Limpkin in Racine (July ’22) – Wisconsin’s 1st State Record

Jeremy4 Comments

A Limpkin finally showed up in Wisconsin, back in July. This will be the 1st state record, when accepted. Unfortunately, it was at a private residence, and they did not want swarms of people coming to their small, quiet neighborhood. However, I was lucky enough to get an invite, thank you John! The houses wrapped around a small pond, and this is where the bird was. I went on 7/24, and it had been there for several days before I saw it. The day I went, it was a dark gloomy day, with lots of misting type rain. Of course, it wasn’t ideal for taking photos, go figure! I watched it for at least an hour, probably closer to two. It mostly fed and moved about the edge of the water. It also walked up onto shore and preened for a while. After that it flew across the pond, to the side that I was on. It started feeding along the edge and walked towards me. It got close enough that I had to take off the extender on my lens. It continued even closer that I could no longer take photos, as it was too big to fit in my frame. Appeared to be just as tame as the Florida birds as well. Despite the crappy weather, a very exciting late morning and some excellent views at a new state bird! I think it stayed for a couple of weeks and then moved on. It’s certainly possible that this is the same bird being seen in Sheboygan County now. I see them every year in Florida, so not a life bird for me, but a state bird. They are a large, loud bird with huge feet and a heavy, thick bill. They eat apple snails, and this particular bird was finding snails in the pond. It appeared to also eat some type of worm from the water as well. It was hard to tell from the photos. Photos below are from the late morning/early afternoon on 7/24. Enjoy!

Chestnut-sided, Black-and-white, Black-throated Green & Magnolia Warblers Spring ’22

JeremyAdd comment

These four warblers are very common in the Milwaukee area during spring migration, and this year was excellent for them. All of them can be found almost anywhere. They are so abundant that I usually see males, females and first spring birds of each. I really enjoy photographing the different plumages of them all as well. Each photo in this post, as is in every post, labeled (male, female or 1st spring) if you click on them. This way you can check to see if you know the correct plumages of each. A Chestnut-sided Warbler arrived on 4/25, the first of the two consecutive fallout days at Warnimont Park. I think this will be a record early arrival for the state. On 5/11 at Warnimont, I had 45 of them and on 5/15 I had 32. Chestnut-sided Warblers sing short fast song sounding like, pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha! I saw my first Black-and-white Warbler on 4/24, and numbers continued to grow until 5/11 when I found 27 at Warnimont. These warblers are usually found working along dead branches or tree trunks like a nuthatch or creeper. They sing a high-pitched, repetitive weesy, weesy, weesy, which may be difficult for some to hear. It is a very pretty song. I also saw my first Black-throated Green Warbler on 4/24 and my big day for them was also on 5/11, with 39. These warblers are constantly singing in spring and very easy to pick out. It is a rather loud, zee zee zee zee zo zee. I didn’t have my first Magnolia Warbler until 5/8 and on 5/11, I had 42 at Warnimont Park. I also had 33 on 5/15 at Warnimont as well. I find Magnolia Warblers, along with Chestnut-sided to have the most variable spring plumage, most likely because so many pass through the area. I see lots of females and first spring birds with both. Magnolia Warblers sing a very short song that is a whistled weta, weta, WETA, with last note being the loudest. All photos below are from the last 5 weeks in Milwaukee County. Enjoy! 

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Pine, Palm & Yellow-rumped Warblers in Spring ’22

Jeremy4 Comments

Pine

Pine Warbler is one of my favorites. However, I only saw one male this spring, and only a handful of females. Since they are an early arriving one, it’s possible they just went past us with our strong SW and SSW winds the several nights in late April. The one male I did see was by the Grant Park feeders, which is probably the same one that stops there every year. There isn’t much to say about Palm and Yellow-rumped. They arrive early and before you know it, there are hundreds of each, as was the case on 4/26 at Warnimont. These are the two most common warblers in our area during migration. Photos below are from the last several weeks in the Milwaukee area. Enjoy!

Pine Warbler

Palm Warbler (western)

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Nashville, Tennessee & Orange-crowned Warblers in Spring ’22

Jeremy2 Comments

Every spring, I see a lot of these warblers, both male and female. All three have all been in the Milwaukee area since 4/25, when we had favorable SW winds over the weekend. They showed in good numbers that early too. 4/26 was a big day for these three as warblers as well and I had 8 Nashville, 13 Tennessee and 45 Orange-crowned, including 2 of the gray-headed sub-species. These three continued to have a strong presence all the way through the spring migration and on 5/11, I had 47 Nashville, 31 Tennessee and 14 Orange-crowned. This was several days early for the huge Tennessee push and a week late for big numbers of Orange-crowned. Never a good sign to have that many Tennessee Warblers that early, because they represent the back end of migration. The photos below have been taken in the Milwaukee area since 4/25. Enjoy!

