Birding report including rarities & festival news
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Northern Wisconsin The story is similarly slow across the north. After last week's snow and ice, birds have dispersed away from feeders, though dark-eyed juncos, American tree sparrows, and a few fox sparrows remain. White-throated and chipping sparrow numbers are increasing. Purple finches and pine siskins continue as well. Expect the first orioles and rose-breasted grosbeaks in the week ahead, though indigo buntings and hummingbirds may lag some days after. The first eastern whip-poor-wills have reached the sandy pine-oak barrens they call home. Yellow-rumped, palm, and pine remain the dominant warblers, while golden-crowned and especially ruby-crowned kinglets are prevalent now. Duck migration is past peak though some decent numbers of scaup, redheads, and others persist. Breeding Activity Nesting season chugs on as our earliest migrants are now hatching young. This week participants in the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas found the first sandhill crane colts, American woodcock chicks, broods of Canada geese and mallards, fledged house finches, and egg-filled nests of American robin, northern cardinal, killdeer, and other early nesting species. Great horned owl chicks are getting big now, with many leaving their nests. Beware of the young's shrieking begging call, which is often misidentified as the extremely rare barn owl. Rarities & Reporting Some of the rare finds across the state this week included a little gull in Door county, white-eyed vireo and three little blue herons in La Crosse, cinnamon teal in Jefferson, worm-eating warbler eating suet in Calumet, piping plovers in Milwaukee, summer tanager in Milwaukee, and western tanagers in Monroe and Eau Claire. Golden-crowned sparrows, a very rare species in the region, have been seen in several neighboring states so keep an eye out among groups of white-throated and white-crowned sparrows! This is an exciting time to go birding. Learn more about the upcoming International Migratory Bird Day and find an event near you. And as always, help us track the migration by reporting your finds to Wisconsin eBird at www.ebird.org/wi (exit DNR). Good birding! - Ryan Brady, Bureau of Wildlife Management research scientist, Ashland
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