An uncommon but extraordinarily stunning warbler when seen! On 4/26, this male did not disappoint. He appeared less than 15′ from me at first, and then worked its way along the edge of the bluff, feeding on midges. He first showed along the path, just north of the trail, that runs east of the archery range. He continued north, along the thickest part of the trail. I watched him for several minutes and then as fast as he appeared, he was gone! I don’t think anyone else saw him the rest of that evening. Photos below are from Tuesday 4/26. Enjoy!
There have been 2 Hooded Warblers along the bluff, behind the archery range at Warnimont Park. One was still seen today, but was on the golf course, just across from the archery range. I’m guessing the brutal east winds on Wednesday, forced them away from the lake a little. This is one of my favorite warblers and they were just posing for the camera Monday and Tuesday, while I was there. It was hard not to sit and watch them all day, but there was so much else going on too. Every time I would make a pass back and see one, I’d stop an admire a little more! Photos below are from Monday and Tuesday this week. Enjoy!
A Prairie Warbler was found at Warnimont this morning and I was able to relocate it about 200 yards to the northeast, almost an hour later. I was walking down a trail and I heard it sing. I’m very familiar with the song, which really helped out. I started walking towards the song and then waited, heard again and continued walking to it. I stopped and listened, heard again and ended up walking just past it. I went back and then a little to the north and there he was, sitting atop Red Twig Dogwood! It was on the south side of the large “butterfly” ravine in the center of the park, closer to the east. He was just singing away. After a minute or so, he flew up into a tree and fed. Shortly after feeding, flew down into the shrubs again and continued singing, along with some preening. He repeated that procedure again and that is when I left him. Also feeding with him were an Orange-crowned, Nashville, Palm and several Yellow-rumped Warblers. Another awesome warbler at the start of the warbler migration! I don’t think it was relocated much after that and if it was, not in the same spot. Good luck if you try for it tomorrow, though I don’t think it’s very chasable. Pictures are from this morning. Enjoy!
A great way to kick off the warbler season, with a Yellow-throated Warbler! The next four weeks warblers will be increasing each day in the Milwaukee area and it’s always nice to see some rare ones to the state. This bird was found hopping around a mulch pile, just off a walking path, that crossed the road. I walked right up to path and sat on the ground. The bird paid no attention to me, while it fed continuously on insects the entire time I was there. I sat and watched it for about 45 minutes. Such a beautiful bird and even better to have a chance to view it at extremely close distances. After I left, I was told that an American Kestrel attacked it, narrowly missing it. After that, it flew towards the pond and was seen near the steps leading to the water. As of 5pm, I heard it had disappeared. Hopefully it will stick around for others to see as well. Good luck if you try for it! Photos below are from early this afternoon. Enjoy!
* Update * As of 8:33am 4/21, it is currently being seen at the mulch pile again. Here is a pin location on Google maps if you are interested in seeing it. Good luck! https://maps.app.goo.gl/LL5aJWS5SUTun4odA
* Update * Still being seen all day, Saturday 4/23, at the map link provided in first update. Good luck!
This spring has been excellent for Mourning Warblers, in Milwaukee. Just the last week alone, I have had no less than 4 at any park I go to. These are one of my favorite warblers and I love when we have years like this! In normal years you just go sit by the logjam at Whitnall Park, and wait to see them come hopping through. Since we can’t do that anymore, I thought it would be tough to get good looks at any, especially with the leaf out weeks early. That hasn’t been the case though. It’s almost like I’ve been spoiled by them. Lake Park has been incredible for Mourning Warblers! A couple of days there, I had at least 6. They can usually be found foraging on the sides of the ravines. Warnimont Park was also very good and Whitnall Park had a few, along the creek on the north side of the park, away from the Wehr Nature Center. Pictures below are from the last couple weeks, in Milwaukee County. Enjoy!
A male Connecticut Warbler was singing in the locust ravine yesterday morning for several hours. I had already seen two for the year, but thought I would try to get photos, since it’s a much smaller area to forage in and less area to hide in. When I was walking up to the spot it was last reported, I heard it sing twice. I quickly got eyes on it, in the thick brush behind the stage. I would say that for Connecticut Warbler it was rather cooperative, considering they usually walk about on the ground, but he was walking in the branches grabbing midges off them. There was also a male Mourning Warbler with him, so sometimes it was tough trying to track the Connecticut. I was able to get a few, what I would call, decent shots for that bird. He then flew to the other side of the ravine and I went around and up, hopefully for a better look. I was walking across the wooden bridge, and noticed he was in the branches, a few feet off the ground. I was able to get an excellent look at him, for 20 seconds or so. I spent a little over two hours there and had 25 warbler species. There were 6 Mourning and 6 Canada Warblers, in the locust ravine area! I didn’t check anywhere else in the park, but it was quite active. Pictures below are from the morning. Enjoy!
