Tom's right. The sparrows seem to like moving north and south along the
shoreline, bouncing back and forth from the short smartweed right on the
lake's edge to the taller plants farther inland. Like last year, if you can
spot 'em, following them as they move from spot to spot isn't too
difficult. Just watch where they land and they'll eventually creep up
higher to get a view. Of course, it wasn't windy this morning, so it was
fairly easy to see the plants they were in twitching with their movements.
Like last year, I'm sure the trails will become more evident as more
birders make the trek back there.
Dale Bonk, Mt Horeb, Dane Co.
On Tue, Sep 20, 2016 at 3:04 PM, Tom Wood <tcwood729@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks, Steve, for letting us know they were back!
Since there was no clear path to take, after reaching the public land by
walking south past the gate across from Caine Road, I wandered in a
south-easterly direction through the grasses (the lake is not visible until
you are almost upon it), finding several areas that had paths in the grass
where birders had been. I found only Swamp Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Common
Yellowthroats, and a Marsh Wren,
and after a somewhat difficult passage through the dense grasses, found
myself at the southwest corner of the lake. This appeared to be Nelson's
Sparrow paradise with a large patch of smartweed, and again, evidence that
birders had been here. Alas, only the previously mentioned species (less
the
Marsh Wren) appeared. I thought I had "whiffed" this trip, and decided to
walk the west shoreline of the lake which had an easy path, in order to
make
some northward progress, and possibly make the return trip less difficult.
This turned out to be a good choice, because there is a thin strip of
smartweed right at the edge of the lake, and birds flushed and flew across
the path to the tall weeds. At one spot 2 Nelson's Sparrows perched quite
close to the trail and were very cooperative for a couple of minutes.
Farther north, the same thing happened, so I had good views of at least 4
birds. More birds flushed from the edge of the lake, but went too far back
in the weeds for me to see, so there may have been more than 4 Nelson's
Sparrows there today.
I finished off the morning with a nice conversation with Mary Hampton, and
although we had taken separate ways to the lake, we both had great success
today.
Thomas Wood, Menomonee Falls, Waukesha County
-----Original Message-----
From: wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Mary Hampton
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2016 1:03 PM
To: stevethiessen@xxxxxxxxxxx; wisb
Subject: [wisb] Re: Nelson's sparrow, Dane co.
Yes! Nelson's Sparrows at Lake Barney, Tuesday, Sept 20, 10AM. Above
lake's west edge, above water, south of a few old oak trees. Thanks
Steve. Dale Bonk waved me into location where I viewed one perched and
two in their low flight. Back at cars, I compared with Tom Wood who had at
least four. As Steve reports, the walk in is extremely rough. Mary
Hampton, Dane County
On Saturday, September 17, 2016 11:40 AM, Steve Thiessen
<stevethiessen@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I had thought I had seen one, at Lake Barney, last Wednesday, but was
sure.
I saw one today,in the same area. Got nice looks. The good areas last year
,not so good this year. Walking can be tough if you explore. Also seen, was
a possible Grasshopper Sparrow, 2 Segde and 2 Marsh Wrens and 3 Bobolinks.
2
Palm and a bunch of Common Yellowthroat Warblers.
Steve Thiessen Stoughton, Dane co.
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