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Recent Postings from
The Wisconsin Birding List

Updated on Tuesday, November 27 at 09:22 AM ET
The most recently received Mail is at the top.

An answer to the latest IOS Photo Quiz has been posted. A new quiz 
will be up in a few days.

http://www.illinoisbirds.org/photo_quiz.html

Robert D. Hughes
Chicago, Illinois 

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A male VARIED THRUSH is being seen -- since this past weekend -- just south of 
the town of Fifield in north-central Price County (~60 miles south of Ashland). 
If interested, call the Seed N Feed Store at  and ask for 
Bernie.Ryan BradyGrand View, Bayfield County, WIhttp://www.pbase.com/rbrady 

Thank you Mariette.
I'll be listening tomorrow via my iMac.
http://www.wklh.com/
Thanks again and take care.
Gary Z
Yolo County
Davis, CA



On Nov 26, 2007, at 4:49 PM, Mariette Nowak wrote:

> Marilynn Mee will be airing the Ten Best Bird Songs tomorrow morning 
> (Tuesday, Nov. 27) at 10 am on 96.5 WKLH and asked me to" be sure to 
> pass the word on to anyone who you think would particularly enjoy it." 
>   I thought that some of the Milwaukee area birders on Wisbirdn might 
> be interested.
>
> Mariette Nowak
> East Troy, Walworth County
>
>
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Yesterday (Sunday), there were still some sandhill cranes coming in for 
roosting at dusk, but it was very different from the hundreds probably 
thousands seen on Friday. Do you think the extreme sandhill circling flights 
and soaring on Friday at the end of Fortier Road was in anticipation of 
migration and part of their farewell activity? There had been many on the 
ground near the pond, also. Yesterday when I scanned with my scope, I did 
not see any sandhills near the pond.

On Sunday at the end of Fortier Road, I did see several small flocks of 
cranes flying towards the Wisconsin for roosting at 4:10 p.m.

Directions: Turn north on Village Edge Road which is on the east side of 
Arena, turn east on Fortier Road and follow it to the gated area.

Another Area: In the fields just east of Hayward Crossing Road on Helena 
Road, there were only a few cranes on Sunday compared to the hundreds of 
sandhills and the one whooping crane seen there on Friday.

Keep Looking Up!
Sharon Swiggum :)

Richland Center in Richland County

Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.
                                                        Job 37:14b KJV 



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My first Snowy Owl of the year was along Hwy 2 at Ackley Road, ~ 1 mile east of 
Ashland in Ashland, on Monday. I digiscoped the following images nearly 30 
minutes after sundown: 


http://www.pbase.com/rbrady/image/
http://www.pbase.com/rbrady/image/

I didn't get good looks or good photos but I would tentatively guess this bird 
to be an adult male. While surely not the same individual, the bird today very 
much resembled the one below that I photographed during the  influx, 
which is interesting given the great plumage variation among ages, sexes, and 
individuals of this species: 


http://www.pbase.com/rbrady/image/
http://www.pbase.com/rbrady/image/

The  invasion/irruption consisted primarily (though not entirely) of 
hatch-year/immature birds. If you wish to further examine plumage variation, 
many photos of several dozen individuals are here: 


http://www.pbase.com/rbrady/snowyowls

Ryan Brady
Grand View, Bayfield County, WI
http://www.pbase.com/rbrady

Marilynn Mee will be airing the Ten Best Bird Songs tomorrow morning 
(Tuesday, Nov. 27) at 10 am on 96.5 WKLH and asked me to" be sure to pass 
the word on to anyone who you think would particularly enjoy it."   I 
thought that some of the Milwaukee area birders on Wisbirdn might be 
interested.

Mariette Nowak
East Troy, Walworth County 



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I scoped the marina for gulls and found the following
  35 Herring 
  120 Ring-billed
  1 Thayer's
  1 Glaucous - first winter type
  2 Bonapartes at the water treatment facility
   
 Also found one Northern Shrike in the fields directly to the left of the 
ranger/pay station at Harrington. I had small flocks of Red-breasted Mergansers 
and Long-tailed Ducks fly by with 3 WW Scoters on the water close somewhat 
close in. I also noted a small raptor movement of 2 SS Hawks, 4 RT Hawks and 3 
Rough-legged Hawks , all dark morph. 

   
  good birding, 
   
  John Vergib
  Mequon
  Ozaukee county 

       
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Be a better pen pal. Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how.

Watched and photographed a tufted titmouse at Derleth Park in Sauk City 
along the WI river. It was visiting the large green birdfeeder at the 
south end of the walking path. Last spring while doing restoration work 
on the other side of the path we saw a pair checking out old woodpecker 
holes in the trees. This past weekend we finished removing the 
buckthorn from the path down to the river. We now wonder how this will 
effect the birds that visit this area.

Gerry Clausen	
West Bend
Washington Cty

Can someone please direct me to the cranes near Arena?  Anyone know  
if they might still be there?
Many thanks!

Nina Cheney Mills
Mt. Horeb, Dane Co.


Nina Cheney & Jacob Mills
Performances--Workshops--Voice Talent
2055 Sutter Drive
Mount Horeb, Wisconsin 53572

http://www.cheneyandmills.com

The Wilson's warbler was behind the lake Park Bistro
this morning. The only other bird of note were some
Pine Siskins by the lighthouse.

Steven Lubahn,
Milwaukee

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I saw for the first time ever, 5 Tundra swans on Swaumsauger Lake in SW 
Oneida Co over the holiday weekend.  It was very exciting.
 
I usually get one glimpse of a Gray Jay before we leave for the area of Green 
Jays in Texas.  This year we are late on leaving and the Gray Jay made an 
appearance about 2 weeks earlier than my journal. It came to the feeder once 
and 

I didn't see it again until Friday of this last week.  We had put the turkey 
carcass with lots of nibbles on it out in the yard after our evening 
Thanksgiving meal. The next a.m. there at least two Gray Jays coming in for the 
meat. 

