[wisb] Door County and Yard

From: "Mikko Home" <mikko.viljamaa@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Wisconsin Birders" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:27:03 -0600
We drove to Door County yesterday with wifey. My secret wish was to find some 
Crossbeaks from Ephraim and get some photos from them. I didnâ??t find any 
Crossbeaks but by judging the amount of pits underneath the trees by the 
church, it is obvious that the birds have been there. 
What really struck me was the ratio of Rough-legged Hawks to Red-tailed hawks 
when you drive towards North. I would be willing to argue that before Green Bay 
the ratio is at least 4:1 favoring R-t Hawks but after Green Bay the ratio 
turns 2:1 to favor R-l Hawks. I counted 8 Rough-legged Hawks in Door County and 
only 4 Red-tailed Hawks. Other hawks seen were 2 Kestrels.

Sister Bay had one American Robin and Northport had 3 Mute Swans (2 youngsters) 
and lots of Lesser Scaups and Goldeneyes. I didnâ??t really even leave the car 
so Iâ??m sure I missed a lot too. Coming back (somewhere south of Egg Harbor) I 
saw one Pileated Woodpecker flying over the road. YAW almost forgot, got my FOY 
Ravens too.

During the last week or so there has been a flock of Snow Buntings flying 
around the neighborhood and hoping that I could keep them around until next 
weekend when the yard-bird count is, I have been throwing seeds all over the 
yard instead of just filling the feeders as normally. So when we got home 
yesterday from Door County I was happy to see that my plan was working. We had 
23 Snow Buntings and 1 Lapland Longspur dining on the yard (LL was a new yard 
bird for me). Trying to recoup from the Crossbeak disappointment I thought that 
at least I should try to get some photos from the Snow Buntings on Sunday 
(today). But boy they are skittish birds. I soon realized this morning that I 
need a hide or blind or something if I want to get even one photo from those 
cowards. So off I went to local Gander & Mountain and bought myself a blind 
with 70 bucks. And even though I was running out of time I had to try the blind 
and I can happily say that the blind works. 

If you want to see how the blind arrangement looks like (with couple of 
pictures from Snow Buntings), click the link below and choose â??latestâ?? from 
the menu. 

www.mikkoviljamaa.com



Cheers,

Mikko (Outagamie County) 

####################
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] Door County and Yard

Other related posts:
