Milwaukee County Rare Birds 4/30/24

Jeremy10 Comments

The first major push of songbirds happened Monday night in the Milwaukee area, and Tuesday did not disappoint. Early in the morning, a White-eyed Vireo was found at Lake Park, in the north lighthouse ravine. I was at Warnimont Park when I heard and figured I would make my way down there at some point, during the day. I walked the archery range and the back nine of the golf course and it was ok. Definitely new birds, but nothing crazy. I left and headed to Lake Park. I got there around 10:30 and headed for the lighthouse ravine, in hopes of finding the White-eyed Vireo (WEVI). I walked the northern side from the statue to the stairs and then went down. I walked all the way down the ravine to the bridge and then back up to the stairs. No WEVI heard or seen. I walked around the south side of the ravine and was watching some warblers, when a towhee popped up and started singing. I got my binoculars on it and it was a Spotted Towhee (SPTO) not an Eastern Towhee. Holy s***!!! I certainly did not expect to see that bird. What a bonus! I was with a friend, and she didn’t see it. So, we walked towards the bridge, to go down into the ravine to try and relocate it. About halfway down the steep ravine, next to the bridge, I heard the WEVI (Pik-chicka-weew). I turned and said, I heard the vireo! Now I just needed to track it down by the song. I finally got eyes on it. We watched it move quickly, singing and feeding through the shrubs, all the way to the end of the ravine near Lincoln Memorial Dr. There we lost it, searched for about 10 more minutes and gave up. We headed back up the ravine to look for the SPTO. As we got underneath the bridge, I noticed several birds taking baths, so we snuck up closer to the water and watched. All of a sudden, the SPTO came out of nowhere and started scratching in the leaves above the water. I said, “there it is!” It was blocked by a bunch of branches but working its way down to the water. It popped out right in front of us and gave pretty good views, though we still had sticks in the way. A couple other friends were coming down from the other end and didn’t know we were there. Birds don’t really like when there are people on both sides of them, and it flew up the ravine. After that, we tried for the vireo again, without success. We made our way back up to the north side of the ravine and while we were walking along the top, I saw the towhee again. It was foraging with a male Eastern Towhee, near the pump shed. We got some really good views this time for several minutes before something scared all the birds and they went back down the ravine. We went our separate ways, and I ran into another friend, gave him the details of the two birds, where we saw them, and I left to get a late lunch. About 15 minutes after I left, He found a male Summer Tanager (SUTA) in the ravine. So of course I headed back down there after my lunch. I was walking around the north lighthouse ravine looking for it when another friend text me and said he just got there as well. I told him no luck so far. 5 minutes later, he texts me that he has it over by the waterfall ravine. I quickly made my way over there and this bird was putting on an absolute show! It worked between the waterfall ravine and north lighthouse ravine, on the east side of the bluff catching and eating bee after bee. This was by far the best views I’ve ever had of a SUTA. I bet we watched it for an hour. Its bee catching ability is quite incredible! Since he found the tanager for me, I figured I’d help him find the SPTO. We walked from the waterfall ravine to the north side of the lighthouse ravine and found it immediately near the large brush pile behind the pump shed. We laughed about hoe easy that was and decided to split up and try to find the WEVI. I ran to the truck to swap batteries out and he text and said he may have another SUTA or if it was the same one, it was on the south side, by the lighthouse. I went over there, and we watched it for a while again. We compared photos and it was the same bird, just moved a little farther south. It was getting pretty late in the evening, and I received word that there was a Western Tanager (WETA) about 5 minutes north at Shorewood Nature Preserve. There was about an hour of light left so we hauled a** to the vehicles. We got to the nature preserve and Alex, who found it, was looking up at it on the northern end of the park. It was actively feeding in the tree tops the entire time we were there. This was tough conditions for pictures, shooting up into a bright gray sky with barely any light left, but it was completely worth it! Icing on the cake for the day! This last Tuesday of April turned out to be a pretty epic day. Three rare birds in the same area, in the same park and then a fourth only 5 minutes away. The only bummer for the day, no pictures of the vireo. Sometimes, that’s just how it works. Pictures below are from 4/30 throughout the day. Enjoy!