Now that I know what they like to eat, maybe I can get them to come in more 
frequently.
 
My neighbor, less than 3 block from me has had numerous Pine Grosbeaks and 
Evening Grosbeaks coming in daily.  I haven't seen one by my feeder.  The only 
thing I figure is because we are usually gone to Texas by this time, they must 
return to a place that feeds all winter.  
 
 
Wyleen High
Tripoli (Town of Minocqua)



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Hey birding friends --- I haven't gotten out much recently to give you a loaded 
down report, so therefore I had to have birds come to me, meaning whatever 
flies around, comes around. 

 Which would be the case of a yellow-rumped warbler that flitted into my 
backyard this a.m. 

 I was outside when I heard the 2 call notes, the seeet, and then the chip. It 
landed briefly in my lilac bushes just for a quick show and ID then took off. 
Soon after that a significant-sized flock of com. merganser flew over, ~40 or 
so birds, heading towards the lake. 

 So this happens to be the extent of my weekend sightings other than my parents 
telling me they had a com. loon in front of their home Saturday a.m. Paul 
Bruce, Oshkosh 


       
---------------------------------
Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Yahoo Mobile. Try it 
now. 

On Sunday Nov 25, I birded the area of Yellowstone Lake State Park in Lafayette 
Co. Not much going on there - windy. There were 22 Snipe feeding on the mudflat 
by the dyke. On the way back I saw a Northern Shrike hunting along County Line 
Rd just north of the Park. 

   
  John Romano
  Madison Wi

       
---------------------------------
Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Yahoo Mobile. Try it 
now. 

I'm looking for a few people to help with this year's Kewaunee CBC -
preferably people who live not far from Kewaunee County. The Kewaunee count
will be held on Sunday, December 30th. If you are interested, please write
to me backchannel. Thanks.


William P. Mueller
Milwaukee County

E-mail: iltlawas AT earthlink.net
On the web: http://home.earthlink.net/~iltlawas/index.html
Blog: http://bluebirdslaugh.blogspot.com


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Tom Wood called the hotline to report finding the Mew Gull this morning.  He
did not have it at the South Metro pier but rather at two locations north of
here.  One spot was on the beach at the base of Menomonee Street.  He also
had it further north of here on the beach at Grant Park.  If you don't find
it at the pier, it is worth checking the gull flocks that loaf to the north
of here.

 

Mark Korducki, New Berlin

Hi all, 

No, I haven't been out there yet.  I'm still hoping to catch a ride. 
I do have access to the IA-bird list though and have been following the posts. 

The Gull was found this morning again but was absent this evening. 

The Flycatcher has not been see since Fri afternoon. 
We have been having SW winds this week. Both Fri and Sat had decent winds from 
the SW. For those of you down towards Dubuque. I would keep an eye out in case 
the winds have driven the bird NE. If the flycatcher turned up in the Dubuque 
area, that would also give me a reason to add Long-tailed Duck to my WI list. 


Anyway, keep watching. There's no reason the Gull can't wander over this way 
too. 



Happy Birding! --Chris W, Richland County
http://web.mac.com/stoneageoutpost/Site/RC_Birds.html
http://swallowtailedkite.blogspot.com/

"The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first 
material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire the 
composer; but when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no 
more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be 
again." 


(From William Beebe's "The Bird: Its Form and Function," 1906)
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Brian and all, 

There's no question this bird is a Wilson's warbler.  
At least, if it's a N American bird. 
I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated by all wisbirders if somebody could 
turn this into a "Black-capped Reed-warbler" or something similar. 

If you did, I'd be down there before sunrise tomorrow thanking everybody for 
IDing this bird and to Brian for finding it. 


But what if it is a Reed-warbler disguising itself as a Wilson's? these birds 
are too clever sometimes..... lol 



Happy Birding! --Chris W, Richland County
http://web.mac.com/stoneageoutpost/Site/RC_Birds.html
http://swallowtailedkite.blogspot.com/

"The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first 
material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire the 
composer; but when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no 
more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be 
again."(From William Beebe's "The Bird: Its Form and Function," 1906) 


________________________________
> To: wisbirdn AT lawrence.edu
> Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 17:47:
> From: rawshooter AT gmail.com
> Subject: [wisb] Wilson's Warbler photos
> 
> These are my really bad shots of the Wilson's from today at Lake Park. I 
couldn't get it to come out of the woods for me. When I first saw it and didn't 
have my camera it was right in front of me giving great poses. Some day I will 
learn to always carry my camera. I was actually surprised I was able to 
relocate it after coming back to photograph it. I also had a Ruby-crowned 
Kinglet that I forgot to mention. 

> 
> Please verify the ID. I am pretty much 100% on it but wouldn't mind a second 
opinion or two especially if it has a chance at a record. 

> 
> http://www.pbase.com/bhansen/image/
> 
> http://www.pbase.com/bhansen/image/
> 
> http://www.pbase.com/bhansen/image/
> 
> http://www.pbase.com/bhansen/image/
> 
> http://www.pbase.com/bhansen/image/ - Kinglet
> 
> Thanks,
> Brian Hansen
> Milwaukee - east side
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These are my really bad shots of the Wilson's from today at Lake Park.  I
couldn't get it to come out of the woods for me.  When I first saw it and
didn't have my camera it was right in front of me giving great poses.  Some
day I will learn to always carry my camera.  I was actually surprised I was
able to relocate it after coming back to photograph it.  I also had a
Ruby-crowned Kinglet that I forgot to mention.

