Who Says You Can't Go Birding in Weather Like This?

Destination Havenwoods State Forest - Milwaukee, WI.  Saturday, April 2, 2016.  (8:00 - 11:30)

The weather man said that it would be cold (29 degrees) and snowing...he was right.  My co-worker, Robert Massey and I had made plans earlier in the week to go birding on this particular Saturday morning and we were determined not to let his first time at Havenwoods be a bummer; regardless of the semi-foul weather.  Oddly enough our area was having what might be referred to as an "early spring."  The temperatures had been into the high 50's with sun and fair conditions before Mother Nature had decided on this post-Easter (April-fool's) meteorological prank.

Crazy birders on a snowy April day

We had accidentally stumbled upon the fact that each of us had a common interest in bird watching.  I think it was mainly because Robert was going my way home one afternoon and noticed how gregariously I had festooned my truck with a large black decal of a bird on the driver's door.  Either that or the full-size set of silver hands holding a pair of 12 X 50 Bushnell's I had affixed to the hood as an ornament.  Regardless; there's nothing like a completely unorthodox decorated vehicle to strike up conversation.  After a few minutes chatting about all things bird; we had decided that it would be fun to "go birding sometime," and this was that some time.

Robert is a very capable and knowledgeable bird watcher.  He is particularly adept at seeing raptors and other birds that I would miss standing still.  We had a great morning watching birds!  Here are a few of the images I took while we crisscrossed the varying snow-covered ecosystems of Havenwoods.

Havenwoods in the snow - 2016

The stream...

Robert Massey stands on the snow-covered bridge and looks for birds

These snow-covered (last year's) thistles await the sun

Far off Northern flicker sits in a snowy tree.

We were stalked by a Turkey...but only its tracks gave it away

The elusive Brown creeper is here!

Single Mallard (L) and three Blue-winged teals (R)

Mr. Robert Massey

The "cute" Black-capped Chickadee

One feather out of place on this American Robin

Havenwoods with an American Kestrel in the foreground

The Song sparrow sings his tiny heart out!

The determined Downy woodpecker

Three Canada geese  (flying north?)

Eastern Bluebirds

Eastern Bluebird

The majestic American Robin

Robert and I tallied a very respectable 32 species!

1. Mallard
2. Blue-winged teal
3. Great Blue heron
4. Cooper's hawk
5. Re-tailed hawk
6. American kestrel
7. Ring-billed gull
8. Herring gull
9. Rock pigeon
10. Mourning dove
11. Downy woodpecker
12. Red-bellied woodpecker
13. Northern (yellow-shafted) flicker
14. Eastern phoebe
15. American crow
16. Black-capped chickadee
17. White-breasted nuthatch
18. Brown creeper
19. Ruby-crowned kinglet
20. Golden-crowned kinglet
21. Eastern bluebird
22. American robin
23. Brown thrasher
24. European starling
25. Yellow (Myrtle) warbler
26. Song sparrow
27. Dark-eyed junco
28. Northern cardinal
29. Eastern meadowlark
30. Common grackle
31. House finch
32. House sparrow

Roadside Birding this Holiday Season

A person can go bird-watching anywhere, anytime...why not while driving in the car?

On a recent WPT trip to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul Minnesota to spend some pre-Christmas time with my two oldest children; I counted birds as I drove.  Counting helps the miles fly by and also assists in staying awake.  In order to do this, one must be traveling during the daytime.  Thankfully I was.  In addition, my trusty IPod was busily sending a nearly endless wireless signal to the WPT's stereo of over 125 different "For the Birds" (older) but informative and entertaining podcasts gleaned from the gentle and hugely talented, multi-book author and former staff science editor of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Laura Erickson.  (The Bird Lady) FYI: Her "newer" podcasts are located here.  

Living in Duluth Minnesota with her husband and three children, Laura has dedicated her professional life to the love, understanding, and protection of birds. She is author of five books about birds, including 101 Ways to Help Birds, The Bird Watching Answer Book, and National Outdoor Book Award winner Sharing the Wonder of Birds with Kids. Since 1986, she has written and produced “For the Birds,” a 3–5 minute radio program broadcast on several public and community stations mostly in the Upper Midwest from Powell, Wyoming, to Jamestown, New York; the program is also podcast on iTunes. Laura was science editor at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is a contributing editor for BirdWatching magazine, blogs for the American Birding Association and BirdWatching, and maintains her own birding blog at http://lauraerickson.blogspot.com. She writes regularly for a rural newspaper, The Country Today, and has contributed articles to Birding, BirdScope (which she edited for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology from 2008-2011), Audubon, Wisconsin Trails, The Passenger Pigeon, The Loon, the Wisconsin State Journal, Duluth News-Tribune, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. 

She serves as the “American Robin Expert” and the “Whooping Crane Expert” for the Webby-Award-winning website Journey North. She was Awarded the 2007 Bronze Passenger Pigeon Award “for significant contributions to Wisconsin ornithology,” and the Conservationist of the Year award by The Raptor Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Laura spent two decades as a licensed wildlife rehabber caring for injured and orphaned birds from her home. She rehabbed hundreds of birds of many species, from hummingbirds to owls and loons, specializing on Common Nighthawks. She’s served as a counter for raptors and songbirds at Hawk Ridge and along the Lake Superior shoreline in conjunction with Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve, and was awarded the Frances F. Roberts Award at a joint meeting of the Wilson and Cooper Ornithological Societies for her paper, “Daytime Warbler Migration along Lake Superior.” She was also a winner in the American Ornithologists’ Union’s bird-calling contest in the repertoire category for her owl calls.

