[wisb] Re: North Woods birding
- From: John Bates/Mary Burns <manitowish@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ryanbrady10@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 07:32:17 -0600
My take on the birding in our area - southern Iron County and western
Vilas County - is much the same as Ryan's. Just about everyone has
goldfinch at their feeders, and virtually no other finches. We had our
first pair of purple finch this week, a species we usually have in
significant numbers every winter. We have had no siskins or redpolls,
a few evening grosbeaks stopping in and leaving as quickly, and no
pine grosbeaks, another species that we usually have in good numbers.
We had bohemian waxwings two weeks ago on our crabapple trees, and I
saw a flock this morning on crabapples in Rhinelander at Nicolet
College. They appear to be in decent numbers in the area.
The two Christmas Bird Counts that I'm associated with - Manitowish
Waters and Minocqua - both had very spotty sightings of any finches
other than goldfinch. I write a Northwoods almanac column for the
Minocqua paper and have people report their sightings to me, and I've
had less than a handful of calls or e-mails on winter finches. So,
indeed it is very quiet up here so far. Perhaps things will change as
the cold comes on harder. Come on up for the beauty first, and hope
second for a few birds as well, and you'll have a wonderful visit.
John Bates, Mercer/Manitowish, Iron County
On Jan 6, 2010, at 9:55 AM, Ryan Brady wrote:
>
> With a newborn baby in the house, I've been more of an armchair
> birder than anything else these days but here's my take on winter
> birds in NW WI. Overall it's a below average to poor year,
> especially in light of our memories of the past few years.
>
> AMERICAN GOLDFINCH -- the dominant winter finch this year
> PURPLE FINCH -- present in small to moderate numbers
> PINE SISKIN -- present but only in small scattered numbers
> COMMON REDPOLL -- also present but in small scattered numbers; far
> less than the past couple years
> WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL -- present in moderate numbers; it would seem
> like a good year if it weren't for last year's big #s
> RED CROSSBILL -- scarce as usual
> PINE GROSBEAK -- very scarce and hard to find
> EVENING GROSBEAK -- scarce and local as in most recent years
> BOHEMIAN WAXWING -- present in average/moderate numbers; seems like
> a great year b/c the last few were awful
> NORTHERN SHRIKE -- average to perhaps slightly below average year
> GRAY JAY, BOREAL CHICKADEE, BB WOODPECKER, SPRUCE GROUSE -- as
> expected, no changes from other years
>
> I'm probably forgetting something but that's my take. If you plan
> to trek north, perhaps wait for another year or keep your
> expectations low.
>
>
> Ryan Brady
> Washburn, Bayfield County, WI
> http://www.pbase.com/rbrady
>
>
>
>
>> To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> From: bhaunts@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [wisb] North Woods birding
>> Date: Tue, 5 Jan 2010 18:01:55 -0600
>>
>> I spent most of today birding in the north woods, mainly Forest and a
>> little of Oneida counties. Except for several spots it was extremely
>> quiet!!! When I left Three Lakes I had tallied 23 species. Nothing
>> new was seen until Shawano and homeward, when I finished with 37
>> species.
>> Here are the highlights---and low lights. Forget the blue house
>> along Hwy 55 in Menominee county. They are no longer feeding, in
>> fact they have no feeders out. What a contrast to all the previous
>> years. (I believe Tom P mentioned this when the Madison group went
>> up in Dec.) There is a nice feeder just into Langlade county, beyond
>> the inn. A nice flock of Turkeys were feeding when I arrived.
>> Standard winter birds were coming to the feeders, especially after
>> the Turkeys left. Most numerous were the Blue Jays. Curiously no
>> finches were present. In fact I did not see one finch until heading
>> for Alvin along Hwy 55, south of the junction with FR 2182. A small
>> flock (15) of Common Redpolls were feeding in the trees bordering the
>> highway.
>>
>> At Alvin, the feeder on the north end of town, had a great show. 55+
>> Evening Grosbeaks, 15 Goldfinches, Red and White-br. Nuthatches, BC
>> Chickadees, Hairy and Downy WPs, Juncos, the Catbird (not looking too
>> good) and 3 Bohemian Waxwings---and of course Blue Jays. It was
>> really fun just watching the action from my vehicle.
>>
>> FRs 2182, 2174, 2414 and 2183 were as I expected, unbelievably
>> quiet!!!!!!!! I had a total of 3 birds on the four roads. 2 Gray
>> Jays were pished in at a bog along 2174, south of 2182. A Hairy WP
>> was working a tree along 2414, and that was it, despite many stops
>> and pishing. The winter scenery was great but the silence was
>> deafening.
>>
>> A flock (10) of Pine Siskins was coming to a feeder in Three Lakes,
>> along with standard winter birds.
>>
>> The A bog west of Three Lakes had 2 chickadees, unfortunately Black-
>> capped. I tried briefly for the Hawk Owl at 17 and W, but nothing
>> was seen.
>>
>> In Shawano, where Cty M crosses the Wolf River, there were many geese
>> and Mallards, plus 5 Trumpeter Swans (a family), 1 Mute Swan and 1
>> Coot.
>>
>> I am interested in birders living in the northern third of the state
>> as to what they are seeing for winter finches. From what I have read
>> and I saw today, it looks like a very quiet finch winter.
>> Daryl Tessen
>> Appleton, WI
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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