Please verify the ID.  I am pretty much 100% on it but wouldn't mind a
second opinion or two especially if it has a chance at a record.

http://www.pbase.com/bhansen/image/

http://www.pbase.com/bhansen/image/

http://www.pbase.com/bhansen/image/

http://www.pbase.com/bhansen/image/

http://www.pbase.com/bhansen/image/ - Kinglet

Thanks,
Brian Hansen
Milwaukee - east side

I was absolutely delighted to have a N. Shrike show up in my yard on 
Thanksgiving Day -  a first for my yard!   The week before I saw a shrike 
along a road about a mile from my home.

It seems that more shrikes being reported this year on Wisbirdn.  If so, 
it's probably due to the vole crash in the north, as per the report sent by 
Jim Williams recently:

"Northern Shrike: The big southward movement this fall is probably resulted 
from the meadow vole crash in the boreal forest. Although Northern Shrikes 
eat small birds; they are mainly a vole specialist in winter. Birds are a 
buffer and form a greater proportion of Northern Shrike prey when voles are 
scarce."

Mariette Nowak
East Troy, Walworth County



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I wish I could report that Joan and I also saw the Mew Gull. However, it did 
not reappear while we were there until 3:00. John I. was on his way in as we 
departed, so perhaps he has better news to report. 


Marilyn Bontly, Bayside
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: JDX14 AT aol.com 
  To: Wisconsin Birding Network 
  Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 3:34 PM
  Subject: [wisb] Mew Gull - South Metro Pier, Oak Creek


  Hi all,
 The Mew Gull made two brief appearances Sunday morning/afternoon. At 10:20 AM 
it was seen for about a minute on the concrete wall surrounding the northern 
most treatment pond. At just before 1:00 PM it was on the beach amongst a small 
flock of Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls. A woman walking her dog put most of 
the gulls up and they went back to the treatment ponds. Marilyn Bontly and Joan 
Sommer were there when I left at about 1:30 and hopefully they will report that 
the gull reappeared on the beach. 

 There also was a Red-throated Loon and a large fly-over flock of Snow Buntings 
at South Metro earlier in the day. 

  John Dixon
  Brighton Township, Kenosha Co.  





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 Check out AOL Money & Finance's list of the hottest products and top money 
wasters of 2007. 

Hi all, 

One thing I forgot to mention when I posted this, 
I realize that some of you may not have time to complete a quiz of this length. 
So instead, try doing what you think you have time for or what you think you 
can do. You choose the level of difficulty. Challenge yourself and have fun. 

 
Good luck.


http://web.mac.com/stoneageoutpost/RC_Birding/My_Albums/Pages/Photo_quizzes_.html#grid 


I'll post the answer sometime next week.  


Happy Birding! --Chris W, Richland County
http://web.mac.com/stoneageoutpost/Site/RC_Birds.html
http://swallowtailedkite.blogspot.com/

"The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first 
material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire the 
composer; but when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no 
more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be 
again." 


(From William Beebe's "The Bird: Its Form and Function," 1906)
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Hi all, 

I went for a short walk up my road this evening. While standing at the very 
top, on a sudden impulse I scanned the nearby field. I quickly spotted the 
single gray, white and black bird out on a fallow patch. My personal second 
record for N Shrike for Richland County!!! 


I figured one had to show up sooner or later. 

I've posted three junky shots on my website:
http://web.mac.com/stoneageoutpost/RC_Birding/My_Albums/Pages/N_Shrike.html

Now I just need some winter finches.....  


I also heard a Ruffed Grouse, Pileated, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, N 
Flicker, most of the usual winter birds. 



Happy Birding! --Chris W, Richland County
http://web.mac.com/stoneageoutpost/Site/RC_Birds.html
http://swallowtailedkite.blogspot.com/

"The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first 
material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire the 
composer; but when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no 
more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be 
again." 


(From William Beebe's "The Bird: Its Form and Function," 1906)
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Hi all,
        The Mew Gull made two brief  appearances Sunday morning/afternoon. At 
10:20 AM it was seen for about a  minute on the concrete wall surrounding the 
northern most treatment pond.  At just before 1:00 PM it was on the beach 
amongst a small flock of Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls. A woman walking her 

dog put most of the gulls  up and they went back to the treatment ponds. 
Marilyn Bontly and Joan Sommer were there when I left at about 1:30 and 
hopefully 

they will report that  the gull reappeared on the beach.
         There also was a  Red-throated Loon and a large fly-over flock of 
Snow Buntings at South  Metro earlier in the day.
John Dixon
Brighton Township, Kenosha Co.  



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I will post the photos when I get home.

Brian

On Nov 25, 2007, at 1:58 PM, "Bob Domagalski"  wrote:

>     If documented (esp. with photos) and accepted by the WSO Records  
> Committee, this Wilson's Warbler of Nov. 25th would be record late  
> for Wisconsin.  There is but one previous November record for the  
> Wilson's.
>
>         -- Bob Domagalski, Menomonee Falls
>
> --  six records beyond October 10th
> 1.  Oct. 15, 1949 – Rock, Melva T. Maxson
> 2.  Oct. 17, 1959 – Vernon, Viratine E. Weber
> 3.  Oct. 17, 1973 – La Crosse, Jerome R. Rosso
> 4.  Oct. 26, 1995 – Ozaukee, Jesse J. Peterson
> 5.  Oct. 26, 2002 – Manitowoc, Aaron Holschbach
> 6.  Nov. 23, 1972 – LaCrosse, Frederick Z. Lesher
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: rawshooter AT gmail.com
> To: Wisconsin Birding Network
> Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 11:47    AM
> Subject: [wisb] Wilson's Warbler Lake Park Milwaukee
>
> I had a Wilson's Warbler this morning near the Wolcott statue feeder  
> in Lake Park about a half hour ago.  I literally ran home to get     
> my camera and was able to get a couple bad shots of it but you can  
> see it is a Wilsons from the photos.  Not much else happening in the  
> park except the usual residents.
>
> Brian Hansen
> Milwaukee - east side

 If documented (esp. with photos) and accepted by the WSO Records Committee, 
this Wilson's Warbler of Nov. 25th would be record late for Wisconsin. There is 
but one previous November record for the Wilson's. 


