Report of Duck Watch
By Paul Hunter
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Lake Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Snow squalls reduced visibility occasionally to 50 meters, but about 15
birders enjoyed a relatively mild mid-day on the Lake Michigan shore at
Lake Park and South Shore Park in Milwaukee. We also visited the
feeders at Locust Ravine in Lake Park.
Thanks to experienced birders with scopes, beginning birders got good
looks at a few Gadwalls, several Buffleheads, and about 130 Common
Goldeneyes (mainly females) at Lake Park just north of Bradford
Beach. A couple of American Crows keep an eye on us from trees at
the shoreline. A couple dozen Mallards hugged the frozen
shoreline. One a few Scaup floated among the goldeneyes.
A few to several dozen American Robins flew noisily away from the
lakeside bluff westward through Locust Ravine as we arrived. Two
or three even sang sustained songs. The exotic Great Tit called
sounding somewhat like a Carolina Wren. Several of us discussed
breeding European exotics seen over the past few years in SE Wisconsin
and NE Illinois, wondering whether they will harm native species.
In the midst of that conversation, the real Carolina Wren popped up at
the top of a standing snag (dead tree) without making a sound. A
few American (not European) Goldfinches, several Mourning (not European
Collared) Doves, a couple White-breasted Nuthatches, a few Black-capped
Chickadees, one Hairy Woodpecker, three Downy Woodpeckers, one
Red-bellied Woodpecker, several Dark-eyed Juncos and several
(Eurasian) House Sparrows munched at the green-and-copper feeder near
the wooden footbridge.
A small contingent drove the 6.8 miles south to South Shore Park.
In the marina and southward to the Texas Avenue overlook we saw our
greatest variety of waterfowl. Over a hundred Common Mergansers
and several Red-breasted Mergansers hugged the near side of the rocky
breakwater. A couple Canvasbacks paddled and dived among about
150 Redheads off shore from the small playground. (We could not
turn the few Scaup into the Ring-necked Duck that Jym Mooney had seen
earlier.)
A few American Black Ducks were among the few dozen Mallards at the
marina. About 150 (European) Rock Pigeons showed a variety of
dark plumages. A couple hundred gulls loafing on ice in the
marina were evenly split between Herring and Ring-billed. We
tried turn a medium-sized, smudge-necked sleeping gull into a Thayer's
but in the end, we weren't sure, though it did spark conversation about
"ring species".