The ’23-’24 winter has been excellent to me for owls! I finally got to photograph the very tiny and adorable Northern Saw-whet Owl. When I saw this owl, it had a Deer Mouse in its talons, most likely a catch from the night before. It appeared to be half eaten, from the head. It was in a rather open spot, although still hidden very well, but excellent for photos. I watched it for about 20 minutes. I was able to see it cough up a pellet as well. Of course, my camera lost focus on that event, which was very irritating. I did capture the weird faces/poses it made before and after though. Photos below are from the late morning, that day. Enjoy!
The same day that I saw the Black Scoter in the previous post, I was able to watch a male Hooded Merganser catch a Crawfish (crayfish) and eat it. This was quite an action sequence, as he needed to keep moving it around to avoid getting a claw to the bill. He ended up taking it down, facing away from me, so I never really saw if he swallowed it whole or just bit pieces off. All of this was a little farther out than I would prefer, but I think enough detail comes through in the photos, especially with bad lighting for the day. Photos were taken on Saturday 1/27. Enjoy!
Behind the Milwaukee Art Museum a few weeks ago, there were 1500+ ducks! There was an excellent variety of them as well, with the water still being open. There were 11 duck species including a very cool hybrid, Common Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser. One of the species was a beautiful male Black Scoter in full breeding plumage. I had never seen one like that before, only in basic plumage. When I saw him, he was closer to the north side of Veteran’s Park. He was hanging with a smaller group of ducks diving and feeding. At one point, he was even calling and appeared to be courting a female Greater Scaup. He must have had a long Friday night! The other duck species present were, Mallard, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Greater & Lesser Scaup, White-winged Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser and Red-breasted Merganser. The photos below are from Saturday 1/27. Enjoy!
A few weeks ago, I was watching this dark morph Rough-legged Hawk hunting on the corner of Oakwood Rd and Pennsylvania Ave. It was sitting in perfect light, eye level and just putting on a show! This stunning bird provided the best experience I ever had with a Rough-legged Hawk. It went down to the ground three times trying for mice or voles. It caught one and missed two. I missed the photos of it catching one, because the grass was in the way. There wasn’t much to it though, as it flew down grabbed it and swallowed it. It happened really fast, and it flew back up to a small Oak tree. On the two misses, it flew down and then hopped around in the snow trying to get its prey as it moved around, under the snow. I’m guessing either a field mouse or a vole. After each miss, it would return to the top of a small Oak tree, which there were several of in the field. This all happened about 50′-150′ away from the road. I watched this particular hawk for about 30 minutes. Photos below are from Saturday 1/20. Enjoy!
Last week Saturday (1/20) was an excellent and sad day for Long-eared Owls (LEOW) in Milwaukee County. I found one early in the morning while out. About an hour later, I received a text about one being found at Grant Park, near the feeders. Unfortunately, that one was found dead in the road, presumably from being hit by a car. Shortly after that text, I received a call that two had been seen down by the Milwaukee River Mouth, behind the amphitheater. In the meantime, I was watching a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA) in Oak Creek. I got word that one of the LEOW was still being seen down by the amphitheater, so I went to try that. I had heard it was right on the side of the road 6′ off the ground. When I got down there, sure enough, sitting in the sun right on the side of the road. If you didn’t know it was there, you would have drove, walked or ran right past it, as most people did. It is unbelievable how well they blend right to their surroundings! I looked for the second one briefly, without luck. I had heard later in the afternoon, that one of the LEOW was attacked and carried away by a Rough-legged Hawk. That was shocking to me, since I had no idea that a RLHA would even make an attempt at an owl. With temperatures below zero for the week, I’m sure they eat whatever they can get their feet on. I would have preferred one of the 2000 scaup that were out in the water, but that is nature. Photos below are from Saturday, 1/20/24. Enjoy!
An Ancient Murrelet was found on 11/21/23 in Sturgeon Bay, at George K. Pinney County Park. I had a chance to go the next day, so I went. A couple of friends came along as well, which made for a nice road trip. It was being seen in the morning, so we knew it would still be there when we arrived. About an hour into the ride, I realized I had left my 1.4x extender at home. I was so mad at myself; I could not believe it! Just a few days earlier, while deer hunting, I had a Barred Owl very close to me and had to take it off and use just the bare lens. I was going to put it on for the ride home from deer hunting, but it was fogged up and I decided to wait until I got home. Well, I forgot! While this bird was reported being very close to shore, the extra 240mm would have made a great difference. So, I was stuck shooting at 600mm, just like everybody else, ha-ha. We arrived just after noon, and the bird was not very far offshore, maybe 35′ out and 70′ down shore. Lighting was the almost the worst it could be! so bad, I didn’t really think most photos would even be useable, but they turned out alright. I think we spent just over 2 hours up there, hoping the lighting would get better as the sun got further to the west. But by the time that was starting to happen the bird was about 150-200′ further down shore and it didn’t seem like it was going to work its way back towards us, so we called it a day. I think this one was the 8th state record, with the 7th coming just one day earlier in Ashland. Photos below are from the afternoon of 11/22. Enjoy!
A Rufous Hummingbird was found at Govenor Nelson State Park in Dane County on 10/16. That was the first day I was gone for my Hawaii vacation, and I did not get back home until the end of the month. The first day I had a chance to try for it was on Saturday, 11/11. That morning, it was cold, and temps were in the 20’s. On the ride out there, I kept thinking there was no way it would stick around in this weather, which would typically be my luck. I got there just before sunrise, and I waited by the entrance building. Within 15 minutes or so, it flew into a tree on the east side of the building and then down to one of the feeders. I spent almost 3 hours out there and saw it 7 more times. I can’t believe I was able to see this bird! I’m really glad it stuck around for over a month. Subsequently, I missed the Clark’s Nutcracker that was seen in Dane County just a few days after this bird was found. I knew that one would not stay very long. Photos below are from Saturday, November 11th. If you would like to see additional photos than the ones below, click the link to the gallery page. Enjoy!
Finally, a Snowy Owl graces us with its beauty! Normally this would be a common sighting, but Milwaukee County has not had one since the beginning of 2022. We are usually spoiled with anywhere between one to five of them during the winter months. It’s nice to end the snowy drought though. This owl was found sitting atop a chimney vent, in a residential neighborhood, in Bayview. By the time we figured out where it was exactly, it was almost 3:35pm. I didn’t even get there until right around 4pm. Soon, there were at least 20 or so from the bird community, and then another 15-25 neighbors and passersby. People were in awe of this exquisite owl, so close to everyone. Cars were slowing down and looking as well. It turned out to be quite an awesome event. It’s always nice to be able to chat with friends, while photographing birds. I stayed until it flew away, which was close to 4:45pm. It flew off to the southeast. By then, it was pretty dark out already. Photos below are from the late afternoon, 12/20. Enjoy!
A couple of these photos were featured on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel website today, in a very nice article written by Paul Smith. I think they might be in the sports section tomorrow as well. If you would like to read the article, click on the link below.
Grant Park is my second favorite park along the lake. It can be excellent at times, and November happened to be one of those times. There are a couple feeders, right in the middle of the park, next to a parking lot. These feeders host the “common” feeder birds all year long. However, during migration (spring/fall) or times with inclement weather, it gets overloaded with birds. In early November, there were a couple of rare birds seen at/near the feeders. 2 Spotted Towhee (male and female) and several flocks of Red Crossbills (75+ total). The towhees were around for a few days but took off. I thought they might stay all winter, since they were in a perfect spot, with plenty of food. The Red Crossbills can probably still be seen almost daily. There is a tall group of pines on the east side of the parking lot and also about 100′ west of the parking lot, that they visit, while flying around. In addition to the rare birds, there were also a few uncommon ones, 2 Tufted Titmouse (first I’ve ever seen there), 3 Purple Finches, and 12 Pine Siskins. And of course, the numerous common feeder birds. One day it snowed, and I went down there because I thought it could be good. It was awesome! There was a solo Red Crossbill that day, that came down to the feeder four times. I had never seen them eat out of a feeder before. That day the Pine Siskins, a male Purple Finch, and both Tufted Titmouse visited numerous times as well, along with all the common ones. All of these birds make this park an extremely fun place to spend hours at a time, with a camera. Outside of the feeder parking lot, I had a beautiful male Green-winged Teal, mixed in with 75+ Mallards on Mill Pond. He was very close to the road and provided excellent views. On the 7th, I was looking for deer and stopped on the side of the road, by the 17th tee box. I was looking out into the golf course and 40 or so Snow Bunting took flight from the sand trap, near the green. They circled over the golf course and headed south. This is a large gallery post with all photos taken during the month of November, at Grant Park. Enjoy!
Several Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches were found at Devil’s Lake State Park on Monday afternoon. Two up on the East Bluff Trail and one about a mile and a half east, down on S Lake Rd. I figured I would get out there at sunrise on Tuesday and attempt to relocate them. I started out by the Old Sandstone Trailhead parking lot, which is near the crossing of the scenic trail, where one was seen gritting on the side of the road with some juncos. About 5 minutes after arriving, I saw an eagle come down from the bluff and head east. The sun had risen, according to time, but it still wasn’t very light out yet, due to clouds and landscape. I put my binoculars on the eagle and thought it could be a golden. Since I still have not seen a Golden Eagle yet, I pointed my camera at it and started snapping photos for documentation. I was caught off guard by it, my settings were not set properly, and I did not have very much time to get photos. After a few seconds of pictures, it was out of view. When I looked on the back of the camera, sure enough, a Golden Eagle. A new lifer for me! Walking around the area produced several common birds, but no Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. I decided to head over and hike up to the East Bluff Trail where two more were seen the day before. I went up the CCC Trail, and the headed west on the East Bluff Trail. After walking quite a bit to the west, I found a bird, just sitting on the trail. I stopped and got my binoculars on it, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch!!! Wow, there it was! Another lifer for the day. I setup my camera low to the ground and sat down. It was feeding, not more than 25 feet away. I was soon joined by at least 10 other people and the bird just kept feeding, picking small seeds up off the trail. Several of us heard a second one calling while watching this one feed, although I thought it was strange that it never showed or came down to the other bird. The calling bird was giving harsh like cheep cheep notes. I would guess we watched it for 10 minutes or so, when it took off and flew down the bluff and to the east. After that, I figured I might as well try for a Townsend’s Solitaire too. I continued west along the trail to Devil’s Doorway and found 1 Townsend’s Solitaire there. It was sitting atop an evergreen in the wide open. Another one flew up and the first one started calling, which sounds like a “squeaky eeek”. I didn’t hang around there too long, as I’ve seen them plenty of times in the state before. Plus, it didn’t seem like they would be providing good enough views to make waiting around worth it. I made my way back east to the CCC Trail to hike back down the bluff. A beautiful morning, with 3 awesome birds for the state! It always makes the trip much more enjoyable when you get to see what you want. Photos below are from Tuesday morning (12/12). Enjoy!
At least one Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch was still being seen near sunset today (12/13). The pin location below is the latest update. Good luck if you try for it!