        -- Bob Domagalski, Menomonee Falls

--  six records beyond October 10th

1.  Oct. 15, 1949 - Rock, Melva T. Maxson

2.  Oct. 17, 1959 - Vernon, Viratine E. Weber

3.  Oct. 17, 1973 - La Crosse, Jerome R. Rosso

4.  Oct. 26, 1995 - Ozaukee, Jesse J. Peterson

5.  Oct. 26, 2002 - Manitowoc, Aaron Holschbach

6.  Nov. 23, 1972 - LaCrosse, Frederick Z. Lesher
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: rawshooter AT gmail.com 
  To: Wisconsin Birding Network 
  Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 11:47 AM
  Subject: [wisb] Wilson's Warbler Lake Park Milwaukee


 I had a Wilson's Warbler this morning near the Wolcott statue feeder in Lake 
Park about a half hour ago. I literally ran home to get my camera and was able 
to get a couple bad shots of it but you can see it is a Wilsons from the 
photos. Not much else happening in the park except the usual residents. 


  Brian Hansen
  Milwaukee - east side

Dennis Kuecherer just called me from the building where you buy your 
park sticker at Kohler-Andre State Park (Sheboygan County south of 
the city along the shore of Lake Michigan) - he was looking at Pine 
Grosbeaks and White-winged Crossbills at some feeders behind the building.

Good birding,

Bettie Harriman
Oshkosh


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All,

I went out early this morning to try to find the Pacific Loon that Aaron 
reported yesterday.  Since the bird was seen working its way to the west 
yesterday, my first stop was at Spring Harbor Beach on the southwest 
"corner" of Lake Mendota.  After panning back and forth a few times, I 
observed a loon fly in from the north/northeast and land probably 1200 yards 
from my location.  It dove immediately after landing and stayed submerged 
for several minutes.  After I relocated the bird slightly closer than when 
it dove, I observed (at 60X in good light) a small darkish bill, cleaner 
looking demarcation between the white on the throat and the black/dark gray 
of the back of the neck, larger white cheek patch that extended up to the 
eye, no "bowtie" or "collar," and overall dark gray of back of neck.  The 
back of the head was rounded where I would expect a more squared off 
appearance on a Common Loon.  The forehead was slightly squared off.  The 
bird swam northeast for the next 15 minutes when Marty Evanson arrived.  We 
watched the bird for an additional 15 minutes...it was probably a mile or 
more distant when I packed up to leave.  While we never got close-up looks 
at this bird, based on the observed field marks, I am quite certain that 
this bird was a/the Pacific Loon.  Thanks, Aaron, for reporting this bird.

It appears that any of the observation points on the west side of Lake 
Mendota could be good for this bird: Borchers Beach Road as Aaron described, 
Mendota County Park off of Hwy M in Middleton (I would estimate the last 
location of the bird to be about halfway between Mendota County Park and 
Bishops Bay Country Club), the boat launch near Captain Bill's restaurant 
off of Allen Blvd., Marshall Park, the end of Capital Avenue, and Spring 
Harbor Beach at the end of Norman Way are all good locations to try.

Good luck if you try for this bird.

Jesse Peterson
Waunakee, WI (Dane Co.)
peterson.jesse AT tds.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Aaron Stutz" 
To: "Wisconsin Birding Network" 
Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 3:31 PM
Subject: [wisb] Pacific Loon--Lake Mendota, Dane County


> Hi all,
>
> I was out scoping the Madison Lakes from about 10AM-3PM today.  The 
> birding was pretty quiet with one exception--I spotted a PACIFIC LOON 
> around noon off of Borcher's Beach Road.  Borcher's Beach Road is on the 
> north side of Lake Mendota, just west of Governor Nelson State Park. 
> There is actually a state park parking lot (FEE/State Park Sticker 
> REQUIRED) on this road and a small park across the street that I often 
> scope from.  The Pacific Loon was the only bird I saw from this location 
> and it was moving slowly, but steadily to the west.
> What I saw...
> As I scanned the lake and spotted this loon I was initially struck by its 
> small head and insignificant bill.  Further study showed a rounded (not 
> flat-topped) head, a bulbous neck, a relatively straight  black/white 
> barrier on the neck and breast (i.e. no partial collar like one sees on 
> Common Loons).  Given the distance and light conditions I could not 
> clearly see a "necklace", but there was a hazy dark region that separated 
> the white on the bird's throat and the white on the bird's breast.  The 
> bird was dark gray overall and held its bill in a horizontal position 
> during my observation.  The lack of white flanks and flat-topped head rule 
> out Arctic Loon.  Again light and distance were not ideal for observing 
> this bird, but I noticed little contrast between this loon's nape and back 
> which suggests an adult basic bird.   Last year's Pacific Loon on Lake 
> Monona and the Pacific Loon Tom Prestby found on Lake Michigan a few weeks 
> ago showed very conspicuous contrast between nape and back suggesting 
> juvenile birds.  If anyone else tracks this bird down and feel they get a 
> good enough look to conclusively age the bird let me know what you think. 
> Of the 6 Pacific Loons that have been observed in Madison since 1999 I 
> can't recall any that were adult birds.
>
> Other sightings...
> 30 Tundra Swans on University Bay and 15 more by Burrows Park
> C. Goldeneye starting to appear in good numbers
> 30-40 Hooded Mergansers on Monona Bay
> 7 Common Loons at various locations
> NO Scoters
>
> Hopefully the Pacific Loon will stick around for the CBC.
>
> Aaron Stutz
> Madison, WI
> Dane County
> E-mail: agstutz AT sbcglobal.net
> Photos: http://community.webshots.com/user/agstutz
>
>
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I had a Wilson's Warbler this morning near the Wolcott statue feeder in Lake
Park about a half hour ago.  I literally ran home to get my camera and was
able to get a couple bad shots of it but you can see it is a Wilsons from
the photos.  Not much else happening in the park except the usual residents.

