The Milwaukee Birders were visiting Lakeshore State Park again this morning, and there have been a lot of sightings there recently, so I opted to ride down the Oak Leaf Trail to join them. The weather was very nice, with unseasonably warm temperatures, a very light breeze, and just a few clouds in the sky. Here’s a freighter I watched head out onto the lake soon after sunrise.
The birds did not disappoint, I am happy to say, and I saw representatives from almost every species I hope to see on the Milwaukee River this winter in Estabrook Park. Here are a pair of bufflehead hens, …
a hooded merganser hen, …
a redhead, …
a goldeneye drake, …
a pair of gadwalls, and …
a red-breasted merganser drake.
Not all the action was on the water, however, and here’s an American tree sparrow.
After the whole group had walked the length of the park and back, it appeared that we were going to miss out on the surprise visitor that’s had the entire Milwaukee birding community atwitter for the past week: a western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), close cousin to the eastern meadowlark we saw at the Mequon Nature Preserve last summer. Their “year-round” range does reach this far east, but I’m told we seldom get to see them here.
But then, as we all contemplated our disappointment, someone noticed online that it had just been reported 10 minutes ago, so we all hustled right back up to the patch of prairie where it had been sighted. It took a few anxious minutes and a bit of coaxing, but the little celebrity finally showed his pretty face. Ta da!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 