Lake Park 10/27

Lake Park birders,

See the message from Wis Bird Net that I am forwarding below.

--- Paul Hunter
http://home.roadrunner.com/~phunter1/lakeparkbirds.html
http://lakeparkbirds.blogspot.com/
=====================================================

From: "Jym Mooney & Carol Lee Hopkins" <hopmoon@milwpc.com>
Subject: [wisb] Lake Park, Milwaukee 10/27
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:13:12 -0500

Interesting birds this afternoon in Lake Park included an eastern
towhee and
an orange-crowned warbler (both nicely-plumaged males) and a fox
sparrow.

I am at a loss over one bird that was feeding on seed spilled on the
ground
near Bradford Beach. It was sparrow-sized, mostly plain brown with no
markings on the head/face, and two wing bars. There was light
streaking on
the breast, nothing like a song sparrow or house finch. The bill was
sparrow/finch type, but not very heavy. I welcome any suggestions.

The snow goose was still located with a big group of Canada geese at the
lagoon in Veterans Park.

Jym Mooney, Milwaukee

Goshawk at Lake Park 10/25

Lake Park birders,

See the messages from Jym Mooney that I am forwarding below.

--- Paul Hunter
http://home.roadrunner.com/~phunter1/lakeparkbirds.html
http://lakeparkbirds.blogspot.com/
=====================================================
-----

On Oct 25, 2009, at 8:45 PM, Jym Mooney wrote:

I was checking out the sparrow seed dump north of Bradford Beach
early this morning, roughly between 7 and 8. I spotted a large hawk
that came banking over the bluff slightly south of me. I got my bins
on it, and could see it was an accipiter (long tail, broad wings). I
watched its flight pattern, and noted slow, steady wing beats. It
circled back out of sight over the bluff, and then came back out. On
the second pass it soared a bit.

Otherwise it was all steady beats, not the flap and glide pattern of
the smaller accipiters. Mostly I was only able to see the underside
of the bird, which was whitish with light barring on the breast and
wings. This bird did not have the red/orange breast barring of a
Cooper or sharpie, or the brown streaks of an immature accipiter.
After the second pass back over the bluff I did not see the bird
again. Later I also found a Cooper's hawk and a red-tailed hawk in
the park, which allowed me to compare their underside patterns with
what I remembered of the first hawk.

Jym

Report of Milwaukee's Lake Park Duck Watch , 10/24/09

Wisconsin and Lake Park Birders,

Lake Park Duck Watches: Saturdays 11AM - 1PM
Fall 2009: . . Oct 24 . . Nov 14 . . Dec 5
Gather on the EAST side of Lincoln Memorial Dr, north of Bradford
Beach.

The first Lake Park Duck Watch of the year yielded Scoters, Scaup,
Redhead, Coots and Mallard on Lake Michigan offshore Milwaukee
County. On land we saw a few Warblers, many Sparrows, a Pewee, and
a House Wren. In between, 3 Dunlins slowly probed the mud at the
Coast Guard Impoundment.

After scoping the Scoters at North Point, Judith Huf and Paul Hunter
carpooled to the Coast Guard Impoundment and pointed out the Dunlins
to Betsy Abert who happened to drive by on her way from South
Milwaukee to see the Scoters at North Point. She suggested Sheridan
Park. The brush piles in the scrubby woods near the archery range
fluttered with avian activity. (We did NOT see Steve Lubahn or a Rock
Wren. ;-)

--- Paul Hunter, Whitefish Bay, Milwaukee County
http://home.roadrunner.com/~phunter1/lakeparkbirds.html
http://lakeparkbirds.blogspot.com/
=====================================================

North Point - Bradford Beach:
1 Surf Scoter
3 Black Scoters
1 Redhead
50 Greater Scaup
1 DC Cormorant
100 Ring-billed Gulls
10 Herring Gulls
(Sanderlings per Jym Mooney)
4 American Crows
2 Palm Warblers
6 Song Sparrows
2 Chipping Sparrows
3 DE Juncos (SC)
12 American Goldfinches

Coast Guard Impoundment
70 Mallards
2 Cooper's Hawks
3 Dunlins

South Shore Marina
8 Mallards
2 Am. Coots
20 Ring-billed Gulls
60 R. Pigeons

Sheridan Park - Archery Woods
2 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 immature with pure white secondary feather
(left distal)
1 E. Pewee
1 House Wren
8 BC Chickadees
6 Golden-crowned Kinglets
1 Hermit Thrush
1 Orange-crowned Warbler
1 Swamp Sparrow
6 White-crowned Sparrows

--------------------------------------------------
Before the Duck Watch, Judith Huf saw these species mainly near the
feeders in Locust Ravine:

Mourning Dove 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
American Crow 9
Black-capped Chickadee 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
House Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Hermit Thrush 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Chipping Sparrow 1
Fox Sparrow (Red) 2
Song Sparrow 3
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 20
White-crowned Sparrow 3
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 20
Northern Cardinal 1
Purple Finch 2
American Goldfinch 20

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/wi)

Duck Watch highlights 10/24/09

Lake Park Birders,

Judith Huf and I were the Duck Watch today. She may post a more
complete list. Here are the highlights from what I recall:
- 1 Surf and 2 Black Scoters at north of Bradford Beach
- 3 Dunlins at Coast Guard Impoundment
- Orange-crowned Warbler, Phoebe, and Swamp Sparrow at Sheridan Park

--- Paul Hunter
http://home.roadrunner.com/~phunter1/lakeparkbirds.html
http://lakeparkbirds.blogspot.com/
=====================================================

Pine Warblers 10/18

------------

From: Petherick Chris <cpetherick@me.com>
Subject: [wisb] Re: Pine Warblers Milwaukee
Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:44:49 -0500

I came across a first year female pine warbler in Milwaukee's Lake
Park yesterday morning as well, along with quite a few yellow rumped
warblers near the bridge that is out. There were also a lot of RC and
GC kinglets in the park. Other birds were:
Hermit thrushes
Winter Wrens
Brown Creeper
WC and WT Sparrows
Juncos
E. Phoebe
Redstart
Purple Finch

Along with a couple of other birders, we located 4 Surf Scoters and 1
White winged scoter off of Bradford Beach along Milwaukee's
waterfront. There was a 6th Scoter, but it was difficult to tell
between the surf or the white winged scoter for that one. We also had
4 gadwalls amid a decent size flotilla of scaups.

Chris Petherick
Fox Point, Northeastern Milwaukee County

10/14 Bradford Beach scoters

Lake Park birders,

See the messages from Wis Bird Net that I am forwarding below.

--- Paul Hunter
http://home.roadrunner.com/~phunter1/lakeparkbirds.html
http://lakeparkbirds.blogspot.com/
=====================================================

-----------------------------

Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:08:20 -0500
From: steven lubahn <stevenlubahn@wi.rr.com>
Subject: [wisb] Scoters -Milwaukee

Both White-winged and Surf Scoters have been present all week off of
Bradford Beach in Milwaukee. Today was a great day to scope the lake.
There were swarms of Chimney Swifts this morning, shorebirds moving
south and flocks of Bonaparte's gulls kissing the lake and riding the
wind this afternoon.

Wind and birds, what else is there?

Steve Lubahn
Milwaukee

10/11/09 Barrientos

------------------------------

From: "Evan Barrientos" <ebarrientos@wi.rr.com>
Subject: [wisb] Lake park birds
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:49:34 -0500

A quick this morning gave me:
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Nashville Warblers
Yellow-rumped Warblers
Palm Warblers
Winter Wrens
Black-capped Chickadees
Golden and Ruby-Crowned Kinglets
Hermit Thrush
Evan B
Bayside
www.ebarrientos.smugmug.com

Warbler Walk, September 26, 2009

Lake Park birders,

Sorry for the delay in getting Dennis Casper's report out.

--- Paul Hunter
http://home.roadrunner.com/~phunter1/lakeparkbirds.html
http://lakeparkbirds.blogspot.com/
=====================================================
==
Begin forwarded message:

From: Dennis J Casper <dcasper@uwm.edu>
Date: September 26, 2009 10:09:15 PM CDT
To: phunter1@wi.rr.com
Subject: Warbler Walk, September 26, 2009

Paul,

Here is the list from this morning's walk. A pretty good day, as you
can see, despite the gloomy weather. A smaller group today but all
interested and avid and appreciative. Thanks for continuing to
organize these walks. They mean a lot, I think, to a good number of
people. Jean and I will be gone for a couple of weeks. We're off
tomorrow for Hawk Mountain and Cape May! Hope the migration numbers
hold up! See you after we get back.

Peace,

Dennis

Lake Park Fall Warbler Walk (#6) September 26, 2009

Thirteen birders joined together this morning for the sixth and last
Lake Park Warbler Walk of the 2009 fall season. The day was cool,
cloudy, and damp. It had rained earlier, and there was still a sense
of moisture in the air. These weather conditions led to some low
expectations for the quality of birding we were likely to enjoy. But
these expectations were, to our great joy, decisively dashed! The
birding was excellent from the beginning. We began by birding along
the west side of the locust St. ravine and among the trees between
the ravine and the ball field. The trees were active with warblers
and other birds, so we wound up spending a good bit of time in this
area. Then after a brief sojourn around the old road bridge over the
ravine, we moved down the east side of the ravine toward the
pedestrian bridge over Ravine Rd. There was much activity on both
sides of the path, both in the trees on the east side of the ravine
and in the trees along the bluff, and we were continuously turning
one way, then the other to catch the latest warbler to be
discovered. After a short time on the pedestrian bridge, we moved to
the head of the Grand Staircase where there was a flurry of activity
and forged on to the Wolcott Statue, with stops on the way along the
Girl Scout Ravine and the edge of the golf course. Once more, around
the statue, there was ample bird life to keep us busy. The walk
ended at the statue around 10:30 with eight to ten highly satisfied
birders parting company at that point. Jym Mooney and Dennis Casper
returned to the Warming House to work up the list for the morning.

