[wisb] Lake Park, Milwaukee - Silent Swifts (plus Red Squirrel photo)
- From: "B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wisbirdn <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:43:02 -0700 (PDT)
Made a quick trip up to Milwaukee's Lake Park today on my way to Whole Foods.
There were a few highlights:
* A flock of 100+ Chimney Swifts above the lake bluffs. These birds were almost
completely silent. Only occasionally would I hear one of the twitters that are
so characteristic of resident swifts in the summertime. Interesting that I went
2-3 weeks without hearing/seeing any swifts, and now I'm seeing them again.
They must be migrants...
* Saw my first Red-breasted Nuthatch of the fall on a conifer on the golf
course.
* Spotted an early White-throated Sparrow under the feeders north of the
Erastus Wolcott statue.
This weekend I decided that my new nature photography goal was to get a photo
of the newly discovered (at least to me) Red Squirrel in Lake Park. I've been
visiting Lake Park multiple times a week for the past 13 months and have never
seen/heard a Red Squirrel there until recently. Over the past 4-5 days I've had
multiple sightings of this animal and have heard its odd vocalizations several
times. That makes me think it might be a new arrival in Lake Park?
I went up to Lake Park this AM and managed to take this photo. The lighting was
very dim, and the animal was shaded by some leaves, so it's not the greatest
nature photo, but it is recognizable as a Red Squirrel:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6163154401/in/photostream
The squirrel was very vocal, with a staccato chatter followed by an odd
whistling sound. If you listen to the first 30 seconds or so of the following
web recording you'll get a good idea of what I was hearing:
http://bit.ly/nmlh06
If anyone is interested in this Red Squirrel, it seems to be hanging out
regularly in the same spot. Top of the lake bluff, north of the Ravine Road
bridge, just north of a bench where the placque on the bench reads "Happy
Birthday, Jim O'Brien".
Bernie Sloan
Milwaukee
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- » [wisb] Lake Park, Milwaukee - Silent Swifts (plus Red Squirrel photo) - B.G. Sloan
