Sloan 2010 Sept 8 and 9

Lake Park birders,

See the messages from
http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/WISC.html
Wis Bird Net that I am forwarding below.

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

Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:17:44 -0700 (PDT)
From: "B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2@yahoo.com>

Here are the highlights from Wednesday, September 8:

* Savannah Sparrow. BIGBY #122. Saw it in a sandy patch of tall
native grasses and wildflowers at the north end of Bradford Beach. I
had seen some movement when I first got there, so I stood there
patiently for about 20 minutes and eventually the bird came into view
for a bit.

* Lots of Chimney Swifts above the Lake Park bluffs. Maybe as many as
1,000. I was down below the bluffs and had a vantage point where I
could pretty much see the whole stretch of Lake Park bluffs from
North Avenue to Kenwood. The swifts were swarming like crazy. I'm
guessing that the trees at the top of the bluffs are the first to be
warmed by the morning sunlight and the insects are most abundant
there in the early morning. After a half hour or so they were pretty
much gone. Next day I saw one bird.

* There were also about 12-15 Barn Swallows over the rugby field at
North Point. Haven't seen any since.

* While watching the swifts and swallows, some movement out over the
lake caught my eye. Adult Bald Eagle, headed in a southerly
direction. BIGBY species #123.

* Lake Park was pretty active with warblers (no new BIGBYs) and quite
a few migrating Northern Flickers. Also had a Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Here are the highlights from Thursday, September 9:

* Watched two Sanderlings fight on the North Point algae mat. Never
seen Sanderlings have an argument before. They would stand toe-to-toe
and flap their wings, chest-bumping and vocalizing agitatedly. They
did this several times. Each time the bird to my right would
eventually back down. Must have been some choice tasty morsels on
that stinky spot of algae.

* Hermit Thrush. BIGBY #125. In a Lake Park ravine.
* Gray-cheeked Thrush. BIGBY #126. In a Lake Park ravine.

And two non-nature highlights:

* On Wednesday I walked past the old Edmund Fitzgerald house just
north of Lake Park. The ship in Gordon Lightfoot's 1976 song "The
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was named after the guy who once
lived in this house.

* On Thursday in Lake Park I stumbled onto the opening ceremonies of
the lawn bowling "North American Challenge", pitting the best lawn
bowlers of the U.S. against their Canadian counterparts. They even
had a bagpiper. I think that was the first time I've ever been
serenaded by bagpipes while birding. :-) If you're curious about this
event, see: http://bit.ly/cAvWsE.

Bernie Sloan
Milwaukee