Bird Watchers Digest Big Sit 2017

The Big Sit! is an annual, international, noncompetitive birding event hosted by Bird Watcher’s Digest and founded by the New Haven (Connecticut) Bird Club. Every team that observes the year’s “Golden Bird” has a chance to win $500. Every year, bird watchers from around the globe unite on this special day by participating in this free event, open to any person and club in any country! The Big Sit! is sponsored by Swarovski Optik.

How this works is you create a real or imaginary circle 17 feet in diameter and Sit, stand, or wander around inside the circle for 24 hours, counting all the bird species you see or hear. Participants are allowed to come and go from the circle—especially for the purpose of bringing food back into the circle, and the circle need not be be occupied for the entire 24 hours. Then submit your findings.

BirdMilwaukee.com organized a "circle" for Saturday, October 7th, 2017 at Havenwoods State Forest in the City of Milwaukee.  At the time of this blog creation  there were 132 circles registered; 1 of which was international (Bosnia and Herzegovina).  This compared to 161 circles in 2016, 190 in 2015, 197 in 2014, 184 in 2013, 233 in 2012, 206 in 2011, 241 in 2010, 199 in 2009, 207 in 2008, 199 in 2007, and 164 in 2006.  To say that participation has greatly dwindled over the  past couple of years is an understatement.  I personally wonder how much longer this annual event will continue, judging by the loss of interest in participation and registration of circles.  For me; I just really enjoy a chance to hang out in the woods for a day and look for birds.

I arrived at Havenwoods around 7:50 AM on Saturday.  There was no other vehicles in the parking lot as I unpacked the back of the (IBIRD) SPT (Silver Pickup Truck).  The weather was completely overcast but a still south wind had the temperature at 66 degrees.  It had rained the day before so the parking lot was wet and the trail to the circle was damp.  I unpacked the wheelbarrow and began to survey the area.  Approximately a dozen Mallards were on the pond, feeding and paddling about.  The next birds I saw were American crows on the far western edge of my vantage point over the treeline.  The were swirling and battling the wind and making a racket I could hear from the circle over 1000 yards away.

Robert Massey joined the circle at around 9:30 and unpacked his gear.  It was nice to have a fellow birdwatcher in camp.  Double the ears and eyes is a great security blanket, particularly when it comes to rendering a positive ID on a bird species.  With the wind blowing quite stiffly and in gusts, the birds seemed to keep very low and did not venture forth to any great degree.  The rain began around 11:00 AM and the Coleman tent was put up by the two of us.  It rained on and off over the next few hours before stopping entirely for a bit.  The highest the temperature got was 75 degrees.  Then at around 3:00 it began to rain harder, and with it the temperature began falling as the next storm front moved in.

We also passed the time exploring the various flora that surrounded our circle.  Most notably was the discovery of a small pinkish multi-lobed berry hanging from a low shrub.  Neither of us could identify it at that time; nor could a Havenwoods "volunteer" who drove by in a small green electric utility cart.  The man and his passenger had been out remediating the invasive Teasel.  I did some research for this blog and found out that it is called Euonymus atropurpureus or American Wahoo.

By far the most predominant bird species was the Bluejay. Groups of 2 to 4 would fly back and forth from our edge of visibility,  they seemingly had a mission.  Several times I saw them with something in their bills as they returned to the closer side of woods near us.  It got so that we could easily identify their silhouettes without the aid of binoculars.  We birded until 4:45 PM and tallied our total species list for the day:  23 species.  The rain slackened up just a bit so we packed up everything again and headed for the parking lot with drizzle falling down.  We left at 5:05 PM chalking up nine hours of birdwatching for this year's Big Sit.