Today's was the last Warbler Walk of the current season. Lake Park's
winter monthly Duck Watches down on the lakeshore will begin in
November. Stay tuned!

Thanks to all who joined our walk today.

Dennis Casper

Total Species: 40

4 Canada Goose
25 Mallard
5 Double-crested Cormorant
3 Cooper's Hawk
6 Sanderling
45 Ring-billed Gull
6 Herring Gull
25 Chimney Swift
1 Red-headed Woodpecker
4 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

4 Downy woodpecker
12 Northern Flicker
1 Eastern Wood-Pewee
1 Blue-headed Vireo
8 Blue Jay
3 American Crow
30 Black-capped Chickadee
6 White-breasted Nutcatch
1 Brown Creeper
1 House Wren

1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
4 Eastern Bluebird
1 Swainson's Thrush
1 Golden-winged Warbler
5 Nashville Warbler
1 Northern Parula
2 Chestnut-sided Warbler
4 Magnolia Warbler
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
5 Yellow-rumped Warbler

3 Black-throated Green Warbler
3 Palm Warbler
3 Blackpoll Warbler
4 Black-and-White Warbler
6 American Redstart
12 White-throated Sparrow
2 White-crowned Sparrow
2 Northern Cardinal
3 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
3 Common Grackle

Milwaukee Ibis 9/29

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:35:57 -0500 (CDT)
From: John H Idzikowski <idzikoj@uwm.edu>
Subject: [wisb] Milwaukee Ibis

Yesterday at 6 pm while scanning gulls at Bradford Beach a Plegadis
Ibis flew over heading north. It turned northwestward just before
North Point and disappeared over Lake Park. No details could be seen
for specific ID.

John Idzikowski,
Milwaukee

fast ferry and pelagics

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2009 11:37:26 -0500 (CDT)
From: John H Idzikowski <idzikoj@uwm.edu>
Subject: [wisb] Re: fast ferry and pelagics?

The idea of Lake Michigan having some sort of undiscovered pelagic
assemblage of birds way out 30 miles from shore is not new, but the
parallels to oceanic pelagic birding are only superficial. Oceanic
pelagics are concentrated and targeted mostly by occurrences in
specific areas defined by a food source present due to currents and
upwellings because of local benthic canyons and dropoffs. The depths
of Lake Michigan way out from shore are far too deep for most divers
and with the decline of its main prey exploited during migration,
Long-tailed ducks, a deep diver, have declined in migration so we are
left with the mostly migrant group of birds in more shallow water
along the shore. The most productive trips have been those in small
boats that parallel the shore in September- Novemeber that are about
1-3 miles out where divers and phalaropes will be found.

Suppose you had 500 jaegers- our only truly pelagic migrant?
(kittiwake?) -on Lake Michigan evenly spread out- that's probably way
too many to expect in fall, but that would be one jaeger per 45 sq
miles- you'd be lucky to get one on any ferry trip. On the ocean of
course they are often attracted to the feeding community defined by a
food source and are therefore more concentrated. Even on Lake
Michigan I think that they still stay within 10 miles of shore. Most
are carried to the Michigan side of the Lake because of the
prevailing winds in fall and some concentrate on the south end- i.e.
Miller Beach. The best way to get jaegers on Lake Michigan's west
shore is to sit along the shore late in the evening from Sept 15- Oct
15 (but I have also had Poms as late as December) and watch a gull
loafing area such as the breakwater right near the Lake Express Ferry
in Milwaukee or a similar spot elsewhere, especially on E or NE
winds. They may come in to shore late in the evening and
often will attack some gulls before dark. .

There are some benthic features that have defined feeding areas for
divers near shore- if you have been around for awhile you remember
Loon Bluff in Ozaukee Co- where we found many divers and sometimes
jaegers and kittiwakes attracted to these concentrations. It turned
out that there is a sort of a shallow benthic plauteau near the Bluff
that due to adequate sunlight penetration creates a local food
supply. This property was added to a federal list for consideration
of acquisition in the late 70's, but it was sold to a private party.
At the north end of Virmond Park just south of Loon Bluff there is a
shipwreck and you might have noted the concentration of divers at
this spot when you searched for the Barrow's Goldeneye that wintered
near shore for many years. I imagine that this wreck is covered with
Zebra and Quagga mussels.

John Idzikowski,
Milwaukee