[wisb] Madison to Oshkosh birds today

I had to go up to Oshkosh today, so as usual, I kept track of raptors seen in 
each county. With the very cold start this morning, it took a while, but I 
finally spotted a Red-tail sitting in the sun north of Sun Prairie.  Also in 
Dane Co., I had a large flock of Snow Buntings north of Hwy 151 a mile or so 
south of the Columbia Co. line (too far off to make even a bad estimate of 
flock size at 65 mph.)  Had a few more Red-tails and the first Rough-leg in 
Dodge County.  I despaired of finding any raptors in Fond du Lac Co. on the way 
up, but finally spotted a Red-tail along Hwy 26 just south of the Winnebago Co. 
line.  (But saw none in the latter county.)
 
On the way back this afternoon, I took Hwy 41 south to Hwy 49, seeing a couple 
more Rough-legs just north of Fond du Lac.  I cruised down Centerline Rd. on 
the uplands east of Horicon Marsh, flushing a few flocks of "field birds" from 
the plowed roadsides.  The first appeared to be all Lapland Longspurs (about 
22,) but the second was a mixed flock of about 50 L. Longspurs, a dozen or so 
Horned Larks and a few Snow Buntings.  Had more of all three species along W. 
Point Rd. on the eastern edge of the marsh, plus another Red-tail perched on a 
branch over N. Point Rd.  Highway 49 across the marsh and the Auto Loop were 
both very quiet, although it was getting to be late afternoon at that point.  I 
had one last Red-tail in Columbia County south of Columbus as the sun was going 
down.  No Kestrels on the day, which wasn't too surprising with the deep snow 
cover. 
 
Peter Fissel
Madison, Dane Co. 
####################
You received this email because you are subscribed to the Wisconsin Birding 
Network (Wisbirdn).
To UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: 
http://www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn.
To set DIGEST or VACATION modes, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: 
http://www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn.
Visit Wisbirdn ARCHIVES at: http://www.freelists.org/archives/wisbirdn.

Other related posts:

  • » [wisb] Madison to Oshkosh birds today - Peter Fissel