[wisb] Milwaukee, 2/24 - Turkey, Harlequin, LT Duck, Eagle, GBB Gull (photos)

From: "B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2@xxxxxxxxx>
To: wisbirdn <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:24:14 -0800 (PST)
Wow! What a day yesterday! Not often can you walk out your door in a city of 
600,000 people, stroll around for a bit, and find a Wild Turkey, Harlequin 
Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Bald Eagle, Great Black-backed Gull, Iceland Gull, 
Thayer's Gull and Glaucous Gull.

A few highlights:

* Urban Wild Turkey. Slightly out-of-focus photo that shows the rich colors of 
the bird's plumage (I haven't posted this photo before)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6783613772/in/photostream

* Harlequin Duck. Young male east of Milwaukee's Discovery World. Decent photo 
for such a dark day:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6783031632/in/photostream

* Long-tailed Duck. Young male hanging around the floating fishing dock in 
Lakeshore State Park:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6783031932/in/photostream

* Great Black-backed Gull. Adult. On the edge of the ice in the lagoon at 
Lakeshore State Park. My favorite gull species right now:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6783032178/in/photostream

* Also had adult Iceland Gull, Thayer's Gull and Glaucous Gull in the same 
location, but too far away for decent photos.

* While checking out the gulls, the entire flock (plus the ducks) abruptly took 
flight. Looking up I saw a stunningly beautiful adult Bald Eagle passing 
overhead. Only the second eagle I've seen in Milwaukee. Got some good close 
views, but no photos (I'm still not very good at tracking down birds in flight 
with my camera). The eagle circled Lakeshore State Park several times and then 
headed north along the shoreline, pursued by three valiant gulls. Here's a shot 
of some of the gulls as they first started to flush:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6783732046/in/photostream

* A flock of Canada Geese were eating low-hanging fruit from some trees south 
of the Milwaukee Art Museum:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6783743458/in/photostream

* I've noticed an interesting phenomenon in the Veterans Park lagoon. While the 
lagoon is largely iced-over. There is open water at the base of the large 
Weeping Willow trees on the west side of the lagoon. Is there something about 
these trees' root system that warms the water temperature slightly? Here's a 
photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14463444@N07/6929877557/in/photostream

Bernie Sloan
Milwaukee
####################
You received this email because you are subscribed to the Wisconsin Birding 
Network (Wisbirdn).
To UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: 
//www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn
To set DIGEST or VACATION modes, use the Wisbirdn web interface at: 
//www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn
Visit Wisbirdn ARCHIVES at: //www.freelists.org/archives/wisbirdn
[wisb] Milwaukee, 2/24 - Turkey, Harlequin, LT Duck, Eagle, GBB Gull (photos)

Other related posts:
