Birds and Trolls
19 Shorebird Species at Horicon
Ah, Monday...back to the grindstone. The weather was super nice all weekend and I took advantage of nearly every moment to be outside and enjoy it. I spent most of the day Saturday at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (that's where I digiscoped the Great Egret below). There were 19 shorebird species foraging on the mudflats along Highway 49. No Buff-breasted Sandpipers yet, but there were American Golden Plovers (pictured) and Black-bellied Plovers in the mix.
Speaking of, my colleague Ben Lizdas is presently at 499 ABA life birds and Buff-breasted Sandpiper is notably missing from his otherwise impressive list. I've been checking a few places along my commute to and from work where there have been Buff-breasted Sandpipers in the past. Only two of them have been reported so far this migration, but still in the northern half of the state. No doubt, I'll find a Buff-breasted Sandpiper this fall, but the real question is...will Ben get there in time?
Mount Horeb - Birds and Trolls
On Sunday Becky and I decided to go birking (biking/birding) along Military Ridge State Trail to Mount Horeb, troll capital of the world. It's about 15 miles from where we got onto the 40-mile trail at Verona to Mount Horeb, making it a 30-mile roundtrip for us. How common are trolls in Mount Horeb? We could ask Ben because he lives there. Though we didn't go downtown, I understand that's the best place to find them. Nevertheless, we found this gruesome fellow right where we got off the bike trail. Becky intentionally kept her distance and averted her eyes, lest she fall under the troll's charm spell):
Here are the bird species we observed during our bike trip:
Green Heron
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing
European Starling
American Redstart
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch
All images © 2006 Mike McDowell
posted by Mike McDowell @ 6:49 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I live in Texas now, but I'm from Wisconsin and my family all still are there. I got to ride this same trail about a year ago while visiting my brother in Verona. What a great ride! Thanks for posting and thanks for the memories.
Laurie Foss
Sorry, I thought you lived near waukegan illinois. I have a bird here for the past two years that may be an albino sparrow? or very light sandy color. I have never saw this bird anywhere before and it looks just like all the other birds except it is like the old tan military uniforms from the 1940's. There was also a VERY big bird here two years ago I have never saw before and I did not get a chance to photograph it. I am not a bird watcher but I feel all the birds and animals year round so I have had many here.
Perhaps I will tell someone local about this?
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