Tag Archives: Manitowoc

2020 Birding Blog, Chasing Birds

Rare Birds in November

December 1, 2020 rmsallmanngmailcom 1 Comment

While 2020 has been a year filled with turmoil and strife for many people, for birders in Wisconsin, this year has provided numerous rare birds. This trend continued in November when two Brants were reported within weeks of each other.

I made the nearly two hour trip up to Manitowoc in hopes of getting a look at the Brant that had been frequenting the impoundment. While the air temperature wasn’t particularly cold the high speed winds made it feel chilly. I walked out to the area where the bird was being seen to find several birds loafing around in the shallow water and on the mudflats. Among them were American Coots, Canada Geese, Northern Shovelers, and Greater Yellowlegs. The sun was in my eyes making it hard to see, but from what I could tell, the Brant wasn’t mixed in with this assorted group of birds.

I continued walking south around the impoundment until I rounded the corner and saw a single bird sitting near a puddle. To my surprise it was the Brant! It was extremely close to the path and occasionally looked up from eating grass. I took several pictures and videos before moving around the rest of the impoundment. On my way back I encountered two Wilson’s Snipes along with a White-tailed Deer that was swimming out in the lake.

A few weeks later I followed a report of a Red Phalarope in Dane County. Knowing I had to go to work later in the dat, I made the quick decision to try for it. I drove the hour west under cloudy and ominous looking skies and got to the boat launch where the bird had been reported. To my delight I saw other birders pointing cameras at the lake.

As I got closer, I saw the small bird twirling around in the water no more than five feet off shore. It seemed to have very little to no fear of the birders present and went about its business feeding in what must have been fairly cold water. The Red Phalarope is the rarest of the three Phalaropes that make visits to Wisconsin and it was amazing to see a rare bird at such close range.

With all of the craziness that life has thrown at us this November it was great to be able to get lost in the chase and find some year birds.

2020 Birding Blog

Red Knot in Manitowoc

September 8, 2020 rmsallmanngmailcom 1 Comment

On Sunday I took my friend Ashlee up to the Manitowoc lake front in search of some migrating shorebirds. Over the past week there had been multiple rare birds reported there including a Buff-breasted Sandpiper and a Red Knot. In addition, Manitowoc has some very pretty views along the lake which make it a great spot to visit even if the birds there are common.

When we arrived, there was a cool breeze blowing across the harbor and with air temperatures around 68 degrees (perfect for a September day in Wisconsin.) We walked the concrete path out over the water and before we even got to our birding spot, encountered two minks darting around the rocks catching Round Gobies. The minks must have been used to people as they made no qualms about being out in the open and even sometimes seeming to investigate the onlookers.

We continued to the end of the concrete path where we could see a lot of what appeared to be freshly dredged substrate. The peeps were out working the edges of the mounds of soil and puddles that dotted the landscape. The first birds we noticed on the mud flats were the usual Pectoral Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, and Least Sandpipers. In addition to these birds in the foreground were Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs hanging out near the water in the back along with two American White Pelicans.

As we scoured the numerous birds feeding, we saw there were actually numerous Stilt Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plovers mixed in on the north side of the mud flats. As we looked closer, we noticed a dull gray bird that seemed different than anything else we saw there. This bird was round and stout with a stubbier bill than the nearby Stilt Sandpipers and had a faint white stripe over the eye. While it was missing it’s namesake reddish orange breeding plumage, this was in fact the Red Knot!

We watched the Red Knot for a while, getting some really nice looks at it before moving on. We decided to climb the rocks that lined the impoundment. Years ago these rocks were extremely easy to walk on as they were large and flat, but now, the lake had eroded large chunks of them away making it a bit more of an adventure. We rounded the bay where the shorebirds were and worked our way south on the rocks. Caspian Terns called overhead and Spotted Sandpipers flew from rock to rock as we walked by.

Eventually we made our way back to our original spot where most of the shorebirds were. A Great Blue Heron stood watch over the shorebirds and we found a buffy colored Baird’s Sandpiper among the peeps. The Red Knot was nowhere to be found when we checked the second time so we were very glad to have seen it the first time around.

Overall, it was an absolutely beautiful day in early September to be out birding and Ashlee and I enjoyed ourselves checking out the shorebirds and exploring Manitowoc.

2017 Birding Blog, Habitat Highlights

Manitowoc And Sheboygan Lakefront

July 25, 2017 rmsallmanngmailcom Leave a comment

Yesterday Derek and I met Rob in Manitowoc to see if we could find any interesting birds out on the lake. We started out checking the impoundment where there was a surprising lack of gull diversity. The only species present were Ring-Billed Gulls. Walking out to the impoundment we saw many Mallards and two Hooded Mergansers. Upon arriving at the walkway that circles the small lagoon we looked out over the shoreline with the sun in our eyes. There were two Tern species: Caspian and Forster’s, a Great Blue Heron, and several American White Pelicans. On the far shore we were able to see some peeps. Two were Semipalmated Sandpipers and one was a Least.

We walked around the the lagoon hopping from rock to rock to try and get a view of the birds sitting on the sand bar. Along the way we encountered high numbers of Song Sparrows. Most of the time they could be heard but not seen. We also located a few Spotted Sandpipers that would fly in front of us in order to stay a comfortable distance away.

By the time we got to the east side of the impoundment many of the gulls had departed from the lagoon, as a result we continued on toward the many gulls that were sitting on the break wall. On the way there, a crowd of Barn Swallows lifted off from the grasses. The birds swirled around us and some landed on the taller, stronger stalks. Almost simultaneously someone with a dog spooked all of the gulls. Feeling a bit dejected we continued around and located two silhouetted Short-Billed Dowitchers.

Notable misses in Manitowoc were Bonaparte’s Gulls, Franklin’s Gulls, and Little Gulls that usually summer there.

Next we headed to Sheboygan where we were primarily going to check the north point. There were many birds sitting on the rock shelf just off-shore. Many of these birds were Herring and Ring-Billed Gulls but we did see some Bonaparte’s Gulls and what appeared to be a pair of first cycle Lesser Black-Backed Gulls. Two Spotted Sandpipers flew from rock to rock on the shore and on the rock island. We also noticed Double-Crested Cormorants, Caspian Terns, Forster’s Terns, and Common Terns. We once again missed out on Franklin’s Gulls at this location.

In all, we didn’t have a great day at the lake as we didn’t come up with any difficult to find birds but it was still great to be outside and get the chance to look!