between 9/29-10/09. They were along the east side of the soccer field and magic hedge, near the Linnwood Water Treatment Plant. I tried a couple times to find them but couldn’t. I walked the entire area several times, but when birds would flush, they would not stay up long enough to ID. On 10/5, I finally found one! I saw it on the rocks, in the corner area of the magic hedge and water treatment plant. I only saw it for a few moments though. It was pretty skulky, as you can see in the photos below. I only got one real good shot of it, before it flew into the heavy brush. I tried to relocate it, without luck. I didn’t spend too much time though, since it was getting dark out. Photos below are from evening of 10/5. Enjoy!
Today a Lark Sparrow was found at the entrance to the ferry. When I arrived, it was feeding in the grass right off the walking path. I was only able to watch it for a few minutes and then a person walking flushed it. It flew across the street, and I lost it. I scanned the across the street with my binoculars but couldn’t find it. By the evening, it was relocated in the same general area. Photos below are from the brief time watching it feed. Enjoy!
I stopped by the Kelly Senior Center, on the south end of Warnimont Park this afternoon. I was hoping to find something cool and I did, my third Harris’s Sparrow in less than a week! Funny that I find another too, because I almost went back to Whitnall today instead. I didn’t get very good photos of the two at Wehr Nature Center, so I contemplated going there again. Like the Wehr birds, it was with several White-crowned and a couple White-throated Sparrows. They would come out of the trees and feed in the grass, for extended times. When the wind would kick up and blow the leaves around, they would all fly back into the trees and then come back out. They moved around quite frequently, along the tree lines. The majority of the time, they were all in the grass area with the bird feeders. I also had 11 warbler species, however most were very uncooperative and didn’t want their picture taken today. I’m guessing the bird will stick around a few days this week, considering its in good habitat, with good food sources. Good luck if you try! Enjoy!
I got my lifer Spotted Towhee less than two months ago, a beautiful male in Ozaukee County. Then two days ago, a female is found in Milwaukee County, at Greenfield Park! Someone who doesn’t belong to any group or use eBird, had a picture on his camera and showed it to someone who is, saying he thought it was a Spotted Towhee. Sure enough it was! It was confirmed Friday afternoon just before dark. So I thought I would try for it right away Saturday morning. It was being seen on the east side of the park, near the waterfall on the little pond. There is some seed thrown out, under a few trees and it’s attracting a decent variety of birds, including the towhee. I got there around 8 a.m. and friends that were already there said it showed very briefly about 7:30. With it nowhere in sight, I decided to take a walk behind the pond to the railroad tracks and look around back there. I had also heard a Carolina Wren singing from back that way, so hoped to see that as well. I couldn’t find either, so I walked back to the feeding area. I was standing there talking with a few friends and it flew in from behind us, landing in the very thick brushy area. After a few minutes, she popped out and gave very good views for at least 10 minutes. Then she flew up into the trees and flew back behind the pond, into the wooded area. A beautiful bird and a great chilly morning with friends. Since I now have very good photos of both the male and female, I’ll include the male photos from just over a month ago, so you can see the difference between the two. Enjoy!
This bird has been seen for at least a week at Forest Beach Migratory Preserve. I finally had a chance to try for it today. I started out walking the path east from the building towards the gravel road… nothing. Then I walked down the gravel road to the bend and back up and found some bird activity. There were sparrows, juncos, cardinals and chickadees, but no towhees. So I continued back towards the building and went south on the trail, near the pond, which wrapped back around into the gravel road, still nothing. Since the only place that had birds was the gravel road, on the north side of the bluff, I decided to focus on that area. I walked along the top of the bluff and about 100′ from Lake Bluff Dr (private road), I saw something larger pop up into some thicket. I could see some movement, so threw up my binocs and tried to maneuver through all the branches. That was it, life bird!!! Very poor view but could clearly tell what it was. The white spots are very obvious and stand out. He flew to north and into a thick shrub. I got positioned better and waited. I was rewarded with a solid minute of him sitting in the open on a branch, before he went down to the ground and started foraging, typical towhee style. I tried getting a better view, but he must’ve heard me and flew back into the shrub. I walked backwards, and around until I realized I was really close to the private drive, so walked out to that and waited. That’s when I saw a female Eastern Towhee. They were foraging together under the bush and I had never seen her until now. I kept waiting, hoping they would come out for better views, but they never did. She flew right across the drive into a pine tree and he followed closely behind. They both went down to the ground, right on the side of the road, underneath the tree near a fence. I was only 20′ from them! I continued watching them as they moved about, and they moved into the next yard over. They would forage for awhile and then he would chase her. She always stayed hidden and he would be in the open. They again flew back across road to the area where I originally found. His actions seemed like courtship to me, but its fall, not spring. I never did get a photo of her. In the meantime, the resident there walked out and down the private drive to the mail box, on the main road. On his way back he asked if I found anything interesting? So I explained it all to him and he thought it was very cool! He told me I could walk around his yard if I wanted and his neighbors aren’t currently there, so I could go into their yard as well! I thought wow how nice, thanked him and continued on. I walked down Country Club Rd, all the way down, because earlier a guy told me he saw a mockingbird near a specific address. I didn’t see it though, probably because I spent over an hour watching the towhees. Overall an excellent day to be out hiking, with sun shining and temps in the 40’s! Photos below are from today. Enjoy!