Brian Hansen
Milwaukee - east side

Thanks to all who helped me identify the hawk as an immature red-tail.  
Everyone agreed.
Bob Huebner
Cedarburg, Ozaukee County


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The Bay Area Bird Club's Door County field trip on Sat. Nov. 24th turned up 50
species on their 8 hour search. Starting under the 42/57 bridge on the Sturgeon 
Bay 

canal were 2 groups of swans; 17 Mute to the west and 100's of Tundra's to the 
east, 

along with 6 species of ducks. On the road to Whitefish Dunes State Park, a 
NORTHERN 

SHRIKE gave us great looks, first on the wire and then a bush near the road. 
This 

was a life bird for 3 of the 12 birders. The water was very rough at the Dunes 
but 

we found several BLACK SCOTERS, 1 SURF SCOTER, LONG-TAILED DUCKS, Scaup, C.
Goldeneyes, Buffleheads and flocks of C. Mergansers.  The thundering waves were
coming into Cave Point creating icicles on the rocks. A C. Loon, Horned Grebe 
and 

more scoters and ducks were in the area.
	Following the lake north along Jacksonport and Bailey's Harbor we added more
species of ducks and coot.  On Hwy. Q past the Ridges Sanctuary we found 3 PINE
GROSBEAKS who sat great for all to see (another lifer for 3, it's great sharing 
with 

first timers).  Where Q goes back west near Hwy 57 we had a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
hovering near the road. Later while traveling south along Green Bay we 
encountered 

several raptors: MERLIN, KESTREL, 2 COOPER'S HAWKS, 2 BALD EAGLES, RED-TAILS & 
bird # 

50 a PEREGRINE FALCON.
	We found another Shrike in Sturgeon Bay atop a Spruce just south of the Main
Street Bridge eyeing up a large flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS.	More species of ducks
were in Sturgeon Bay including, Pintail, Am. Wigeon, Gadwal and a very strange
looking Wood Duck/ Hooded Merganser Hybred possibility. Some Db. Br. 
Cormornants 

remained in the area. All in all a very successful late fall/early winter trip. 

Ida & Ty Baumann

http://bluebirdslaugh.blogspot.com/2007/11/bird-conserv-news-11-25.html


William P. Mueller
Milwaukee County
E-mail: iltlawas AT earthlink.net
On the web: http://home.earthlink.net/~iltlawas/index.html 


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Hi all, 

I posted a photo quiz on my website. 


http://web.mac.com/stoneageoutpost/RC_Birding/My_Albums/Pages/Photo_quizzes_.html 


Be warned, it's a long one. It ranges in difficulty from easy to rather 
difficult. Some shots are trickier than they might first look. 

most of the birds occur regularly on WI. However, with all the rare birds that 
have shown up recently, I have added a few birds that would be considered rare 
to accidental here. However, I think all of them have been recorded in the 
state, except for one that would be pretty near impossible here. 

There is one butterfly and one egg. We should all know the butterfly since it 
is a cool one. I am pretty sure I know what the egg is. 


All the photos are my own. I haven't "borrowed" any. (meaning of course that I 
had to ID all of the birds first) 


When IDing the birds please state their full name as it appears in the ABA or 
AOU checklist. If you can ID down to Sub-species please do so. 


Play the slideshow or click on each pic to see a larger version (I think you 
have to click on each pic to comment on it). 


Answers can either be posted on the comment section below each pic or emailed 
to me. 


Good luck!  

The person with the most answers right gets to drive to Saylorville with me and 
we split the expense. lol :) jk. 


Happy Birding! --Chris W, Richland County
http://web.mac.com/stoneageoutpost/Site/RC_Birds.html
http://swallowtailedkite.blogspot.com/

"The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first 
material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire the 
composer; but when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no 
more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be 
again." 


(From William Beebe's "The Bird: Its Form and Function," 1906)
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Hi birders,

I was just wondering if anyone was heading down next weekend to see
the birds. My dad cant go so if anyone has an extra seat I will be
willing to go. Give me an email or call me at . Thanks


Max Seeger(Waukesha County)

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Took a run out to Portage this morning to see if I could find the 
Sandhill Cranes in the same area that I found them last year, just west 
of Portage on HY 16 & Wolfram Road.  I believe there were over 1,000 
Sandhills in the area again this year.  If you'd like to see a very 
large congregation of Sandhill Cranes I would suggest a trip to this 
area very soon, I have no idea how long they stay around there but it's 
the second year in a row I've witnessed this.  You really have to see it 
to believe it.  While I was there 3 what appeared to be Bald Eagles, 
pretty far off for verification, flew in to harass the flock.  You 
wouldn't believe how loud they can get when they are all calling at 
once, it was incredible to hear.

On my way home I ran through Horicon Marsh to see what I could find.  
Geese of course, a few swans and this hawk which I can't identify.  Any 
help is greatly appreciated.

http://www.deerpix.com/07%20eagle.htm

Thanks,

Bob Huebner
Cedarburg, Ozaukee County


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In the last three days I've seen three different shrike. The one today did a 
number on an English sputs in front of the Meat Mkt in Rice Lake. 