Here is our 2017 BIG SIT species list:

1. Mallard
2. American Crow
3. Bluejay
4. Ruby-crowned kinglet 
5. American goldfinch
6. House finch
7. Turkey vulture
8. Rock dove (pigeon)
9. Mourning dove
10. American robin
11. Broadwing hawk
12. Sharp-shinned hawk
13. Red-tailed hawk
14. Ring-billed gull
15. Herring gull
16. Bonaparte's gull (Im.)
17. Brown thrasher
18. Song sparrow
19. American kestrel
20. European starling
21. Canada goose
22. Common yellowthroat
23. Chimney Swift

September Sightings

It always amazes me how quickly the spring and summer flies by in the midwest.  Everyone I know packs as much as possible into the three months of "nice" weather; including me.  Here we are in the month of September and my first extended time to do some local bird watching.  So after work on Monday, I drove to the small parking lot which is accessed by driving under the Harmonee Avenue bridge in downtown Wauwatosa, WI.

The first thing I noticed on my walk was that the foliage I encountered in May had grown incredibly tall and thick along the sides of the trail. Entire sections of the foot/bike path were almost overgrown.  I also saw that the generally brimming and fast moving Menomonee River (Underwood Creek) was very low with much of its bed showing vast stretches of exposed rock and boulders.  Cedar waxwings were plentiful high in the trees along the riverbank.  They took turns alternating between the branches taking acrobatic short flights back and forth to catch afternoon insects, as American robins ate the juicy dark blue berries of the invasive Common Buckthorn tree.

I spotted a Black and white warbler and an American redstart above my

head with a trio of Black-capped chickadees chattering away. White-breasted nuthatches climbed trees behind me and the chattering call of the Red-bellied woodpecker from across the water caused me to get out my binoculars for a look.  New England asters and goldenrod grew in large patches along the trail and many varieties of tall grains and grasses filled the detention pond basin. Cabbage white butterflies flitted here and there in search of the aforementioned asters or cruciferous vegetables it would not find here as the occasional Monarch drifted by on its own secret mission.

Milkweed pods were in abundance along the top ridge of the basin on either side of the trail.  Monarch butterflies aren't the only insect to favor them.  The large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, is colored orange-red and black. It has a long proboscis and is a piercing sucking insect. It feeds on the seeds, leaves and stems of milkweed (Asclepias). It is found in small groups on milkweed often on the stems, leaves and on the seed pods. The bodies of milkweed bugs contain toxic compounds derived from the sap which they suck from milkweed. They feed on the seeds by piercing the seed pod and can be found in all stages of growth on the plants in mid to late summer. Milkweed bugs are more of a nuisance than a threat to milkweed plants. In the course of feeding these bugs accumulate toxins from the milkweed, which can potentially sicken any predators foolish enough to ignore the bright colors which warn of their toxicity.

Eggs are a light lemon yellow changing to a reddish color. Incubation period is about four to five days. Each molt lasts five to six days. An adult will live for about one month. The insect overwinters as an adult.Eggs are laid in milkweed seed pods or in crevices between pods. About 30 eggs are laid a day, and about 2,000 over a female's lifespan, which lasts about a month during the summer. One or more generations per year.

They overwinter as adults. They can't survive cold winters, so they migrate south in the fall. They overwinter in the southern Atlantic and Gulf coast states where they feed and breed and gradually migrate north again in the spring and summer.

Cicadas could still be heard in the trees as the temperature was warm despite the afternoon waning sunshine.  Men on mountain bicycles in search of exercise and adventure came up from behind me on the trail shouting, "on your left" as I dodged into the brush to avoid being struck.  Others walking dogs both on and off leash strolled by me as I stood from time to time staring into the trees after a quick movement was noticed.  Getting out into the woods is very refreshing and regenerating after a long day in the office.

The Menomonee River was low

Cabbage white butterfly

Beautiful grains and goldenrod

If I stay still...no one will see me.

Here is the list of birds I saw on this 2-hour walk:

1. American robin
2. Bluejay
3. American crow
4. Common grackle
5. Song sparrow
6. White-breasted nuthatch
7. Black-capped chickadee
8. Cedar waxwing
9. Red-eyed vireo
10. Belted kingfisher
11. Great blue heron
12. Mallard
13. Mourning dove
14. Red-bellied woodpecker
15. Black and white warbler
16. American redstart
17. Hermit thrush
18. Cooper's hawk
19. Hairy woodpecker
20. Chimney swift
21. American goldfinch