August 19, 2008
Milwaukee birding
I spent a a fun week in the Milwaukee area while attending the annual Ecological Society of America meeting. The first couple of days of this were spent on the farmhouse owned by the parents of my former Davis roommate Sara. Being close to the Horicon Marsh, we saw several Sandhill Cranes, and White Pelicans frequently circled the house.
The bird feeders were frequented by Chipping Sparrows and dazzling Indigo Buntings.
The property had a well-stocked fish pond, and I got to try my hand at line fishing, catching a few bluegill but no bass. I also got to drive this 6-wheel drive ATV - yee-haw!
A walk around the pond added Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird and some very curious Common Yellowthroats to the list.
Among the other wildlife seen here were a few Monarchs...
... and a distant group of White-tailed Deer.
I also had the great pleasure of birding with Nick Barber, who I met at last year's ESA meeting in San Jose.
Following some advice from one of the reserve staff, we headed to the Wehr Nature Center to search for Barred Owls, one of the easier eastern birds I haven't managed to catch up with yet. We didn't find one, but a singing Field Sparrow (only my second ever) made up for this. I had no idea they sounded so similar to Black-chinned Sparrow.
The restored prairie here was ablaze with colourful wildflowers, to the extent that the neon-yellow American Goldfinches were somewhat hard to pick out among them!
To make up for dipping Barred Owl, we got to hold Tufts, an Eastern Screech Owl who had lost sight in one eye after being hit by a car, and now serves as an educational bird for the visitor centre.
As well as taking an hour out of his schedule to show us around, the warden also gave us each a bottle of maple syrup made from maples on the reserve. I'm always amazed by the generosity that American birders I have never met before have shown me on my visits.
Before heading back to the conference we managed a short spell of shorebirding at the Milwaukee Coast Guard Impoundment on the shore of Lake Michigan. A nice mix of species was present, including Least, Semipalmated, Pectoral and Spotted Sandpipers, the latter species still in full breeding plumage.