Lyle Lieffring
Weyerhaeuser,
Rusk Cty

After puttering around the Madison lakes for a bit (although Aaron Stutz had 
much better luck than I did,) I wandered around in the UW Arboretum for an hour 
or so. Overall very quiet - I usually find a large flock of Robins and Cedar 
Waxwings there this time of year, but it might not be cold enough yet. I did 
run into one loose flock of BC Chickadees, WB Nuthatches, single Downy & 
Red-bellied WPs, and a Brown Creeper on one of the Wingra Woods trails. 


After lunch, I went up to Columbia County. There was a large flock of gulls 
feeding in the plowed fields on either side of Goose Pond Rd. north of County 
K, but all appeared to be Ring-bills. Goose Pond itself was mostly frozen, but 
there were several hundred Canada Geese, at least 325 Tundra Swans, hundreds of 
Mallards, and four No. Pintails crowded around and in the small area of open 
water. I didn't set the scope up, so I'm not sure what other duck species may 
have been there (most of the birds were hunkered down against the stiff wind, 
which made it difficult to count anything but the Swans and the Pintails, which 
were off one end of the opening.) 


At the MacKenzie Center near Poynette, I hiked through the pine plantation at 
the south end of the road, looking for owls. I perked up when several Crows 
seemed to be mobbing a raptor, but it was a Red-tail. As I came back near the 
road, I heard a Gray Catbird "mewing" repeatedly from across the road. I went 
out on the road and saw it in a tangle of brush with many wild grape vines, so 
I surmise that's what it's feeding on. After hiking some more, I heard another 
Catbird calling from the pines as I got back to the car - the first one was 
still calling, also. 


Peter Fissel
Madison, Dane Co.


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Hi All,
 I had a really great afternoon in my yard earlier today. I had a N. Shrike 
make an appearance a couple of weeks ago and he or another one was back today. 
This time I was sitting in my blind and he/she slipped out of the Spruce tree 
behind the feeders and sat on an open branch looking around for a minute or so 
before he took off empty handed. It pays to be lucky sometimes! I also saw 
another N. Shrike yesterday afternoon about 2 miles south of Newburg. 

 I've also had a Coopers Hawk being regular in my yard. He made a attack on the 
feeders twice this afternoon while I was out there........coming up empty both 
times. But, he also posed nicely about 25 feet away and I was able to get some 
nice head and shoulders shots. 

 Otherwise lots of the usual suspects at the feeders. Hoping for some Redpolls 
to come in next! Photos are up at http://www.pbase.com/dhfreriks/new_photos 
Once again..... click on the small photos for the bigger ones! 

 
Dave Freriks
Newburg, Washington Co.
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The lure of a life bird less than six hours away was too great.  I drove
over to Des Moines early this AM with Daryl Tessen and Tom Prestby.  We
arrived at the lake before 7 AM and located the Black-tailed Gull within 15
minutes.  It put on a great show for about 45 minutes as it circled and fed
less than 100 feet from shore.  It really is a striking bird.

 

We tried without success for the Fork-tailed Flycatcher since it was sort of
on the way back and because it is such a classy bird.  I haven't checked the
Iowa listserv yet to see if it was found after we left, but it may have
perished in the frigid temperatures the past few days.  

 

The concentration of Red-tailed Hawks was incredible in Iowa.  We located 87
of them in Iowa and a total of 122 including the drive back through
Wisconsin and Indiana.  We also tallied 25 kestrels.  It was a great day!
Good luck if anyone else decides to make the chase.

 

Mark Korducki, New Berlin

It should be mentioned that Tom Schultz did the gull work in the National 
Geographic Guides 

and it is superb.  
For a first look at gulls I wonder if this would not be a better starting point 
than the two more 

advanced books, 
as wonderfull as they are. Another good start is the Kaufmann advanced birding 
book. I 

found it easier to start 
with them and then move to the others when they became available. Tom is of 
course too 

modest to recomend 
his own work, so Tom had to do it for him,
Tom Uttech
Oz. Co.

----- Original Message -----
From: Thomas Schultz 
Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007 8:34 am
Subject: [wisb] Re: Gull Guide recommendations
To: Wisconsin Birding Network 

> Nancy,
> 
> There are two premium gull ID/reference guides currently on the 
> market, and 
> both are excellent.  One is Gulls of North America, Europe and Asia 
> by Klaus 
> Malling Olsen and Hans Larsson, and the other is Gulls of the 
> Americas by 
> Steve Howell and Jon Dunn.
> 
> As one might judge from the titles, they differ in their geographic 
> coverage, but both include our U. S. species.  The first includes 
> both 
> photos and illustrations, and the second has only photos (with a 
> couple of 
> exceptions), but all of the images are of high quality.
> 
> I would be hard pressed to say if one or the other was better -- 
> they are 
> both superb, and would be great additions to the library of any 
> serious 
> birder.
> 
> Tom Schultz
> Green Lake
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Rev. Nancy A. Richmond" 
> To: "Wisconsin Birding Network" 
> Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 3:13 PM
> Subject: [wisb] Gull Guide recommendations
> 
> 
> > Hi all  -
> > My husband and I will be visiting my parents in Western New York 
> State 
> > after
> > Christmas. Planning on taking binos, scope and warm clothes. The 
> Niagara> River Gorge is well known for gulls in winter. Jeff and I 
> are well known 
> > for
> > not having a clue about gulls in any season! I think a book about 
> gulls> would make a great Christmas gift. Suggestions?
> >
> > Nancy Richmond
> > Polar - Langlade Co.
> >
> >
> > ##############################
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> 
> >
> > 
> 
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Birded the Lock and Dam 11 area east of Dubuque, IA this morning.
Had a few waterfowl species in close and was very surprised to find a
single juvenile Long-tailed Duck in a flock of Goldeneye.   Several of
the juvenile Bald Eagles kept making passes at the flocks of Coots.
Saw at least 7 Eagles in the area.
Also found 11 Bonaparte's Gulls and 6 fly over Tundra Swans.

