Statewide birding report: Songbird migration ramps up
This week brought a mixed bag of migrants around the state. The bulk of common nighthawks were found across central Wisconsin, including over 3,000 counted in Dunn County on August 25, but the peak is likely past now for all but southernmost counties. Flocks of blue-winged teal, our earliest migrating duck species, were reported from Horicon and a few other locations. Overhead, some raptors have also begun to trickle south, particularly the first ospreys, broad-winged hawks, and immature bald eagles. While shorebird abundance is generally waning, diversity was good this week at places like Horicon, Big Eau Pleine Reservoir, and Lake Michigan beaches. Lesser yellowlegs, semipalmated sandpipers, sanderlings, and semipalmated plovers were among the species reported. Rarer finds included Hudsonian godwit, willet, buff-breasted sandpiper, and piping plover. Look for more black-bellied plovers and American golden-plovers in the weeks ahead at sod farms, beaches, and mudflats where shorebirds are typically found. Songbird migration continues to ramp up, including some good warbler flights all the way through southern Wisconsin, where up to 12 species have been found in a day. Boreal forest breeders like blackpoll, Wilson's, bay-breasted, and palm warblers have also arrived, as have building numbers of Swainson's thrushes, whose peeper-like calls are often heard overhead as they migrate at night. Cedar waxwing migration is underway across the north as mixed flocks of adult and juvenile birds head south, occasionally descending to devour fruits like mountain ash, cherries, invasive buckthorn, and others. Meanwhile, nesting season carries on for some species. American goldfinches are prominently fledging young now. Song sparrows, common yellowthroats, eastern bluebirds, mourning doves, northern cardinals, barn swallows, and a few other species were also seen with recently-fledged young this week. The week's biggest rarities were a swallow-tailed kite in Marquette county, Wisconsin's 12th record of this gulf coast species, and western kingbirds in Sauk. Help us track the migration and find out what others are seeing at http://www.ebird.org/wi. Good birding! - Ryan Brady, conservation biologist, Ashland
The week's best find was Wisconsin's 12th swallow-tailed kite discovered in Marquette County on August 23 and continuing as of today, August 30.Photo credit: Sunil Gopalan.
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Upcoming featured events at Wisconsin recreational properties
Friday, August 31, 2018
- Lakeshore State Park - Nature Photos with a Naturalist
- Newport State Park - Outdoor Movie Night: "The Emissary"
- Kettle Moraine State Forest - Northern Unit - Fading into Darkness Night Hike
Saturday, September 1, 2018
- Copper Falls State Park - Discover Loon Lake: Aquatic Plants and Loon Biology
- Devil's Lake State Park - Exploration Station - Outdoor Challenge, Monarch Tagging
- Governor Dodge State Park - Brilliant Bluebirds
- Kettle Moraine State Forest - Northern Unit - Widening of the Universe: Telescope's Influence, Summer Star Gazing: Summer Saturday Evening Event
- Kohler Andrae State Park - Pudgy Pies, Hobo Pies, Campfire Pies
- Lake Wissota State Park -Universe in the Park
- Lakeshore State Park - Lake Michigan Education Series -- Restoration Initiatives to Reclaim the Lake
- Merrick State Park - Wildlife in Your Backyard
- Peninsula State Park - Songs of the Great Lakes Campfire
- Richard Bong State Recreation Area - Stargazing Saturday
- Willow River State Park - Long, Skinny Snakes and Totally Turtles
- Yellowstone Lake State Park - Universe in the Park
- Whitefish Dunes State Park - Hike to the Top of Wisconsin's Tallest Sand Dune
- Wyalusing State Park - Starsplitters Astronomy Program
Sunday, September 2, 2018
- Harrington Beach State Park - Better Nature Photos with Your Phone
- Interstate State Park - Wild Rice
- Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit - Oleson Cabin Open House
- Kohler Andrae State Park - K9 Search and Rescue
Saturday and Sunday, September 1-2, 2018
For all events search Get Outdoors