Spotted Towhee

Summer Tanager

Western Tanager

Red Knot at McKinley Beach 5/23/23

Jeremy4 Comments

A Red Knot was found this morning on McKinley Beach. This bird was just starting to get its reddish orange coloring in. It was very cool looking. If we get one in Milwaukee, its usually just the plain scaly gray with a slight buff coloring. As soon as I got the message about it, I left work to try for it. The beaches in Milwaukee County have been overtaken by joggers, dog walkers and metal detecting walkers! If we get shorebirds, it is at sunrise and then they don’t stay very long before being chased off by one of those 3 people/dogs. The good thing about McKinley Beach, it’s fenced off, so people don’t swim in the small cove, due to the constant riptides. Because of that, I figured there was a good chance it would stick around a few hours. I arrived just before 8am. I made my way to the fence and saw it was on the south end. I walked out to the middle of the beach and sat down by the water. Within 5 minutes it was walking towards me. It got as close as 25′ before turning around and working back the other direction. Heat distortion was already quite bad at that time, which is unusual for that early. I took over 600 photos and less than 20 turned out halfway decent. I knew it was an issue, which is why I took so many. I could hear the autofocus on my lens constantly searching, to lock on. I watched it feed up and down the shoreline a few times and that was good enough for me. I thought I might try in the afternoon when the lighting would be better, however I never made it back down there. Photos below are from the early morning. Enjoy!

Snowy Egret at Lincoln Park

Jeremy4 Comments

I received a “needs alert” email from eBird just past 12:30pm, that a Snowy Egret was seen at Lincoln Park, in Milwaukee. I cleaned up at work and made my way over there. I parked in the lot off Hampton Ave and walked to the river. I found it, about 300 yards north of the Hampton Ave bridge, where the river 3-ways around to the golf course. It was quite far away when I first saw it, so I thought I would try to get closer by going to the other shoreline, from the golf course side. There was no clear way to the river edge, so I ended up trucking through some thick wooded area before finding a deer runway that led to the river. When I popped out close to the shore, I was only about 100′ from the Egret. I’m not sure how I managed to get to the exact spot I needed, walking through what I did! I used the new Willow tree growth on the shoreline as a blind. I watched the bird for about 15 minutes, until it took flight East, around the tributary towards the golf course. When I first saw it from afar, it was actively feeding and moving around. Once I got closer, it wasn’t doing much, just preening and standing around. By the end of the afternoon, I heard it had moved Southeast down the river to Estabrook Park, near where the old damn used to be. Photos below are from early afternoon on 5/22. Enjoy!

Connecticut Warblers at Lake Park 5/19/23

Jeremy4 Comments

Friday morning, a Connecticut Warbler was heard singing from the Locust Ravine at Lake Park. I started the morning at Whitnall Park and was just waiting to hear a report of one. I quickly left and went to Lake Park, arriving just past 10am. It took a few hours, but I finally got on the bird after it came to the base of the ravine for a bath. It then flew up and continued walking the ravine side. There was a group of us in the base of the ravine looking up, trying to follow this bird through the vegetation. Since the undergrowth is quite tall already, it was extremely difficult to see the bird move throughout the vegetation. I snuck up the side of the ravine, about halfway and waited for it to come into a clearing area. It did and came into view about 20′ in away from me. I was able to freeze his movement with the sound of my camera shutter going off. That worked out perfectly, as it froze right in front of me, mostly out in the open. It then continued to walk towards a thicker area. I was looking through my camera to see if any of the photos turned out, when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. It was another Connecticut Warbler, coming from the same direction as the first one. This time though, the bird was only 10′ away from and which is too close for my lens to focus. Another warbler flew past giving an alert chip and I saw both Connecticut Warblers at the same time, fly into some brush a little further up and away from me. After a minute or so, one of them started walking back down the ravine, providing the others with some good views. It’s been 3 straight years of good looks at a Connecticut Warbler in the Locust Ravine, which I hope continues in the future. Photos below are from late morning/early afternoon Friday. Enjoy!

Kinglets and Gnatcatchers at Warnimont Park in April

JeremyAdd comment

Both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were plentiful at Warnimont Park this past week. While all 3 are common, sometimes it is easy to overlook them while trying to find other birds that are not as common. I enjoy photographing them each year, but I never edit or share the photos. This year I decided to change that! I was rather fortunate to have had several Ruby-crowned Kinglets, with their bright crowns sticking up, chasing females around. Usually that is very hard to photograph, since they are so fast moving and hardly ever sit still. They are everywhere right now and easy to find. Most of the male Golden-crowned Kinglets are already past us. While they have the fire orange down the middle of the yellow crown, the females still have a bright yellow crown, and are just as pretty. Their numbers are lower this late than the other two, but I usually find a few every time out. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are starting to arrive in big numbers. The male is beautiful with the bold blue color, dark line across the eyebrow and bright white eye ring. They are rather tame and will feed in the shrubs right in front of you. The photos below were taken during the last week of April. Enjoy!

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Flame-colored Tanager in Milwaukee 4/30/23!!!!!

Jeremy8 Comments

This mega rarity was found yesterday evening along the bluff at Sheridan Park, just behind the pond. I don’t think this species has ever been seen in the United States outside of Arizona or Texas. Even those sightings are limited as well. I arrived this morning about 5:45am. It took almost two hours before the bird finally showed. It was about 100 yards north of where it was seen yesterday evening. It was just feeding on the newly hatched midges, bouncing around the branches. It put on a spectacular show for about 15 minutes, only about 25′ in front of everyone. It was always at eye level or below, due to it being on the bluff. It certainly did not seem to mind all the binoculars and cameras pointed at it. The bird was still present when I left. However, I have since heard that it went down into the thickness of the brush on the bluff and out of sight. I will provide a pin to where it was seen. Hopefully it shows itself again, as I’m sure there are plenty of people waiting for it! Photos below are from early this morning. Enjoy!

*** update, as of 11:40am it was relocated to the south, by the old, paved service drive that goes to the beach. That is east of the playground, along the bluff. ***

*** update 2, it was still being seen as of last light, feeding along the bluff edge. It was back by the original location or the pin posted below. Good luck! ***

*** update 3, it is still being seen 5/2 at 8am, down on the bluff between the 2 northern most jetties. Good luck! ***

https://maps.app.goo.gl/smQE9He8jUbJFB9X8

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!

Worm-eating Warbler, Northern Waterthrush & Ovenbird in May ’22

Jeremy2 Comments

Worm-eating Warbler is uncommon in Wisconsin. However, I think Milwaukee County has gotten one the last several years. This year I saw two! One was along a creek at Whitnall Park (5/9), and the other was singing at Warnimont Park (5/15) in the wooded area, east of hole #6. I was able to track down the one at Warnimont and sneak quietly within 25′ of him. I watched him eat spiders, caterpillars and midges, and was also constantly singing. The song is a dry, almost insect-like trill, similar to Chipping Sparrow. It was very hard to get wide open views of him though, as he stayed very low and in patches of thick brush. I still managed decent photos considering the thickets and it was the first time I was able to get one singing, which I love. Northern Waterthrush & Ovenbird are very common in Wisconsin, especially in Milwaukee County during migration. On 5/1, I had 10 Northern Waterthrush and 9 on 5/10, both at Whitnall Park. They can be found anywhere near any kind of water. They are usually singing throughout the entire day. There are many variations of the song, but for the most part it is a loud, ringing, three-part sweet sweet sweet swee wee wee chew chew chew chew. I find that they are very skittish, unless you’re standing still, and they fly and land near you. As soon as you move though, so do they. As for Ovenbird, I had 7 on 5/9 and 6 on 5/10, both at Whitnall Park as well. Ovenbird is found walking the forest floor, picking through leaves and downed branches, looking for insects. They sing a rather loud song, starting quieter and getting louder with each note. It is a rapid, resounding tea-cher, Tea-cher, TEA-cher, TEA-CHER. The photos below were taken in May. Enjoy!

Worm-eating Warbler

Northern Waterthrush

Ovenbird

Canada, Hooded & Wilson’s Warblers Spring ’22

Jeremy2 Comments

Canada Warbler is my favorite! I love the color combination and their beautiful song. This was an excellent spring for them as well. My big day for them was on 5/15, when I saw 12 at Warnimont. They can be found just about anywhere, I usually see them in the low, thicker shrubs. Their song is a loud rapid warble of notes. Canada Warblers also linger late to the end of May. The Hooded Warbler is a very striking bird when seeing in the field. The black that surrounds the males face is very bold and unmistakable! Unfortunately, they aren’t very common, however there seems to be a decent amount that pass through Milwaukee County each spring. Warnimont Park in particular, gets one every year behind the archery range, which I’m willing to bet is the same one each year. This year, he showed up very early, 4/25 along with a bunch of other warblers that day, in our fallout at that park. He continued there for the next two days and was even joined by another as well. They have a very pretty song as well that is a clear weeta-weeta-weet-tee-o. On 5/1, I had a very cooperative female at Whitnall Park. She was along a creek in the middle of the park. Wilson’s Warblers are usually a little later, like the Canada and stay longer. There were lots of them this spring, as usual with 9 being seen on 5/11. 5/15 was also a great day with 8. Both of those days were at Warnimont Park. Photos below are from the last month in Milwaukee County. Enjoy!

Canada Warbler

Hooded Warbler

Wilson’s Warbler