Chris Biddleman - photo

Without a doubt the most common bird to see is the Canada goose. Large and small familiar "vee" flocks of flying geese move over the landscape along that particular route from Milwaukee to the NW. Stationary groups can also be seen moving amongst the corn stubble in fields on both sides of the freeways; their heads sometimes the only thing that juts above the roadside snowbanks. I believe I counted in the neighborhood of 140.  Ducks can be seen wading in shallow ponds and are a bit more difficult to identify at 65 MPH, and fellow drivers frown understandably if one hits their brakes suddenly in an attempt to make a positive species ID. My strong advice; Just call them "ducks" and call it a day. Small but fierce falcons called American kestrels are much easier to identify as they sit on wires and highway signs overlooking the roadside for small moving prey, and the much larger Red-tailed hawk, also sits watching an open field for it's next meal. I counted three kestrels, 19 Red-tails, and two Cooper's hawks in my 600 mile journey on both sides of the freeway.  I also spotted approximately 40 turkeys in lightly snow covered open areas (most likely old farm fields) and an assortment of Black-capped chickadees, Blue jays, and small flocks of American goldfinches as they roller-coastered past the windshield.

If possible; try it yourself the next car trip you take.  You might even invent a game of Avian Roadside Bingo for your children to play as they see certain birds that correspond to their game board; marking them with a sticker or some such identifier.  You know that would be a challenge right?  Just to get today's kids to shut off their cell phones, IPads, DVD players, etc. and actually look out the window at America...HA...who am I kidding?  LOL...

Anyway, one can hope...good luck! - B.Stud

Finally Spring! - Havenwoods Revisited

Bird-watching at Havenwoods State Forest in the City of Milwaukee (6141 N. Hopkins Street) is always a treat.  I recently had an opportunity to spend several early Saturday hours walking its now pastoral 237 acres on a windy March day in 2012.  The forest has quite a storied past as the site of the Milwaukee County House of Corrections beginning in 1917 where prisoners also ran a small farm and built chairs in the Granville Chair Factory, and as a 1950’s Nike missile site among other uses.  Havenwoods is managed by the State of Wisconsin Department of Natural resources and has an active “friends of” group that cares for its needs and assists in the planning of its overall make-up.  The forest map indicates the many different areas of interest in terms of wetlands and forested regions created and maintained, as well as the railroad tracks and various paths; both gravel and grass.

This particular morning with a strong south wind blowing, as I walked towards the westernmost boundary of the property along the railroad tracks I could detect the unmistakable smell of creosote.  One glance down the tracks was all it took to answer why; large neat stacks of new ties freshly dipped alongside the rails waiting for some sort of track re-lay project.  If you have ever smelled that scent, you know there’s nothing else quite like it.  Creosote was first discovered in its wood-tar form in 1832 by Carl Reichenbach. (February 12, 1788 – January 1869) was a notable chemist, geologist, metallurgist, naturalist, industrialist and philosopher, and a member of the prestigious Prussian Academy of Sciences. Creosote is a coal-tar product that has been used to treat green lumber under railroad tracks since 1838 when a man named John Bethell patented the process for its use on railroad timbers.  According to the Internet, “Creosote is the portion of chemical products obtained by the distillation of a tar that remains heavier than water, notably useful for its anti-septic and preservative properties.” There is an interesting link HERE if you are as curious as I was, to see just how Chileans “treat” the tie-lumber with the product.

As I approached the old weathered concrete 1911 train bridge I noticed a bird in the distance moving from branch to branch.  It appeared to have a long piece of rope or ribbon in its beak.  I made a quick assumption that it was building a nest somewhere, but in the next 20 seconds it became obvious that the long thing in its mouth was not nest building material.  I swung my binoculars up and saw that the bird was an American kestrel and the “rope” was in fact a Garter snake.  The bird was in a tree now and stripping the raw meat from the snake as I watched and snapped a few long-distance pictures.  I was still over 100 feet away and the sun was behind the bird; so not the best conditions for a picture, but the live-viewing was amazing!  I saw other kestrels in the area and was thrilled each time I spotted one.  These little raptors are amazingly colorful and distinct in appearance.  I could go on and on about how cool these tiny but fierce animals are, but I will point the reader of this blog to a progressive initiative that started many years ago that has the Interstate highway department involved in fostering a better life for these wee birds of prey; the Highway Sign Nest Box program.  Here's Iowa's program in particular...check it out.  

American and other kestrel's feed on snakes; hovering for hours over likely meadow lands, they swoop down to grab prey which has been spotted, alighting to feed. Kites, such as the Swallow-tailed, Black-shouldered and Mississippi, feed on garters, as do some of the harriers and hawks. Hunting strategies vary, from airborne reconnaissance to perching in likely spots and watching for movement below.  It was probably the uncharacteristically warm March weather along the railroad bed that brought out the snake, much to its detriment.

A flock of Sandhill cranes flying many thousands of feet above my head, yet clearly audible; flew to the northwest, cackling and squawking.  Dried coyote spoor was evident in many parts of the forest with its characteristic animal hair make-up.  Fresh deer droppings lay in piles, black ball bearings glistening in the light. Later when I crossed over to the northeast section of the forest, I encountered a herd of about 10 whitetail deer.  They were sneaking along the bank of one of the seasonally wet drainage ditches on the opposite side of me.  I carefully navigated downwind of them and sat down in the warm dry grass at the base of a small hawthorn and watched them as they moved southwest to points unknown.  The incredible bonus early March sunshine bathing me in warmth along with the soft southern breeze wafting through the leafless trees brought me a feeling of intense joy.  I finally hoisted myself up and walked the rest of the way back to the parked car with a big smile on my face...it was finally Spring!

A Birdstud Spring!