I did a little birding this morning on the lakefront on Milwaukee’s south side. The Lake Express Ferry had ~6 Killdeer and they were for the most part hunkered down with the snow that fell yesterday waiting for things to warm up and melt. South Shore Yacht Club had up to 8 Horned Grebes going into breeding plumage. Dave G, thank you Dave, alerted me of 2 Common Loons near the Petroleum Pier when I was at the Express, by the time I got over there, there was still one present in breeding plumage. The loon pretty much stayed out away from shore but it is really nice to see the first loon of the year. After returning to SSYC I ran into a team of birder-photograhers, Todd, Caron, Keith, Valerie and Bruce too. Todd told me about a Eastern Screech Owl he had just found and I checked it out, thank you Todd. Cool to see a Eastern Screech Owl in a natural cavity. It was a fun morning out with some friends I have not seen for awhile and meeting some new ones too. Sunny morning with a bright blue sky cool temps, but winds made it still feel like winter. Images were taken on March 25, 2016.
Eastern Screech Owl
Binomial name: Otus asio
Category: Typical Owls
Size: 8.5” long, 20” wing span
Weight: 6 oz
Amazing how the owl blends in with the habitat
Horned Grebe
Horned Grebe
Horned Grebe preening
Horned Grebe
Horned Grebe
Common Loon, distant shot
Killdeer in the snow!
Killdeer
Killdeer calling
Killdeer resting
Killdeer
Killdeer
Killdeer
Amazing owl!! Poor cold killdeer!
hope the snow will melt soon so the killdeer have better hunting. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos!
Awesome owl! Great to see these photos. I thought I might have seen a couple of loons yesterday in Sun Prarie, but dismissed it as something else and didn’t stop to check it. Seeing your post makes me think I really could have been loons I saw. Thanks for the inspiration to keep looking.