Paradise Island, Bahamas Vacation 2024

Jeremy4 Comments

I had my first vacation to The Bahamas at the end of October. This was not by any means a “bird” vacation, however. I actually won the trip, and it was 4 days and 3 nights, but I extended it to 7 days and 6 nights. I stayed at the Atlantis Paradise Island, which was absolutely gorgeous. I took the last two days to look for some birds and butterflies. I can’t go to a new place and NOT look for birds, right?! The resort was huge and there were plenty of places to walk and attempt to find birds and butterflies around it, which is exactly what I did on the first of the two days. On the second day, I walked from the resort all the way to the other side of the island and walked the entire Paradise Island / Ocean Club Golf Course looking for birds and butterflies. That turned out to be rather decent and provided a few good water birds, as well. On my way back to the resort, I stopped at a little sanctuary called Turtle Point. It was basically a pair of small stairs down to a deck, overlooking a small pond, that was loaded with turtles. The deck was only about 8′ x 12′. This little area was amazing though! After standing there, watching birds fly around the pond, out comes a Least Grebe family, with the parents teaching the little one how to eat fish. I stood there for almost 45 minutes watching them. For the two days I went out and looked for birds, I ended up with 54 species and 10 lifers! I was pretty happy with that, considering what it was. I was also able to get photos of 9 of the 10 lifers, with the Bahama Mockingbird as the only one that eluded me. I have the life birds listed first and then a few of the common birds after. Enjoy!

Lifers

Bahama Woodstar

Black-faced Grassquit
Gray Kingbird
Least Grebe
Loggerhead Kingbird
Neotropic Cormorant
Red-legged Thrush
Smooth-billed Ani
White-crowned Pigeon

The Others…

Warblers
Royal Tern
Black-necked Stilt
Common Ground Dove
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Green Heron
Tricolored Heron
Northern Mockingbird
Osprey

Northern Parula & Yellow-throated Warblers in Spring ’22

Jeremy8 Comments

These two are stunning! It was an excellent year for both of them. My best day for Northern Parula was on 5/11 at Warnimont Park, when I saw 35. They were everywhere that day! The rising buzzy trill was ringing through the park that day. A very loud song for a small warbler. If, you get to see a Yellow-throated Warbler in Milwaukee County, it’s always a bonus. This spring there were at least 4 of them, with the first sighting at Greenfield Park on 4/20. That bird was very cooperative and seen by many in the birding community. Then on 5/8 another was found at Warnimont Park and a couple days later another at Sheridan Park. On Sunday 5/22, one was seen singing at Whitnall Park, and I think it has been there for some time now. Maybe it will stay there? I grouped these two together because they can interbreed. In this rare case, it is called a Sutton’s Warbler. One of these was seen and photographed in Dane County on 5/6. I almost went out there to see it, and I wish I would have. Oh well, next time… Photos below are from the last month in the Milwaukee area. Enjoy!

Northern Parula

Yellow-throated Warbler

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!

Yellow-throated Warblers in Southern Kettle Moraine Forest

Jeremy4 Comments

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!