With the first really warm days of the day, I finally am taking a bit of a
break to sit at a computer. I appreciate the notice about the
Yellow-breasted Chat sighted in the Northern Kettle Moraine last weekend.
I normally don't chase after bird sightings and haven't done so for over 25
years. This began simply because my peak times for work commitments at
Horicon Marsh were always during spring and fall, so I never had time.
Also, I do not keep county lists, annual state lists or participate in
birding competition, so I don't feel compelled to chase after rare birds or
make sure that I see them every year. Having sighted nearly all of these
birds at one time or another, I am more interested in seeing birds in their
natural habitat and normal range rather than finding stay birds for the
sake of a list. But there are so many ways to bird and each person enjoys
the experience in their own way. However, I do try to keep tabs on
sighting that other intrepid birders report in order to keep up with what
is happening in the bird world around the state.
The chat was a bird worth chasing for me because it was found a little more
than 5 miles from my house and also since this was the first record for the
Northern Kettle Moraine. I have been birding this area since 1977 and last
fall Jeff Baughman and I compiled an updated checklist of birds for the
state forest. We have 258 species verified for the area and added Carolina
Wren over the winter with two birds recorded in the area.
I know I have been saying this for a very long time, but I am intending to
write a summary of the birds of the Northern Kettle Moraine once I have
completed several other major writing projects that are taking my time.
This area offers some great birding opportunities, particularly for those
living in southeastern Wisconsin. I am glad to see that others are finding
birds here.
--
Bill Volkert
Naturalist
www.billvolkert
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