Shorebirds have been migrating south and my stop this morning at McKinley Beach gave nice looks at 3 species of them. Ruddy Turnstones, Semipalmated Plovers and Semipalmated Sandpipers were present. I also saw a Sanderling but by the time I got over to it walkers unknowingly flushed it out over … Continue reading
One of my birding stops today was Lakeshore State Park in Milwaukee. It is a great place to do a walk in search for birds, you never know what you will come across. The highlight today was a Great Blue Heron walking a big rock shore on the island. It … Continue reading
At 6:00 AM I received a text message that a juvenile Wood Stork was seen at Mud Lake State Wildlife Area in Dodge County yesterday. The normal range for this species is Florida, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. I pretty much jumped in the car and was in the area. … Continue reading
One of my stops on the Milwaukee lakefront was Lakeshore State Park. Nice views of an American White Pelican was the highlight. This bird is considered rare for this date and location, so that makes it even more special. Other times of the year it would be considered normal. It … Continue reading
I saw a report of a rare to the area, Short-billed Gull being seen at Whitefish Dunes State Park on Lake Michigan in Door County on July 23. I made 3 trips up to Door County over the last week to look for this gull and on the 3rd try … Continue reading
I heard a report of a Piping Plover, a molting adult bird in Milwaukee County yesterday. I checked out the location this morning and it was still present. This species is considered endangered in Wisconsin. At one time it was said there were 500 to 800 pairs of Piping Plovers … Continue reading
Today I decided to do some birding along the lakefront in Milwaukee and my first stop was Lakeshore State Park. While doing a walk around there on the island I found a Common Grackle feeding a young. The Common Grackle caught a crayfish, pulled off the claws and fed it … Continue reading
I have tried to capture some of the recent beauty of some spring to summer blooming native wildflowers. Wildflower images have been taken in the yard here in Waukesha or Marquette County. Most wildflowers here are native to Wisconsin. The spring started out with some nice moisture and has continued … Continue reading
I found a Northern Flicker nest cavity back on June 1 of this year in Waukesha County. The adults were stopping at the cavity once in a while; I knew something was going to be going on there in the days ahead. Some time has passed and today I stopped … Continue reading
I had not been up to Horicon Marsh yet this year so a last minute decision was made early in the morning to make the trip up. I arrived at about 6:00 AM. I hit the auto tour first and there were some nice species to be seen. My next … Continue reading
I stopped at a Great Blue Heron rookery in SE Wisconsin to see if there were any herons present. There were about 12 active nests and the little chicks were getting big. The adults came and went bringing in food to the chicks, regurgitating partially digested food. Always fun to … Continue reading
A super rare gull, a Kelp Gull is currently nesting with an American Herring Gull on Milwaukee’s Lakefront. The nest is on top of a cargo warehouse on Jones Island along Lake Michigan. The Kelp Gull is typically found in Southern South American, Africa, New Zealand and Australia, so it … Continue reading
I had gotten a tip on Red-shouldered Hawks nesting in Waukesha County. To go out and find this nest was my goal today, with a little luck, it all came together. I observed the nest from a very long distance. There were 3 chicks and at one time there was … Continue reading
One of my birding stops today was Retzer Nature Center to see if the Bobolinks were present. They were and are nesting as usual. I did see a couple of males moving around in the field there, but only saw one female. I’m sure they are at the nest. Always … Continue reading
With spring migration winding down I decided to focus on nesting birds today. Just walking around in a couple of parks I found 3 location with either a bird on a nest or a nest cavity with active birds. One of the nesting places was a pair of Northern Flickers. … Continue reading
As I was walking through a park in Waukesha County a Great Horned Owl landed near me. It looks like it is a young owl maybe past the owlet stage. Other species surrounded this owl in the tree, they were harassing it vocally. Usually you get some American Crows, but … Continue reading
While out birding in Marquette County a Barred Owl flew up off the ground and perched in a tree just in front of me. I’m not sure what it was on to but I took a couple of quick photos and continued on. It was a cloudy day with pleasant … Continue reading
The County Grounds in Milwaukee County has had a handful of Cuckoos this past week both Yellow-billed and Black-billed. My visit there this time focused on the Black-billed Cuckoo. Like always, these birds are hard to find in the open without sticks or branches in front of them or even … Continue reading
My first birding stops this morning were going to be the beaches along Lake Michigan in Milwaukee for shorebirds. McKinley Beach had 4 Ruddy Turnstones feeding on an algae mat at the beach. They were finding things to eat at the beach on the mat, fueling up for more of … Continue reading
There had been some reports of Cuckoos at the Milwaukee County Grounds so I decided to put that on one of my early birding stops for the day. When I arrived there was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo right in a tree near the parking lot. It was about 100 feet away … Continue reading
