[wisb] Milwaukee Lakefront, 2/2 - LT Duck YES, Harlequin YES
- From: "B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wisbirdn <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2012 16:53:48 -0800 (PST)
The light fog today made for a bone-piercing chill along Milwaukee's lakefront.
Kinda reminded me of San Francisco. :-) The predicted high was 44 degrees and
partly cloudy. I never saw a hint of the sun, and I'm betting the actual high
was 8-10 degrees colder than 44.
Several highlights (kinda cool to see a Long-tailed Duck and a Harlequin on the
same day):
* Found the Long-tailed Duck again, at 12:45PM. Same spot as the last time I
saw it (near the western end of the boat dock attached to the south side of
Discovery World). This time I focused on his tail and could see that the long
tail was developing...spiky and a few inches long. Finding this bird takes luck
or patience, and probably both. I spent more than 20 minutes looking for him
today and was about to give up when he popped up out of nowhere right in front
of me. He seems to spend a lot of time under the docks and wooden catwalk
attached to Discovery World. If you look under the waterline in this area you
can see lots of mussels attached to the pilings. This must be what is
attracting him to this spot.
* Saw the first year male Harlequin Duck at North Point (north of Bradford
Beach). Kinda far out, and swimming north in the company of several Buffleheads.
* I found a solitary American Black Duck preening on the rock island right
behind the art museum. Very nice looking specimen, and a first-of-year bird for
me!
* For the first time this season I noticed the Canada Geese getting testy with
one another. There was a flock of maybe 200 geese along a sidewalk on the east
side of Veterans Park. I was carefully observing them looking for Cackling
Geese (haven't seen any Cacklers yet this year). Quite a few times I witnessed
one goose take offense at another goose's proximity. The goose would hiss at
the other goose, and several times one goose would actually bite the other! I'm
assuming this change in behavior indicates that the geese are getting ready to
be territorial in advance of breeding season?
* My favorite goose interaction was when one bird was defending an area where
someone had dumped some Cheerios. :-)
* Ducks of all species seem to be pairing up, more so than a couple of weeks
ago. Saw several Mallard pairs swimming along bobbing their heads up and down
in unison. Maybe spring is just around the corner? :-)
* Finally, I heard a new duck vocalization today (I'm assuming it was Common
Goldeneye). In addition to the "peent" calls that sound like woodcocks, I was
hearing a faint trilling sound that sounded like spring peeper frogs. When I
closed my eyes and listened to the peents and trills, it sounded like a warm
spring evening.
Bernie Sloan
Milwaukee
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