Wisconsin The Final Post

I could probably make at least 2 more blog posts on my trip to Wisconsin, but instead I am going to attempt to wrap it up in one last post.  This might be a tad long, and will have a lot of photos, but I need to move on to more birding adventures.

Finally it was time to return to the Manitowoc area, but before we did, we wanted to visit a spot that some others had recommended to us when we were at Horicon.  So we found our way to the Sandhill Wildlife Refuge just north of Necedah.  What a great little jewel this place was and it is grossly under birded.  We had heard from these people that it was a great place to see Golden-winged Warblers and that was one species that had eluded us so far.  But that changed quickly at this location.  This bird hybridizes quite easily with Blue-winged Warblers.  And as the BWWA's range has expanded northward, the GWWA's range is shrinking and their numbers are falling.  That is not a good option in the scheme of the avian world.  What a handsome warbler!

As we were driving the road, I finally got my first visual look at a Black-billed Cuckoo, another new life bird.  It was rather surprising that this bird was not as elusive and skittish as the Yellow-billed species found in Arizona.  

After catching fleeting glimpses and hearing Veerys at other spots in Wisconsin, we finally had a couple of them cooperate with us and allowed some photos.

Ovenbirds and American Redstarts were numerous as well.  

A couple of butterflies from this spot:

 Northern Crescent Butterfly

White Admiral Butterfly

Next stop on the way to home base was the Buena Vista Grasslands/Marsh area.  In the winter this location is a good spot for Short-eared Owls, but this time of year, not so much.  So we settled for some birds of the grasslands such as this Grasshopper Sparrow.

Grasshopper Sparrow

We discovered another Least Flycatcher after finding one the day before at Necedah.

Least Flycatcher

Apparently this area is probably good for Greater Prairie Chickens as well after seeing the signs that are posted throughout the area.  

Finally we headed back to the Manitowoc area and made one more stop at the Manitowoc Impoundment where we detected a Great Black-backed Gull.  This bird was a lifer for me earlier in the year when Tommy and I made a visit with Josh to the Canal Park in Duluth, MN.  This one was much closer and allowed for a better photo.

 Great Black-backed Gull

The next day was one of local travelling and checking out the shores along Lake Michigan and surprisingly, Chris spotted another unusual gull and it turned out to be my last life bird on my trip; A Lesser Black-backed Gull.  

 Lessser Black-backed Gull

The birds around water are constantly on the move and are ever changing in diversity.  This day belonged to the Bonaparte's Gull.  We had well over 100 of these birds and this is actually the first time I have seen one in adult breeding plumage.

 Bonaparte's Gull

 Flock of Bonaparte's Gulls

 Bonaparte's Gull

Common Grackles were aptly named as they were very common.  When presented in proper sunlight, they sparkle and look very attractive.

 Common Grackle

Other critters seen  at various spots.

 Crayfish

 Garter Snake

 The beach on Lake Michigan

Red Admiral Butterfly

Finally it was time to head back to Chicago to catch my flight home.  It was bittersweet and ominous as well. because the temperature forecast in Arizona the day after I returned home was 120° F.  That was not something to look forward to.  So on the way back to Chicago, I made one last stop at the Richard Bong State Recreation Area in Wisconsin just north of the Illinois border.  Did not find any new species, but enjoyed seeing a pair of Sandhill Cranes with 2 young in the grass.  Bobolink males and females made a great showing along with a Gray Catbird and I finally had a Common Yellowthroat perch in the open long enough to capture a couple of photos.

 Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane with 2 colts in the grass at lower left.

 Bobolink - Female

 Bobolink - Male

 Common Yellowthroat

Gray Catbird

I ended up with 21 new life birds on this trip.  Missed a few target birds, but got the two rarest birds and plenty more.  Wonder where my next adventure will lead and how much closer can I get to the magical number 700 life birds?

  

Wisconsin - Part 2

The next day of my trip, I met up with Chris and we did not waste anytime in getting out to search for birds.  We started with some local spots, Molash Creek and Woodland Dunes, and found the deep, dark, and shady trails were swarming with birds.  But alas, they were also swarming with some much smaller critters, known as mosquitoes.  But that was to be expected and we did not let it stop us in our hunt for those birds.

I quickly discovered how common Red-eyed Vireos were in Wisconsin.  I had seen this bird once before at High Island, Texas, but it was just a brief glimpse and of course I was not able to capture any photos that time.  This time was different, since they were very common and singing just about everywhere we visited, one of them in Molash Creek gave us great view and some much needed photos.  (To bad the birds cannot communicate to other birds to let them know that we mean them no harm, and just want to see them and take a couple of photos!)

 Red-eyed Vireo

Another bird that was abundant just about everywhere was the American Redstart.  Yes, we do see a few of these birds yearly in the winter in Arizona, but they are rarely very vocal when we get them in AZ.  But in Wisconsin, they were very vocal and active.

 American Redstart

One of my new life birds that I added on this day was the Eastern Towhee.  The Spotted Towhee is very common in Arizona and one that I am very familiar with.  At one time in the past, the Eastern Towhee and the Spotted Towhee were considered one species; the Rufous-sided Towhee.  But the Rufous-sided Towhee was split into Eastern Towhee and Spotted Towhee some years ago and after seeing and hearing the Eastern Towhee, they are definitely different in my opinion.  While the photos are not what I would have liked on this first sighting, I was able to see more during my stay and got a better photo at a later date. 

 Eastern Towhee

Other cool birds in the forest that were not life birds but still awesome to see and hear were Black-throated Green Warbler, Ovenbird, and a fledgling White-breasted Nuthatch.  We would have not seen the nuthatch had it not been for a parent bird coming in to offer some food tidbits.

 Black-throated Green Warbler

 Ovenbird

 White-breasted Nuthatch - Fledgling

Next stop was Woodland Dunes in Two Rivers which is another wonderful spot.  I picked up 3 new life birds at this spot; Alder Flycatcher, Wood Thrush, and Sedge Wren.  The only bird of these 3 that I was able to photograph was Alder Flycatcher; the other 2 proved to be very elusive.

Alder Flycatcher

But there were plenty of other birds at this location that very cooperative for photos including some Chimney Swifts, which I had never photographed before.

 Chimney Swift

 American Goldfinch - Male

 American Goldfinch - Female

 Cedar Waxwing

 Swanp Sparrow

 Yellow Warbler

From here we ventured a short distance to the Manitowoc Impoundment on the shores of Lake Michigan. Naturally this was a complete different habitat that resulted in all new species.

 Caspian Tern

Common Grackle

Later that evening Chris and I headed to the home of his brother who claimed they had a pair of nesting Merlins near their back yard.  While we were not able to see the nest itself, the Merlins were definitely there and one of them even landed on a pole in their back yard.

 Merlin

And as usual, at the end of the post are some other photos that were interesting to me along the way.

 Painted Turtle

Definitely a full day of birding and by this time, I had picked up 7 new life birds so far.  I have many more to come and will be mentioning several on some future posts.