I birded the Milwaukee lakefront late morning and it was pretty quiet. The highlight was my FOY Killdeer at the Lake Express. There were 2 present late morning. This is a typical place to find them in spring. The open water had some ducks in some places but they were still the common species that have been recently reported. 1-White-winged Scoter was far out at the lighthouse. I stopped at Bradford Beach, it had a few of the Scaups and Ring-billed Gulls. What surprised me was the ~8 foot wall of ice that went the length of the beach that was there last week was just about gone from the recent warmup and wave action. It is ready for shorebirds, an algae mat would be a plus. Images were taken on March 17, 2015.
Killdeer
Binomial name: Charadrius vociferus
Category: Lapwings and Plovers
Size: 10.5” long, 24” wing span
Weight: 3.3 oz
For a few moments this one appeared to be working on a scrap for a possible nest site?
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Killdeer young at Lake Express in Milwaukee Wisconsin on May 1, 2012
Partial display of the “broken wing distraction” to keep the unwanted away from the nest or nest area.
