It was my good fortune and birding pleasure to bump into Steve, Nolan (Pope)
and Dan (Edelstein) on the Auto Tour early Sunday morning. Grateful that
they allowed me to tag along - more eyes and ears always makes for a more
complete list. Discussions on the fine points of fall shorebird ID
(especially the dowitchers) was an added bonus! Willow flycatchers and
yellow-throated vireos were still singing along the auto tour. I walked
part of the Old Marsh Road with them but had to leave for a WSO Board
meeting before seeing some of the "good stuff" Steve reported. We saw two
WHOOPING CRANES standing farther out north of the road and a little later
they flew off to the east.
Following the board meeting I walked the Old Marsh Road in from the opposite
(east) side off of Point Road to the bend. Google maps distance calculator
tells me it is about 1.4 miles to the turn in the middle from either end.
It was rather slow birding until I was about one mile out. That's where I
started to hear more marsh wrens and observed several families of COMMON
GALLINULE. I then came across an AMERICAN BITTERN standing on the edge of
the road that allowed me to get quite close before flushing. Of course,
camera back in car - somehow birds seem to sense that. Then I finally saw
the year bird I was looking for - LEAST BITTERN. Felt I earned that for a
three mile round trip walk!
Dar Tiede
Appleton, Calumet County
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Thiessen
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2015 7:51 AM
To: wisb
Subject: [wisb] Auto tour and Old Marsh Road, Sunday.
Early Sunday morning 3 of us checked out the Auto tour and Old Marsh Road,
at Horicon.
The first big pond, on the tour had good shorebird habitat, as did a big
area on Old Marsh Road. Only more common shorebirds were seen.
The east end (past the trees) of Old Marsh has much more water. We saw 3
perched Least Bitterns, which were more than half way up the cattails. There
were a few families of Common Gallinules. We didn't see or hear any American
Bitterns. The Yellow-headed Blackbirds have dispersed from their breeding
spot. Many Black Terns, some still carrying food, and a couple Forester's
Terns.
Although there were scattered Great Egrets as we went along,the last pond on
the tour had over 80.
Steve Thiessen Dane co.
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