Kettle Moraine State Forest Bobwhite

Derek and I went out to the Kettle Moraine State Forest to see if we could find any interesting birds. We made it out there at around six pm and started walking the ski trail near Mackey Picnic Area.

The forest was incredibly quiet. The only birds that we heard or saw were American Goldfinches, Brown-Headed Cowbirds, Black-Capped Chickadees, and a single Blue Jay.

After having little success at that location we went to the field closest to the Ottawa Lake Campgrounds in search of sparrows and other grassland birds. We immediately heard the quirky song of a Brown Thrasher singing in a nearby tree as well as an Eastern Towhee in the distance. Several Field Sparrows were also in the area and occasionally perched up in the snags.

Brown Thrasher

While walking one of the paths in the field, we came across the best bird of the day: A Northern Bobwhite. Neither of us had ever seen a Bobwhite in the wild and we were extremely excited to see it foraging in the short grasses.

Most Bobwhites found in the state are part of populations that were released or escaped captivity. In fact, some people estimate that there are no Bobwhites left in Wisconsin that are not related to a bird that was at some point captive.

Northern Bobwhite

After watching the Bobwhite for about five minutes we continued walking the field. All of the sudden, Eastern Meadowlark calls started coming from seemingly every direction. We were finally able to get a visual on two birds chasing each other around and landing in the larger trees. Also in the area were a Palm Warbler and a Chipping Sparrow.

Eastern Meadowlark

Although we didn’t find a very high number of species, any day you find a life bird is a pretty solid day!

Milwaukee Lakefront Piping Plovers

After work, Derek was kind enough to bring my camera and meet my at the Milwaukee lakefront in search of some cool birds that had been reported recently. Our primary target was a Le Conte’s Sparrow that was found this morning near the small section of trees and bushes north of Bradford Beach known as “the magic hedge.”

Looking For A Le Conte’s

We arrived just at the magic hedge just after the rain stopped. Even without the precipitation, the conditions were less than ideal with dark gray skies and gusty winds coming off the lake. We quickly spotted several sparrows in the west side of the hedge. We took some time to identify the species and found them to be mixed. A White-Crowned Sparrow, White-Throated Sparrow, and Swamp Sparrow hopped around in the leaf litter while a Field Sparrow and American Tree Sparrow occupied the upper part of the bushes. The American Tree Sparrow was particularly surprising considering most of them should have headed back up north by now.

Further east, we found three Palm Warblers high up in the trees, and a chattering Common Yellowthroat lower in the thickets. There was also a very cooperative Veery foraging along the ground. This bird gave us excellent looks, and while not as rare as a Le Conte’s Sparrow, it was a nice consolation to get close looks at it.

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Veery

We continued east and walked along the lake going south hoping the le Conte’s had simply relocated nearby. We encountered at least six Savannah Sparrows around the large boulders that line the shores of Lake Michigan as well as extremely high numbers of migrating Double-Crested Cormorants and Red-Breasted Mergansers. A chorus of terse, raspy calls of Caspian Terns could be heard as the birds flew back and forth over the lake. The le Conte’s was nowhere to be found.

Birding The Beaches

After striking out of the Le Conte’s Sparrow we decided to head south to Bradford Beach to look for the Piping Plovers that had been reported earlier in the day. When we arrived, there was no sign of any birds on the beach. We began walking anyway just because it’s always fun to hang out on the beach. While we were aimlessly walking we came upon two tiny birds running up the coast along the tide. They were the Piping Plovers! We spent time watching the two birds searching for food and moving along the sand. Both birds were banded with one of them sporting more bands than the other. According to additional research, one of these birds was banded in South Carolina and nesting in the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin.

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Banded Piping Plover

After spending some time with the Piping Plovers we went to Mckinley Beach. Mckinley beach is a small and typically muddy beach surrounded on both sides by rocks. At this location there were nineteen Willets. These birds appeared to be a bit chilly as they were huddled together and rather puffy looking. Willets have a humorous high pitched, one-note call that groups of the species will perform in sequence as if talking to one another.

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Willets

Even though we missed the Le Conte’s Sparrow, we were rewarded by a few other Wisconsin rarities. Even on a cold and rainy day, it was definitely worth the trip.