It was a fabulous day for a visit to Lakeshore State Park in downtown Milwaukee. The sky was clear, the breeze was very light, and the temps soared from the high 60s at sunrise into the low 70s by mid morning. My only quibble would be with the relative dearth of birds.
Sure, there were dozens of cormorants flying overhead and fishing in the water offshore, herring and ring-billed gulls, a bunch of Canada geese, a few mallards, and even one great blue heron, but I can see most of that in Estabrook, and I didn’t see any pictures I needed to take. The swallows and martins appear to have all flown south already, and the fancy ducks from up north have not yet arrived.
The one bright spot, at least for me, was the small host of savannah sparrows who really seemed as though they liked posing for my camera. The rest of the Milwaukee Birders kept hoping to see one, but I had multiple sessions like the one that produced this image.
The other big surprise was finding a moth that acted like a butterfly. Not only was it active in broad daylight, but it also was sipping nectar from the goldenrod just as I often see butterflies do. In fact, I was initially all excited because I thought it was some new butterfly that I had never seen before, and I only realized it was a moth when I had a picture that I could zoom in on. If my sources are correct, this is our first soybean looper moth (Chrysodeixis includens).
I had barely walked another 20 yards, and I found a second moth acting like a butterfly. This time, the culprit appears to be a green cloverworm moth (Hypena scabra), another first for us. Wild.
Anyway, since the savannah sparrows were so accommodating, here’s one more look.
Finally, Anne’s taking me on the road again, and we don’t leave until lunch-time tomorrow, but I’ve got a few loose ends I’ve got to take care of before we go, so I’m afraid I’d better skip my visit to Estabrook tomorrow morning. I know folks are still planning on meeting by the beer garden at 7am, so feel free to join them, and I’ll post some pictures from the archives to tide you over.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 