From there I went to the Potosi boat landing.  Lighting was bad as
most of the birds were south of the landing.  Did find 3 Killdeer and
12 Snipe.

I then went south to the Grant River Rec area.  From there I found 5
Black Scoters.  There were several hundred Scaup mid-river, 1 Common
Loon, and 81 Swans.  There looked to be at least 5 Trumpeter Swans in
the mix.  Counted 10 Eagles in this area as well.

Good birding!

Quentin Yoerger
Evansville
Rock County

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Had a very health looking Tom Turkey visit under our bird feeders the day 
before Thanksgiving. He has been back to visit every day since. I do believe 
he is safe for another year.
Also had a pair of Evening Grosbeaks make a visit to our feeders Thursday 
and Friday.  Haven't seen them today tho.

Darlene Neisner
Jackson Co.
50 miles between LaCrosse and Eauclaire 


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I took a blustery stroll this afternoon at Havenwoods State Forest in
Milwaukee.  Just saw a handful of common bird species, but I did spot a mink
sporting in Lincoln Creek.  What a beautiful creature!  First time I've seen
one in Milwaukee County.

Jym Mooney, Milwaukee



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Hi all,

I was out scoping the Madison Lakes from about 10AM-3PM today.  The 
birding was pretty quiet with one exception--I spotted a PACIFIC LOON 
around noon off of Borcher's Beach Road.  Borcher's Beach Road is on the 
north side of Lake Mendota, just west of Governor Nelson State Park.  
There is actually a state park parking lot (FEE/State Park Sticker 
REQUIRED) on this road and a small park across the street that I often 
scope from.  The Pacific Loon was the only bird I saw from this location 
and it was moving slowly, but steadily to the west. 

What I saw...
As I scanned the lake and spotted this loon I was initially struck by 
its small head and insignificant bill.  Further study showed a rounded 
(not flat-topped) head, a bulbous neck, a relatively straight  
black/white barrier on the neck and breast (i.e. no partial collar like 
one sees on Common Loons).  Given the distance and light conditions I 
could not clearly see a "necklace", but there was a hazy dark region 
that separated the white on the bird's throat and the white on the 
bird's breast.  The bird was dark gray overall and held its bill in a 
horizontal position during my observation.  The lack of white flanks and 
flat-topped head rule out Arctic Loon.  Again light and distance were 
not ideal for observing this bird, but I noticed little contrast between 
this loon's nape and back which suggests an adult basic bird.   Last 
year's Pacific Loon on Lake Monona and the Pacific Loon Tom Prestby 
found on Lake Michigan a few weeks ago showed very conspicuous contrast 
between nape and back suggesting juvenile birds.  If anyone else tracks 
this bird down and feel they get a good enough look to conclusively age 
the bird let me know what you think.  Of the 6 Pacific Loons that have 
been observed in Madison since 1999 I can't recall any that were adult 
birds.

Other sightings...
30 Tundra Swans on University Bay and 15 more by Burrows Park
C. Goldeneye starting to appear in good numbers
30-40 Hooded Mergansers on Monona Bay
7 Common Loons at various locations
NO Scoters

Hopefully the Pacific Loon will stick around for the CBC.

Aaron Stutz
Madison, WI
Dane County
E-mail: agstutz AT sbcglobal.net
Photos: http://community.webshots.com/user/agstutz


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An Eared Grebe was at Southport Park in Kenosha this morning. The 
bird was in the lake right off of the parking lot. As I was watching 
it got up and flew a few hundred yards to the south. A couple minutes 
after it landed it got up again and flew to the south. I never saw it 
again. Southport Park is at the end of 78th Street. I did get a few 
lousy photos of the bird if anyone is interested.

Robert D. Hughes
Chicago, Illinois 

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Had 5 sandhill cranes fly over our house this morning. Looked like they  were 
on their way to Stoughton. My they are beautiful!
 
Ann Hamon
Madison/Dane



**************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest 
products.
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This morning went birding with my mom, and looked for the Mew Gull. We explored 
some areas along Lake Michigan. I enjoyed the overlook located at the dead end 
of Texas Ave. I'm not too familiar with these locations, however Tom Prestby 
really helped me out with directions :) When I arrived at the 'South Shore' 
area, I met up with Tom Uttech, and he helped me with the ID of this gull. 
Although looks weren't the greatest because of the gulls tucking in their 
heads, I was definitely able to learn and view the field marks of this cool 
gull... The small, round head... The yellow and smaller-than-ringbilled- bill, 
the slightly darker mantle, scruffy, dull colors throughout head, and also 
noticing the very black folded primaries. It's fun learning more of the 
advanced birds (like gulls, certain sparrows, etc), and already I can't wait to 
go Jaeger watching next year at the WI Point field trip! 


Sightings for the day are as follows:
Horned Grebe - 1
Canada Goose
Mallard
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer (heard one)
American Coot
Bonaparte's Gull
MEW GULL :) lifer!
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
American Crow
European Starling
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

   good birding!
       Erik Bruhnke

Waukesha, WI
birdfedr AT hotmail.com
www.pbase.com/birdfedr

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Hello All,
  
 I have both books. I have not had the "Gulls of the Americas" book that long 
so it has not been tested to much in the field. The photos are well done, but I 
wish that they were larger. Or closer up photos. 

  
 However the range maps in the back are large and really nice. It also has some 
good write ups and also lots of information about hybrid gulls. 

  
 The set up is kind of strange and in the contents/list of species page they do 
not have page numbers for the species. They group species together of what kind 
of gull they are. 

  
 Example is :Small Gulls: Little and Ross's, Hooded Gulls: Laughing, Franklin's 
and Lava Gull. 

  
 So they have all of these differnt groups and then one has to find the page 
that lists the group tital(as in the page the shows the three Hooded Gulls.) On 
that page it will have one photo of each species under that group and then the 
page numbers for each. 

