After reading that birders found the Say's Phoebe on Sat. during the occasional
blizzard conditions, I decided to try for it yesterday (Sun). I arrived after
8:30 and was surprised how windy and cold it was. Several other birders were
also present but none of us could find it during the next 1.5 hours. As I
warmed up in the car I thought perhaps it would start hunting for insects when
it had warmed up. Naturally I was kicking myself when I read the posts that
evening about birders finding the phoebe from 11:00 on. So, I decided to try
again today (Mon). When I arrived around 10:00, I was again surprised how cold
and windy it was, although today the wind was n.e. rather than south like
yesterday. After almost 1.5 hours of futile looking I decided to check Goose
Lake on the north side where the wind did not hit. Several E. Phoebes were
after insects but no Say's. However I could not see all of the north side so I
moved around to the west end of the lake, again locating the Eastern Phoebes.
Suddenly the Say's Phoebe appeared chasing the Easterns out of its territory.
I was able to watch it for several minutes foraging for insects and chasing the
other phoebes before the strong wind had my eyes tearing so bad I could no
longer watch. Finally success (move over Tom & Wendy).
I checked various other spots on the way home. At Goose Pond there were only
14 Tundra Swans in contrast to 50 yesterday. The Snow Goose was still present
plus 140 Gr. White-fronted Geese. A small flock of 30 Lapland Longspurs were
along Harvey Rd just south of DM.
Probably the next best sighting of the day was at the junction of 49 and Z in
Dodge county. 8 Turkey Vultures were soaring overhead when suddenly a
Short-eared Owl came up and starting interacting with a few of them. Most
unusual to see the owl in mid-afternoon.
For both days about 70 species were seen, although today was much more
satisfying!
Daryl Tessen
Appleton,, WI
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