060909LakeParkBirdWalk

Return to:Birding Activities in Lake Park      BIRDS OF LAKE PARK ... This page is http://home.wi.rr.com/phunter1/060909LakeParkBirdWalk.html ... 8/6/06
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Report of Warbler Walk
By Dennis and Jean Casper
Saturday, Sept 9, 2006
Lake Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

From 7:30 a. m. until well after 10:00, under cloudy skies, cool temperatures, and some stiff winds off the lake, 17 birders, led by Marilyn Bontly and Dennis Casper, roamed Lake Park in search of often elusive warblers and whatever other feathered fauna might be found. The morning started off well with a hot spot in the area around the tennis courts that featured a large flock of Eastern Bluebirds as well as several other species, some warblers among them. But as the group moved over to the bird feeders in the Locust Street Ravine and along the ravine to the bridge over Ravine Drive, avian activity diminished substantially and sightings became sporadic, generally of only single individuals. And then along the path between the ravine bridge and the Wolcott statue, activity seemed to have ceased almost entirely and there were virtually no new sightings.

Activity, and our spirits, revived, however, as we crossed the golf course, where, among others, Eastern Kingbirds busied themselves with catching their meals, one of which landed within ten feet of us and munched down its prey apparently indifferent to our presence, several Palm Warblers bobbed about in the grass, and a pair of Cooper’s Hawks cavorted above us. The walk ended with a flurry of activity in the trees and bushes just to the south of the feeders in the Locust Street Ravine, where we added several warblers to the day’s list, including Magnolia and Yellow Warblers, a Northern Parula, and a Common Yellowthroat. In the end, we racked up a total of forty species, including thirteen warblers. Participants in the walk included not only Lake Park regulars but also folks representing Riverside Park, Riveredge Nature Center, Schlitz Audubon Center, and Enderis Park. At one point, a few of the group detoured from the walk to a Native American ceremony at Lake Park’s Indian mound, and, after the conclusion of the walk, two of our number joined a crowd of extras in a commercial being filmed at the north entrance of the park and for these efforts, garnered a $50 contribution to Lake Park Friends’ birdseed fund. All in all, it was a fine day of birding and camaraderie.

Cooper’s Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker

Least Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Red-eyed Vireo
American Crow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Eastern Bluebird
Veery

American Robin
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler

Black and White Warbler
American Redstart
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson’s Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Addendum by Paul Hunter

As the others watched bluebirds, I strolled south along the rugby field. Cormorants and gulls struggled northward along the lakeshore against the stiff but surprizingly warm northeast breeze. Their slow progress allowed close inspection of a wide variety of plumages of various ages of Ring-billed Gulls. Large dark first-year Herring Gulls also flew slowly and could not be mistaken for jaegars. A brief flash of two medium-sized diving falcon-shaped birds could have been merlins. Male Mallards started to show their green-headed, gray-mantled finery poking out from their dark brown plumage of late summer. Five Sanderlings allowed my approach within 10 meters for a few minutes.

As usual, the North Light House Ravine was devoid of bird life. However, the golf course yielded a Red-breasted Nuthatch and a dozen winter-plumaged American Goldfinches feasting on abundant cones of small spuces. The relatively open vista northwesterly from the southeastern corner of the golf course showed promise for hawk watching. From there I saw a couple V-formations of large Canada Geese. In the second V, the two smaller birds that caught my attention turned out to be Snow Geese.

Additional Species:
Snow Geese
Canada Geese
Mallard
Double-crested Cormorant
Sanderling
Herring Gull

P.S. Looks like the Red-breasted Nuthatch and Am. Goldfinches we saw muching spruce cones were NOT a sign of a good year for winter finches.

Date:         Fri, 8 Sep 2006 09:24:35 -0400
Sender:       "National Birding Hotline Cooperative (Chat Line)"
Subject:      Winter Finch Forecast 2006 - 2007

GENERAL FINCH FORECAST 2006 - 2007 This is one of those rare years when most conifers (softwoods) and broad-leaved deciduous trees (hardwoods) have synchronized bumper seed crops across much of Eastern Canada and the bordering United States. ... Very few boreal finches will move south of Ontario this fall and winter. ... Where To See Winter Finches: This will be a good year for a winter trip to Algonquin Park. The park is a three hours drive north of Toronto.