  
 Anyway I find the set up kind of strange but the book overall seems good. I 
went and made an excel copy of contents page. But put the page number and 
species account number next to species name. I then was able to print it out, 
cut it out, and tape it onto another page inside the book. 

  
 If anyone would like a copy of this page I can send it as an excel or word 
doc. attachment. Just let me know back ch. 

  
 So like what Tom said, both books are good and if one wants to learn gulls ID. 
"Gulls of the Americas" is done by the Peterson Guides, and it might be alittle 
easier to start out with since it has less species to worry about. That is for 
the people birding mostly in WI or the USA. 

  
  Seth Cutright
  Newburg, Ozaukee County, WI

Thomas Schultz  wrote:  Nancy,

There are two premium gull ID/reference guides currently on the market, and 
both are excellent.  One is Gulls of North America, Europe and Asia by Klaus 
Malling Olsen and Hans Larsson, and the other is Gulls of the Americas by 
Steve Howell and Jon Dunn.

As one might judge from the titles, they differ in their geographic 
coverage, but both include our U. S. species.  The first includes both 
photos and illustrations, and the second has only photos (with a couple of 
exceptions), but all of the images are of high quality.

I would be hard pressed to say if one or the other was better -- they are 
both superb, and would be great additions to the library of any serious 
birder.

Tom Schultz
Green Lake


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rev. Nancy A. Richmond" 
To: "Wisconsin Birding Network" 
Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 3:13 PM
Subject: [wisb] Gull Guide recommendations


> Hi all  -
> My husband and I will be visiting my parents in Western New York State 
> after
> Christmas. Planning on taking binos, scope and warm clothes. The Niagara
> River Gorge is well known for gulls in winter. Jeff and I are well known 
> for
> not having a clue about gulls in any season! I think a book about gulls
> would make a great Christmas gift. Suggestions?
>
> Nancy Richmond
> Polar - Langlade Co.
>
>
> ##############################
> This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to
>  the mailing list .
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> 


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---------------------------------
Be a better pen pal. Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how.

Nancy,

There are two premium gull ID/reference guides currently on the market, and 
both are excellent.  One is Gulls of North America, Europe and Asia by Klaus 
Malling Olsen and Hans Larsson, and the other is Gulls of the Americas by 
Steve Howell and Jon Dunn.

As one might judge from the titles, they differ in their geographic 
coverage, but both include our U. S. species.  The first includes both 
photos and illustrations, and the second has only photos (with a couple of 
exceptions), but all of the images are of high quality.

I would be hard pressed to say if one or the other was better -- they are 
both superb, and would be great additions to the library of any serious 
birder.

Tom Schultz
Green Lake


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rev. Nancy A. Richmond" 
To: "Wisconsin Birding Network" 
Sent: Friday, November 23, 2007 3:13 PM
Subject: [wisb] Gull Guide recommendations


> Hi all  -
> My husband and I will be visiting my parents in Western New York State 
> after
> Christmas. Planning on taking binos, scope and warm clothes. The Niagara
> River Gorge is well known for gulls in winter. Jeff and I are well known 
> for
> not having a clue about gulls in any season! I think a book about gulls
> would make a great Christmas gift. Suggestions?
>
> Nancy Richmond
> Polar - Langlade Co.
>
>
> ##############################
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>  the mailing list .
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>
> 


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Could anyone post Tom Erdmans address for me ?

Thanks much  


Pat Fisher 
New London 
Waupaca county


If only we could all just learn to use our grief and pain for fuel for our 
journey. 

Northern Shrike along Lowe's Creek Road  AT  bend in road S of I-94 and llamma 
farm. 

 
Steve Betchkal
Eau Claire
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While wandering around in the house, trying to decide where to go birding this 
morning, I noticed a stripey little brown bird under the feeders. I put the 
bins up, expecting it to be a late Chipping Sparrow, but then I noticed the 
bright red cap and black chin. It took a second to register in my somewhat 
foggy brain, but then it hit me - Common Redpoll (hey, I haven't seen one in 
over two decades - these things take time!) I eventually realized there was 
another one at the other feeding station across the yard - both appear to be 
females. They vanished (along with all the other birds in the yard) about 20 
minutes ago, but stuff seems to be filtering back in, so I'll keep an eye out 
when I'm home and post again if they seem to be hanging around. 


On my way up to Oshkosh Thursday, I stopped to scope Lake Maria in Dodge Co. 
There were hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls, a few C. Goldeneye, and what I took 
to be Swans way down at the south end (heat distortion was pretty bad.) 


Miller's Bay at Menominee Park in Oshkosh had several hundred Canada Geese, 
with a few Cackling Geese mixed in; several hundred Coots; about a dozen Hooded 
Mergansers; several dozen each of Herring and Ring-billed Gulls; a few C. 
Goldeneye and Ruddy Ducks. 


Peter Fissel
Madison, Dane Co.

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Hi all,

I went over to Sheboygan today to see if I could find anything
exciting.  Nothing terribly out of the ordinary, but still some nice
things.  There was a gorgeous adult Glaucous Gull that was giving some
nice looks.  At least two adult and one juv. Great Black-backed Gulls
(I think that there were really three adults present, but only saw two
at a time).  A White-winged Scoter was hanging in close to the point
with some Buffleheads.  I was a little surprised to see a drake
Pintail as well as a drake Green-winged Teal with the Mallards and
Black Ducks (and hybrids thereof).  A little south of the parking lot
was a hen Black Scoter and finally found the hen Harlequin Duck.
There were also two Bonaparte's Gulls present as well as some
Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Goldeneye and a few Horned Grebes
really far out.  Good birding to all!

-Ted Keyel
Sun Prairie (for a couple days yet)
Dane Cty

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