Mark Korducki, Quentin Yoerger and I signed free agent Aaron Haycraft to our
team and the four of us ran our big day this past Wednesday, with roughly the
same route we have run the previous two years. Although it didn't seem like a
"good" migration day, we were very pleased to end up with 195 species, details
and commentary below if you'd like to read.
Before I get into the details, please consider contributing to the Birdathon if
you have not done so yet or if the efforts of our team inspire you. We are
still a little short of our goal for conservation fundraising and it would be
great to meet that in addition to having a fabulous species total!
https://wibirdathon.dojiggy.com/ng/index.cfm/ab22e6a/reg-pages/pledge/thesecretarybirds
We began under the bright moonlight in the Resort Road marsh on the west shore
of Green Bay, just north of the city. Virginia Rail, Sora, and American Bittern
were heard among other common marshbirds when the clock struck midnight. We
frustratingly had to wait until 12:20am to hear a Snipe call that we had heard
winnowing until 11:58pm. Moving to the south, we heard a Least Bittern in
Peter's Marsh. Our go-to Screech Owl spot in town did not produce but we were
able to find one at a backup spot just north of town on the east shore. We
tried some owling in southern Door County, where it became weirdly windy which
was not in the forecast, and found a Barred but nothing else. This is one of
the holes in our route, there have to be Saw-whet and Long-eared Owls somewhere
up there but we have failed to find them so far.
The first twinkle of twilight found us hitting the grassland/hayfields and
cedar scrub of Door County between Bailey's Harbor and Egg Harbor where the
dawn chorus transferred from Whip-poor-wills and Woodcock to Grasshopper,
Vesper, and Clay-colored Sparrow, as well as Upland Sandpiper, Towhee,
Thrasher, Raven, and more. A quick check of a woodland picked up a Hermit
Thrush and a quick check of Kangaroo Lake picked up Green Heron. Bailey's
Harbor (Anclam Rd) produced a wonderful bonus in the form of 2 Black Scoters, 2
White-winged Scoters, and 2 Bufflehead. Some Long-tailed Ducks were seen as
well in their brown breeding plumage. We continued north from here to North Bay
through the conifer swamp habitat where we quickly checked off targeted
White-throated Sparrow, Winter Wren, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Parula, Purple
Finch, Pine Siskin, Golden-crowned Kinglet, etc. Unfortunately Moonlight Bay
was fogged in but North Bay produced hoards of Red-breasted Mergansers and some
Greater Scaup.
It was time to head west to Peninsula State Park where we had fantasies of the
passerine fallout we experienced last year. First a quick check of Ephraim
added Common Mergansers and a flyover Loon. The park was rather quiet, although
there were a few migrants present at Weborg Point including Palm,
Golden-winged, Blackpoll Warbler that we had to work for. Canada and Wilson's
Warblers were rather common. When we left Peninsula a status check revealed 125
species, which was pleasing with how "slow" we thought things had been.
Scouting revealed that the ponds we normally check near Brussels have been
tiled and drained, so we deviated to some shorebird ponds near Rosiere. A
beautiful Golden Plover that was found during scouting remained as well as some
White-rumped Sandpipers, Wilson's Phalaropes, other peeps, and a surprise Pipit.
We continued south down the east bay shore with a few quick stops, the best
being the swamp at Point Comfort Road where there are several Titmice on
territory (a possibly new breeding bird to the region) and Red-headed
Woodpeckers. We missed the Merlin I had seen during scouting but found some
migrants including a Mourning Warbler. Continuing south, a scouted
White-crowned Sparrow remained at a bird feeder and the nesting Peregrine
Falcons were sitting on the UWGB Library.
Next stop was Bay Beach which was warm and slow but rather productive
considering. Number one on our target list was the Prothonotary Warbler which
is apparently on territory near the Observation Building and we heard it
immediately. This is another possible exciting new regional breeding record.
Highlights of our walk included Olive-sided Flycatcher, Gray-cheeked Thrush,
Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and a late Ruby-crowned Kinglet, as well as a Cooper's
Hawk on a nest.
After a couple stops in the southern end of the bay didn't produce much new in
the way of shorebirds but did add some common waterbirds such as Yellow-headed
Blackbird and Common Gallinule, we made a quick detour to the former Van Ess
sod farm, which still hosts a small colony of Brewer's Blackbirds that we
instantly spotted.
Manitowoc was up next and we again had dreams of last year, where a bounty of
uncommon gulls awaited us. Unfortunately it was the complete opposite this
year, in fact a colossal bust. We could not find any new gulls or shorebirds
and our only add was Blue-winged Teal. We will always wonder what would have
been if we had gone to Sheboygan or try some other flooded fields off our route
instead, but such is birding!
With our heads hanging low, it was time to recollect ourselves as we entered
the North Kettle Moraine State Forest. There was almost no wind but it was
sunny and warm and originally dead. However, beginning with a singing Hooded
Warbler, things changed instantly and we caught fire, finding all of our
targeted birds working north to south including Blue-winged Warbler,
Red-shouldered Hawk, Sapsucker, Veery, the Chat that is on territory at Long
Lake, Henslow's Sparrow and Harrier at Jersey Flats, and Acadian Flycatcher
nearby. This is by far the best late-afternoon birding we have had on this
route and boosted our spirits heading to Horicon.
We knew we had our work cut out for us at Horicon after the very lukewarm
reports from this spring but were pleased to find our first dowitchers of the
day, Wilson's Phalaropes, and a decent mix of peeps with the common
Black-necked Stilts. Trumpeter Swans were in their normal spot on 49 and we
were able to find the Whooping Crane way in the distance. The CTY I pond did
not have any new shorebirds or ducks, we never did find a GW Teal or Pintail,
both of which had been there within the previous two days. On the way out the
Eurasian-collared Dove flew over our car and we headed back to 49 to see what
we could spot before dark. A flock of Mallards that took off out of the marsh
had a surprise Black Duck with them, which was #193 and broke our previous
record of 192. Knowing that 200 was not in reach, we strategized for how we
could add a couple more with the minimal daylight we had left. We decided to go
to the overlook at the Bud Cook hiking trails, where we saw one of our targets,
a Pheasant in the trail. No Dickcissels had arrived on territory yet but in the
dusk chorus two Black-billed Cuckoos began calling, #195 on the day. We tried
for Great-horned Owl but could not hear any hooting so settled for our record
total of 195.
This is the third year in a row we finished in the low to mid 190's on this
route, and we have done it entirely different ways each year. This increases
our hopes that one of these years everything will come together and we will
break the 200 barrier. We cleaned up on northern and southern species on
territory and scraped up a respectable warbler total (24 species), but were
hurt by lower than normal shorebird totals. Not to dwell on the negative but
since it's always asked and a fun thing to mention, our "easiest" misses were
Great Horned Owl, Sanderling, Bay-breasted and Orange-crowned Warbler, and
Green-winged Teal.
Also, I'd like to thank those who provided us with some local scouting intel,
especially Jeff Baughman, Matt Herzmann, and Bob Domagalski.
Congrats if you made it this far, we had a very enjoyable day and are looking
forward to next year!!
Tom Prestby
Green Bay
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