In addition to the Connecticut Warbler being so cooperative yesterday, a beautiful male Cerulean Warbler put on quite a show for a few of us. I was able to locate it by song and watched it move along the trees to the east side of the locust ravine. There I was able to go up from the ravine and get some rather low pictures of this bird, that thought it was higher up. The bonus of having steep ravines! We watched it for about 10 minutes feeding on insects and singing his little heart out, bouncing around the branches. After that, he flew off to the east bluff, near the new bridge being constructed. I was able to relocate him about 45 minutes later, on the east side of the locust ravine again. It sounds like it was seen again today, though I never heard it while I was there. Maybe it will stick around a few more days. Photos below are from yesterday morning. Enjoy!
In continuation from my post on the ibis’ at Horicon Marsh, I also had 2 Red-necked Phalarope. They landed right in front of me and I didn’t even know it. I was watching a White-rumped Sandpiper and I kept hearing something to the right of me. I finally turned and saw 2 additional birds where a Lesser Yellowlegs was feeding. I looked at them and I saw they were phalaropes! I’m like, “holy crap!” I turned my camera and they took off. Bummer, I thought I missed an excellent opportunity to photograph these birds at close range. I didn’t even even get to see what they were either. As I said before, all of the shorebirds would take flight every 5 or 10 minutes. They fly around and come back to a different area, pretty common for these birds. This had just happened, and I saw the phalaropes land a little ways away from the larger group. I got my binoculars on them and realized they Red-necked Phalaropes, in full breeding plumage!!! It appeared to be a pair. I got really excited! I got my camera on both and got a view photos. After a minute or so, they took flight again, but this time the phalaropes landed right back by me. I started snapping pictures as they swam in circles feeding like crazy. I was still sitting in the same spot as when the Ibis’ flew in, which was a little bit too far left of good lighting. I figured I would not be able to move, because they would take off, but then I looked through my camera again and saw my batteries were flashing. “Oh no, now I had to move!” I moved very slowly up and out, back up to the road. They didn’t fly, whew! I walked very fast down to my car and swapped out batteries. When I came back they were still in the same spot, feeding with the yellowlegs. This time, I positioned myself with the sunlight directly behind me, for perfect lighting. I crouched down and crept back down to the rocks and got setup again. They still didn’t fly! The 3 birds fed right in front of me for about 30 minutes, only moving side to side. The phalaropes appeared to be following the yellowlegs around, shadowing his movements. 2000 pictures and an hour later, I figured I should have enough! I got up slowly and went back up to the road. They continued feeding and I walked back to my car. Along the way back, I told everyone who was farther down that there were 2 Red-necked Phalaropes feeding at the other end. In addition to the Red-necked Phalaropes, there were also 2 Wilson’s Phalaropes, 2 Black-necked Stilts, 1 White-rumped Sandpiper, 1 Baird’s Sandpiper, 66 Dunlin, 20+ Semipalmated Plovers and Sandpipers, 15+ Least Sandpipers, 4 Spotted Sandpipers, both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and several Killdeer. What an amazing morning! I was hoping for a good one, but never expected that. The pair were absolutely beautiful! Photos below are from the morning. Enjoy!
I saw the report of a Surf Scoter seen along Ledge Rd, on Friday afternoon. I thought I’d give it a try Saturday morning, since it was seen so close. I see them every year along Lake Michigan, but rarely do I get good close looks at them. When I arrived, he was swimming extremely close to the road, providing excellent views. Such a beautiful bird! I watched him swim around for about an hour or so. He was very tame and hung around the same general area the whole time I was there. Images below are from the morning. Enjoy!
