[wisb] Columbia County today
- From: Peter Fissel <pfissel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Wisconsin Birding Network <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:28:03 -0600
A group of Madison-area birders poked around in Columbia County this morning.
After going across the completely frozen Whalen Grade, we made a quick stop at
Lake Columbia at the power plant, but the steam on the water obscured
visibility, and we couldn't hear any waterfowl. We weren't inclined to hike
all the way around to the marsh by the spillway, either. We decided to try
Rowan Creek near Poynette. I'd had good luck with Brand Smith at the access
off Loveland Rd. east of Hwy 51 during the Poynette CBC, so we stopped there.
It was as birdy today as it had been on Dec. 29, with a large flock of Cedar
Waxwings and other birds going down to drink and bathe in the creek, and also
visiting the feeders behind the house up above. At one point, Jim Schwarz and
I heard a Red-shouldered Hawk, but there were a lot of Blue Jays in the area,
so I wasn't entirely sure. Some of us also heard a RN Pheasant.
We walked back up to the road to where Steve had parked his van, and checked
the open creek one more time. A GREAT BLUE HERON flew up from just north of
the road and made a wide circle around us, before landing in an oak tree near
the creek. I strongly suspect this bird overwintered, since Brand and I had
one during the CBC in this same spot. The MacKenzie Center was dead, except
for a small flock of Cedar Waxwings near the parking lot for the south trails
(Jim Otto had seen a Yellow-rumped Warbler in that area a few weeks ago.)
While heading west from Poynette on County CS, Steve spotted a for-sure
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK sitting just above Rowan Creek on the north side of the
road (probably a half-mile or so west of Jamieson Park.)
After a coffee stop at a well-known chain restaurant, we headed for Arlington.
At the farm at the north end of Bullen Rd., there were around 30 EURASIAN
COLLARED DOVES in trees by the house and also on the east side of the road.
From there, we went to the Mud Lake W.A., stopping to check out a couple of
feeders along Traut Rd. on the way. The house on the east-west part had four
or five Tufted Titmice and lots of other common birds. The one on the
north-south stretch had tons of Am. Goldfinches, a few Common Redpolls, and
finally a Pine Siskin (but no Purple Finches, which is actually a bit odd for
that spot.) Mud Lake was dead, except for a Song Sparrow at the intersection of
Drake and Tollefson. There was a nice manure spread north of Drake and east of
Hagen Rd. that had tons of Crows, Pigeons, Horned Larks, plus at least six Bald
Eagles sitting in trees in the vicinity.
We cruised some roads for field birds, but saw nothing but Horned Larks until
we got near Goose Pond. There were two distant Snow Buntings in with a flock
of larks flying around north of Kampen Rd., but Steve and I were probably the
only ones who could pick them out. There was also a Rough-leg perched in a
tree there, our second of the day, I believe.
Nothing stunning, but a nice day to be out birding.
Peter Fissel
Madison, Dane Co.
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