Nashville Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler (gray-headed sub-species)

Mourning Warblers in May ’22

Jeremy2 Comments

This was a very good spring for Mourning Warblers in the Milwaukee area. Whitnall Park produced several along the creek corridor at Wehr as well as other places along the creek in the park. This is almost a guarantee every year, so if you miss out on the Mourning Warblers, check Whitnall any time after the May 10th. It’s also the best place to photograph them, as they are within 25′ of you at most times, foraging on the opposite side of the creek. They can be quite skittish, so be patient and avoid a lot of movement. This year however, my best views came at Warnimont Park, when I found one hopping around the pine trees near the 4-way intersection, on the NW corner of the archery range. I was walking with a friend over to the pines and it jumped out right in front of us, paying no attention just feeding in the grass. I was like, “woah, a Mourning Warbler!” So, we sat on the ground and watched it for about 25 minutes. It came so close to us at one point, that it was too close to focus on. My minimum focus distance is just over 14′. It was feeding the same way the Kentucky Warbler was at Sheridan Park, hopping in and out of the evergreens. I was also lucky enough to see two females this year, one at Lake Park and the other at Grant Park. The female has a broken eye ring and pale throat. Photos below are from the last few weeks at various Milwaukee County Parks. Enjoy!

Golden-winged, Blue-winged & Brewster’s Warblers in May ’22

Jeremy6 Comments

These warblers are spectacular when seen in the field, especially the male GWWA with his strong face pattern. I usually have the GWWA warblers feeding on the ground, picking through dried curled up leaves, looking for spiders. This year was no different. Warnimont Park is my favorite to find them doing this, in particular behind the archery range, just north of the golf parking lot. If you don’t see them on the ground, their song is quite easy to pick out, seee-bzzz, bzzz, bzzz, which is quite loud and easy to track down. on 5/11, I had 9 of them at Warnimont Park. The BWWA is usually higher up in the trees, but I also have them feeding on or near the ground as well, similar to the GWWA. This spring I was lucky enough to have a BWWA come down right in front of me and take a bath in the creek at Whitnall Park. Splashed around a bit and up and away he went! Warnimont Park is usually loaded with BWWA’s and I had 6 on 5/11. Although I didn’t fair as well as I usually do with them and photos. They are also easy to track down by song, as it is a very loud beee-bzzzzzz! They often seem like they are closer than they really are. The Brewster’s Warbler is a hybrid between the two species. It is the more dominant trait and is quite common where the species overlap. Brewster’s Warbler looks like a GWWA but has the black line through the eye like a BWWA. The one I saw this year at Warnimont, came on 5/11 and was the prettiest one I’ve seen. There was a lot of white on the throat, which really added to the overall coloring. Surprisingly, I see this sub-species just about every year and I’m always excited when I do. Someday, I would really love to see the Lawrence’s Warbler, which is the recessive trait of the two. Photos below are from the last few weeks in the Milwaukee area. Enjoy!

Golden-winged Warbler

Blue-winged Warbler

Brewster’s Warbler

Umm… Some Privacy Please???

Jeremy8 Comments

I was also fairly lucky with some warblers bathing, right in front of me. Lake Park and Whitnall Park are usually very good places to view this behavior. Whitnall Park has a creek that runs through it and is accessible in many areas. Lake Park has ravines and most of the time a small stream of water running through them. The key to finding where they bathe, is finding protection near the water. By this, I mean they want to come down into a tree overhanging or next to the water, a small bush near it or raspberry vines that are thicker for examples. This way they feel protected at a vulnerable moment and have a hiding spot should there be any danger. In my experience, when one comes down, be prepared because more are coming and coming fast! It happens so quickly and poof, they’re gone! I’ve had up to 6 different warblers in one little pool before. A lot of times I just happen to stumble upon them bathing. However, if you have more patience you can choose to sit and wait, but it may take a couple hours before you get any action. The photos below have been taken the few weeks in the Milwaukee area. Enjoy!

Who’s taking my picture???

Jeremy18 Comments

This spring so many warblers have looked directly at me while photographing them. I will get them like that occasionally, but not like this year. It has been all of the warbler species too, not just a few of them. I’m not sure if they see the huge front element on my lens, that reflects back at them or if they hear the camera shutter clicking 10 frames per second. Either way I’ve found it to be quite funny how the photos turn out. Something different than seeing the normal profile picture. Photos below are from the last few weeks in the Milwaukee area. Enjoy!

Connecticut Warbler at Lake Park

Jeremy6 Comments

This morning was very good at Lake Park. I chose to start here because I was hoping that the Connecticut Warbler was still going to be around. Well, not only was he still around, but he was also the most cooperative Connecticut Warbler ever!!! He would literally walk right to you if standing still. Best looks I think I will ever get of one! Then a little later, a second one was found. Both were in the Locust Ravine, the cooperative one was on the north end. I didn’t try for the south one, so I’m not sure how he was, but a few people said they got good photos as well. He was just walking around the ravine, in and out of the water, feeding on the insects. They are both still present. Photos below are from the morning. Good luck if you go! Enjoy!

Yellow-breasted Chat at Lake Park

Jeremy4 Comments

A Yellow-breasted Chat was found on the golf course at Lake Park yesterday. It was hanging out in 3 different thickets, between holes 1 and 2. When it was singing, it was easy to find, but if silent not so much. It really blends right in, even with the bold yellow throat and breast. By the time I got there in the afternoon, it was eating out in the open, but up high. It would pop out on the backside of the thicket, for a few minutes and then go back in and sing for a little bit. Then I’m guessing it would take a nap, because I couldn’t hear or see it for 20 minutes or so at a time. As of noon Tuesday, this bird is still being seen. Photos are from Monday afternoon, the couple hours I was there. Enjoy!