One of my birding stops today provided nice views of a male Hooded Merganser. It was hanging out with some Mallards along the Fox River in Waukesha. A few times it dove for something to eat and came up with a crayfish. The weather was misty with a few flurries … Continue reading
With not much going on bird wise I decided to try for the visiting Harris’s Sparrow that has been reported at the Mequon Nature Preserve. Normal range for the species is Minnesota west and south. After about 15 minutes the stunning male Harris’s Sparrow showed up with a small flock … Continue reading
One of my birding stops today was Greenfield Park in Milwaukee. I came across a flock of Cedar Waxwings high in a tree. I noticed what was taking place, the Cedar Waxwings would take turns coming down to what I think were Buckthorn berries and eating just a couple of … Continue reading
I received a tip on a Snowy Owl in Milwaukee County early morning and was in the area it was reported. I checked it out and took a couple of shots of this beautiful Snowy Owl. A cold morning with some good wind, made it feel like winter is here. … Continue reading
White out birding I came across a nice White-tailed Deer, buck. It was just roaming around in the woods picking at a few things to eat. I took a couple shots of it and then it bedded down near a doe. Nice to see these big ones around. Cloudy morning … Continue reading
While birding the Milwaukee lakefront I came across a Coyote. The Coyote was on to a couple of little critters, maybe field mice/voles under the snow but never captured one to eat. It roamed out of the area it was in out of sight. A breezy morning with temps around … Continue reading
I have put together a collection of some of the Wisconsin birding moments from the year 2019. The collection includes vagrants, special visitors, or just the beautiful birds that nest here or migrate through the state of Wisconsin. All images were taken in 2019. It was a very exciting year … Continue reading
Birding along the lakefront in Milwaukee this morning one of the highlights was a female White-winged Scoter neat the Petroleum Pier. It dove while I was there coming up with mussels to eat. A drab duck but always nice to see something different this time of year. Another species to … Continue reading
A Townsend’s Solitaire, a rare visitor was recently reported at the Boerner Botanical Gardens. I thought with birding slow in general it was a good opportunity check for this one. After about 2 1/2 hours the Townsend’s Solitaire came out of no where from the west and dropped into a … Continue reading
It was a fun morning for everyone counting birds for the Christmas Bird Count at the Wehr Nature Center. The highlight during my counting was a stunning adult Red-tailed Hawk perched in a tree hunting. The hawk gave nice views for a few moments with eyes always moving around waiting … Continue reading
Birding Lakeshore State Park this morning in Milwaukee I came across a Snowy Owl sitting on a deck. I hide out of sight and took a couple of shots. A walker with a dog on a leash near the area must have caught the eyes of the Snowy Owl as … Continue reading
Birding along the lakefront in Milwaukee this morning it was a nice surprise to find a Snowy Owl. 1st one of the winter for me. It was resting and I let it be. I did take a couple of images at a safe distance to share. It was cloudy this … Continue reading
An early stop at the Fox River in Waukesha provided nice views of a female Ruddy Duck. It has been hanging around for a couple of days just sleeping in the middle of the river. This morning it was moving around with some Mallards. Sorta drab duck, the males in … Continue reading
Albino Squirrels are not common at all so I took advantage of getting some images of one of two in Waukesha County when I had the opportunity. They are storing nuts for the winter and working on a nest too. I was a pretty nice morning with some sun, mild … Continue reading
One of my birding stops today in Waukesha County along a river. It had a stunning male Hooded Merganser that was hanging out with Mallards. The Hooded Merganser gave nice views, I witnessed very little feeding, only once I saw part of a crayfish in its bill when it came … Continue reading
Nothing goes to waste! Amazing what will show up on a trail cam if White-tailed Deer insides are left in a field after dressing the animal. A friend offered me insides from a deer that he just shot with a bow. I said why not. I set the insides in … Continue reading
One of my birding stops today was Port Washington. Literally 100’s of Red-breasted Mergansers provided action in the harbor but the highlight was Cedar Waxwings eating Red Cedar berries at Coal Dock Park. The waxwings for the most part just perched in a few trees and occasion would go for … Continue reading
While out birding in Milwaukee County I stumbled upon two raccoons peeking out of their home, a hole in a tree. They moved around some in their hole with one trying to climb up into the tree hole out of sight. After awhile one managed and the other in sight … Continue reading
While birding Lakeshore State Park in Milwaukee the highlight of the walk were two adult Horned Larks feeding on seeds in the grass in the snow. On one occasion I saw one eat an insect, so they are not strictly seed eaters. They pulled seeds off of plants and ate … Continue reading
A stop at McKinley Beach in Milwaukee along the lakefront provided views of 2 American Pipits. Thinking these are 1st winter birds…They fed along the beach clutter along the shore finding things to eat. Ring-billed Gulls were in the same area and slightly harassed the pipits on occasion flushing them. … Continue reading
