[wisb] Sauk/Iowa County birding

From: tom prestby <jjprestby@xxxxxxx>
To: Wisbird <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:23:46 -0600
Tim Hahn and I enjoyed the warm weather today by birding the Wisconsin River 
corridor and nearby areas. We started at Devil's Lake State Park where the Ski 
Hi Rd feeders and the feeders near the cabins on the SW corner of the lake had 
a lot of birds but all common species. The soft snow made for surprisingly good 
traction on the Balanced Rock Trail and it actually was not a difficult hike 
with decent hiking shoes. Unfortunately, a stiff breeze turned into a strong 
wind blowing at the bluff so Solitares (in fact nothing except 2 Chickadees) 
could not be found. 

The Prairie du Sac Dam had no gulls and only the few common winter duck species 
but 60+ Bald Eagles was a neat sight. At least 20 more Eagles were spread out 
between here and Sauk City, probably about 100 along this stretch of river. 

Next stop was the Arena Boat Landing which turned out to be the stop of the 
day. As soon as we reached the river backwaters, we were immediately greeted by 
a Kingfisher, Song Sparrow, Great Blue Heron, and a screaming Red-shouldered 
Hawk. The Red-shoulder put on a nice show while chasing a Red-tailed Hawk. 
Another Red-shouldered was heard further back from the road. As we worked our 
way toward the river, we heard multiple Creepers and Titmice. At the boat 
landing on the river, we set up scopes to scan for raptors and soon realized 
that the same winds that doomed our efforts for Solitares earlier had set the 
stage for a great raptor afternoon. We counted 5 Bald Eagles, 4 Red-tailed 
Hawks, a Coopers Hawk, and a Rough-legged Hawk working the thermals over the 
ridge to the north of the river. Just to the east, we spotted a dark eagle with 
a noticeable dihedral-- an adult Golden! This bird never came very close but 
worked its way across the river and out of view to the south. As we enjoyed the 
raptors, a Barred Owl called from the backwaters. 

We worked our way west along Helena Rd, occasionally stopping to pan the ridge 
on the north side of the river for raptors and seeing a couple Red-tailed Hawks 
and Bald Eagles at each stop. Just before the road permanently turns south 
towards the town of Helena, we noticed a few eagles up in the air and got the 
scope on them. A scope view revealed our second Golden Eagle of the day- also 
an adult. We were able to watch this bird for a good 5-10 minutes before it 
finally landed out of sight. It chased and dove at an immature Bald Eagle 
several times, very fun behavior to watch. 

Continuing west, we stopped at Tower Hill State Park and a quick walk yielded 
only one bird, a female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. On the way west and south to 
Cobb we saw several more Bald Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Kestrels, and 
Rough-legged Hawks but no more Goldens. In Cobb we counted 17 Eurasian-collared 
Doves on the west side of Hwy 80 just north of Hwy 18. There were likely more 
hidden in the dense spruces that were not counted. This is by far my personal 
high count for them in the state. 

We ended the day at Governor Dodge State Park for the last hour of light but by 
then the wind had picked up even more and our only noteworthy sighting was a 
group of bluebirds. 

A great day to be out and the first time this year that it actually felt a 
little bit like spring!

Tom Prestby
Madison
                                          
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[wisb] Sauk/Iowa County birding

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