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

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

Western Tanager in Greendale

Jeremy12 Comments

This bird was reported via eBird, but without an exact location. A friend took her dogs for a walk around the neighborhood and was able to find it. She let me know where she saw it. I drove down the street she saw it on, and I happened to see it sitting in a tree that was just starting to leaf out. Pure luck to stumble across this lifer that easily, I couldn’t believe it! I watched it for a few minutes and then it flew across the street, and into an arborvitae tree. It bounced around a few branches and then settled in. It started preening and fluffing feathers. After about 20 minutes or so, it flew down to the ground and grabbed a bee, then sat at eye level briefly and back up it went. Again, it flew across the street, this time to an orange feeder. Shortly after, a Baltimore Oriole started chattering and chased it away. It flew up high and to the southeast. I have not seen or heard of a sighting since then. This is an incredibly beautiful bird, especially when the sun shines on it. I’m glad I took a little detour from work when I did today, or I may not have seen it. Photos are from this morning, 5/4. Enjoy!

Summer & Scarlet Tanagers at Warnimont Park

Jeremy8 Comments

Summer Tanagers are quite uncommon for Milwaukee, although I usually see one each year. This past week however, there were 3 at Warnimont Park, all molting males! So beautiful with the mixture of red and greenish yellow. They were feeding along the bluff on spider webs, that had caught midges in them. As of today, 5/1 there was still one being seen at the southern end of the park, by the Kelly Senior Center. This week also brought in early Scarlet Tanagers as well. They are common in the area but are usually high up in the trees, therefore tough to photograph. This week however, they were on the ground or at eye level. There were at least 3 of them too! Two males and a female. These three were also doing the same, feeding in the spider webs that were loaded with midges. Funny to watch both species having the same feeding behavior. A real treat to see these birds so close! Photos below are from this past week. Enjoy!