I had just got to Grant Park to look a Dunlin, when I received a text about a Black-throated Gray Warbler at Lake Park. I responded, “come on??? 2 years in row!!!” So I left Grant and headed to Lake Park. It seemed that a bunch of us had arrived just about the same time. We started walking the area to try and relocate it. After a little while, I walked away from everyone to the far west end of the Locust ravine. I had seen several birds fly down that direction, and wanted to check it out. Sure enough, there it was! I yelled, “got it!!!” and everyone was able to get on it. I had awesome, eye level looks at it right away. The bird appears to be a first year female. She has a yellow spot on the left side and on the right side it’s just starting to come in, only a few tufts of yellow. It looks funny seeing it half and half. The black on throat is starting to come in as well, but still fairly white. She hung in the area for about 30 minutes and then disappeared. She was then relocated about 30 minutes after that, just south of the iron bridge, by the cul-de-sac. In that location, she spent the rest of the day. I was there until sunset, and had seen her a few minutes prior to that. Hopefully she will stick around for more people to see it. Wow, consecutive springs in Milwaukee for this warbler! In addition to this wonderful bird, the park was quite birdy! I ended up with 88 species and 25 warblers. Not too bad considering it was suppose to rain all day, and of course it never did! Pictures below are from the day. Enjoy!
After leaving the Emma Carlin Trail, I shot over to Ottawa Campgrounds to look for the Cerulean Warblers. I found at least 6 of them singing their hearts out, along the west side of the lake. In a few areas it worked out quite nicely, since your standing on top of the bluff and the trees their singing in are lower, they would be just above eye level for short periods. They are beautiful birds! I walked along the trail, near the waters edge and witnessed a territorial dispute. Two Palm Warblers were feeding in a tree and one of the Cerulean Warblers didn’t like that, so he chased them out. In the meantime, it must have been too close to another’s territory, because he came zipping in and the two fluttered with each other down to the ground, and rolled around for a few seconds. They both flew up to the same branch about 4′ off the ground, looked around and took off in their own directions Seeing that was incredible! I had never experienced that before. I also had 3 singing Yellow-throated Vireos, but did not get very good looks at them. They were always either behind a piece of branch or half in the sun, half in the shadows, which is terrible for photos. So I don’t even bother taking them in those situations. Pictures below are from the early/mid afternoon that day. Enjoy!
There are at least a pair of Yellow-throated Warblers at the Emma Carlin Trail, in Southern Kettle Moraine. I’m pretty sure I saw a third, but it didn’t stick around long, maybe because of territory. I started by the bench, on the south side near the pond, but did not see them right away. I finally found them though, but they were closer to the parking lot. As I walking towards the parking lot, I noticed a pair of Pine Warblers and watched them briefly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bird fly across the parking lot and into one of the little trees on the edge. I threw up my binoculars and saw it was one of the yellow-throated! I hustled across the parking lot and it was still feeding in that tree. After a minute or so, it flew up into the bigger tree, right along Hwy Z on the northeast corner of the parking lot. They both ended up in that tree and feed for a few minutes. They continued onto the pines on the southeast side of the parking lot. One started on the outside branches, feeding very low and the other went into the ground shrubs to the water. They both ended up in one of the smaller trees, one feeding and one preening from bathing. They then flew up high to the pines behind the bathroom. I happened to be there at the perfect time, I guess. It is always very nice to see these birds in Wisconsin. We are at the northern edge of their range, but they have been pushing farther north in recent years. I’ve had them in Milwaukee County, each of the last three years. Photos below are from the late morning/early afternoon spent out there. Enjoy!
The Black-throated Blue Warbler that has been at Whitnall Park for the last week, finally decided to put on a show in front of several people! He was singing away in the white flowering tree just east of the bridge. Singing and eating, dropping all the way down to the water, before continuing to the other side. He went in the downed tree overhanging the creek. He even took a little break, right in front of everyone, closing his eyes for a minute or so. After the short break, he continued singing and up creek he went. Up until then, he had been relatively elusive. Perfect timing to enjoy a beautiful bird! He was still being seen as of today (5/10).
