The spring migration was incredible for warblers in Milwaukee! We had some very good rarities and several amazing days. On 4/23, there was a Worm-eating Warbler and a Louisiana Warbler at Whitnall Park. That was a perfect way to kickoff the spring warblers! Then on the 27th, there was a Yellow-throated Warbler at the Wind Point Lighthouse. On Friday night 5/1, into Saturday 5/2, the winds were out of the south and the damn broke loose!!! I went to Warnimont Park in the morning, and spent over 13 hours there! I had 100 total species and 21 warblers, including a Brewster’s Warbler (Blue-winged x Golden-winged), 2 Hooded Warblers and big numbers of all the others. On Sunday 5/3, I ended up with 18 warbler species. The next two days were rather slow, but a few nice single birds were being seen. I had a Hooded Warbler in the same area for 5 days. I thought he might be on territory, but there was no sign of him later on in spring. On 5/5, around 9 a.m. an email came through saying a Black-throated Gray Warbler has been seen along the Menomonee River Parkway. I quickly left Whitnall Park and shot over there. Within 30 minutes, there were at least 15 of us searching the area. After another 30 minutes or so, Mark yelled, “got it!”. Everyone hurried over and there he was, working along the ground on the opposite side of the river. Life bird for me! The next 4 days were just so-so. We kind of got stuck in a bad weather pattern and nothing new came in. However, on 5/8, I was at Whitnall Park and it was snowing!!! It was definitely strange to be watching warblers in a snow storm! It didn’t last very long, but fun while it did. On 5/10, the weather changed! I had 19 warblers at Whitnall Park that day and the next. 5/12 provided some excitement, I had excellent looks at a Cerulean Warbler, along with a total of 18 warblers for the day. The next week 5/13-5/18, along the creek at the Wehr Nature Center (Whitnall Park) was just insane! There were warblers everywhere!!! I had posted several reports about how good it was previous days and apparently people took my advice. I would say at any given time there were at least 20-30 people walking up and down the creek watching these beautiful songbirds. The bonus of Wehr Nature Center at Whitnall Park, you can get within a few feet of most birds. They fly around you, almost like an aviary! When it’s as good as it was this past spring, they will fly within inches of you! One particular day, it was so amazing at the logjam, there were at least 30 warblers catching mayflies out of the air or grabbing them from the water and ground. A male Bay-breasted Warbler was so tame, he would hop around between your feet searching for the mayflies and other insects. I told a woman (Amanda) there to put a couple of the mayflies in her hand and hold them out. The Bay-breasted landed on her hand and grabbed them! Pretty awesome experience. I was in the 20’s every day for warbler species during that time and on 5/16, I had 27 warbler species. That day was incredible! I had 1 Connecticut, 2 Prothonotary, 4 Mourning, 6 Black-throated Blue and 8 Blackburnian Warblers. I also totaled 107 species for the day, in a little over 9 hours. I spent so much time at Whitnall Park this spring because it was so awesome, I didn’t get too much time at my other local spring hotspots. However, on the 19th at Grant Park, I had another Yellow-throated Warbler, and a total of 24 warbler species. It continued great through the 24th with 20+ warblers seen each day. In early June, I went up to Adams County and saw 2 Prairie Warblers and 7 Kirtland’s Warblers. Both of those were killer birds to finish up the spring with! The sheer numbers of birds this past spring was amazing. I had several birders tell me this was how it used to be years ago. One can only hope we get to enjoy more spring migrations like this. I ended up with 36 warbler species for the spring. I took over 50,000 photos in May, which is why I’m just getting this report posted. I wish I would have had more time to do it in the summer. All of the photos in this post are from the spring this year. I always try for male and female, along with first spring birds and behavior shots. They are labeled as such too. If there are not any photos under a name, it’s because I missed out. However, if you click on the smaller name, it will take you to its page so you can at least see prior photos of them. Enjoy!!!
Fall Warbler Migration 2020
The fall warbler migration in Milwaukee, was what I would consider average. There were definitely some very cool birds, but the overall numbers were just okay and the weather wasn’t very good. Highlights of the fall were a beautiful male Kentucky Warbler (no photos) at Lake Park, 6 different Connecticut Warblers at multiple local parks, and several Mourning Warblers scattered around the local parks as well. 9/5 was my first big day with 17 warbler species. Two days later was my best day of the fall, with 24 warbler species, including my first of six Connecticut Warblers. I also had several Black-throated Blue, Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers. I couldn’t get out again until 9/13, if my memory serves me right, the weather was not very good that week. On the 13th, I had 18 warbler species, at Warnimont Park during the morning hours. That was also the day I saw the Kentucky Warbler at Lake Park. I didn’t get there until after 4pm, but I still had 21 warbler species there! The rest of the days were below average for me, with right around 10 warbler species. On 10/22 at Grant Park, I saw a late male Nashville Warbler and a week later at Grant Park, was a late beautiful male Pine Warbler. I ended the fall migration with 28 warbler species. Photos in the post are by specie and are from this year’s fall migration. I try to include males, females and hatch year birds and each photo is labelled. Enjoy!
American Redstart
Bay-breasted Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Connecticut Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Northern Waterthrush
Orange-crowned Warbler
Ovenbird
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
23 Warbler Species at Whitnall Park 5/13
Today was excellent at Whitnall Park, with 23 warbler species seen including several uncommon. Hooded, Mourning, Golden-winged, Blackburnian and Black-throated Blue Warblers were the highlights. The Mourning Warbler has been along the creek for the last four days a week now. It has been the most cooperative Mourning Warbler I have ever seen. I also saw 2 Black-throated Blue and 2 Blackburnian Warblers. I watched a Hooded Warbler fly around like crazy, eating insects and may flies for about 20 minutes, then go sit on a branch and fall asleep for a few minutes. Very cool to see. I usually find Golden-winged Warblers hopping around the ground, hunting for spiders. Today was exactly that. They look for the dried, curled up leaves and then stick the head inside and pull out insects, mostly spiders. It’s quite a site to see. There are multiple of all of the common warblers and double digit of a few. Most have been feeding on the ground or flying around catching insects, only several few feet of the ground. Yesterday, a female Cerulean Warbler came out and fed for about 20 minutes, providing some nice views as well. It looks like the next few days are going to be very good for some new birds. Hopefully this continues! Images below are from today. Enjoy!
Black-throated Gray Warbler in Milwaukee County 5/5/20
A beautiful male Black-throated Gray Warbler has been seen the last couple days along the Menomonee River Parkway, although it hadn’t been publicly reported until today. As soon as I saw the email come through, I went straight there. After the short ride over, I started searching for it. Several minutes later I was joined by many and we continued to look. He was finally found, along the western bank of the river! There was also a nice variety of warblers hanging with it, including 1 Tennessee, 3 Orange-crowned, 1 Black-and-white, 1 Palm and 1 Yellow Warbler. What a Stunning bird, and a life bird for me! Images below are from today. Enjoy!
