May La Crosse Birding Hikes

May La Crosse Birding Hikes April 30 - May 16, 2013 6:30 am From Dan Jackson:The Tuesday/Thursday field trips are co-hosted by the Myrick/Hixon EcoPark and Coulee Region Audubon and will be led by Bobbie and Pat Wilson and I. They are scheduled for the first 3 weeks of May. Each trip starts at 6:30 and will go until about 8:30 (people are welcome to leave earlier if they choose). The Tuesday morning Marsh trips will start at the base of the rabbit trail which is located about 100 yards east of the Myrick/Hixon EcoPark building. From there, we usually do a loop through the marsh on the main trails. The Thursday morning Forest trips will start at the main Hixon Forest trail parking lot at the end of the gravel drive accessed from Milson Court. For those trips, we usually take the forest trail parallel to the road along the golf course and then take a loop into the valley before coming back out on the road. From Dan Jackson on 5/16/13: This morning, Pat and Bobbi Wilson and I led the last of the early May bird walks. This one was in the Hixon Forest. There were lots of birds about but not as much diversity as yesterday. Despite that, we found 44 species including 3 Vireos, 12 Warblers and my first Scarlet Tanager of the year. Warbler highlights were 2 Canada Warblers, a Golden-winged Warbler, several Chestnut-sided Warblers, a Blackburnian Warbler, a Blackpoll Warbler, and a Northern Parula. Interesting was a total lack of brown Thrushes today after seeing many yesterday. An eBird trip list is included below. Just a reminder that Scott and I will be leading a field trip at Wyalusing on Saturday. He and I are doing a birdathon of which that trip will be a part. The field trip will start at 6:30 at the entrance to the park. The birdathon will be raising money for the Migratory Bird Fund which supports the efforts of the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative (WBCI) and also some of the activities of the La Crosse Bird City program. We would love to have your support. You can pledge a fixed amount or put pressure on us by pledging on a per species found basis (we are shooting for 80-100 species for the day). A link to our team page is: http://www.wibirdathon.org/nrfw/teampage.asp?fundid=1855 Good birding and thanks for your support!! Dan Jackson, President Coulee Region Audubon Society La Crosse, Wisconsin Hixon Forest, La Crosse, La Crosse, US-WI May 16, 2013 6:30 AM - 9:00 AM Protocol: Traveling 1.0 mile(s) Comments: Coulee Region Audubon / Myrick-Hixon EcoPark field trip 44 species Wood Duck 7 Chimney Swift 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 2 Downy Woodpecker 1 Hairy Woodpecker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Least Flycatcher 1 Great Crested Flycatcher 3 Yellow-throated Vireo 1 Blue-headed Vireo 1 Red-eyed Vireo 1 Blue Jay 3 Black-capped Chickadee 5 Tufted Titmouse 1 White-breasted Nuthatch 4 House Wren 6 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 4 Eastern Bluebird 2 American Robin 6 Gray Catbird 5 Golden-winged Warbler 1 Black-and-white Warbler 1 Tennessee Warbler 35 Orange-crowned Warbler 2 Nashville Warbler 5 American Redstart 15 Northern Parula 1 Blackburnian Warbler 1 Chestnut-sided Warbler 6 Blackpoll Warbler 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 15 Canada Warbler 2 Eastern Towhee 2 Chipping Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow 1 Scarlet Tanager 1 Northern Cardinal 5 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 3 Indigo Bunting 1 Brown-headed Cowbird 3 Baltimore Oriole 5 American Goldfinch 3 House Sparrow 1 View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14131971 From Dan Jackson on 5/14/13: This morning, Pat & Bobbi Wilson and I led the last of the early morning bird walks in the Myrick Marsh for this year. It was a beautiful morning so we had a big group (33). The warbler watching was slow at the start but we found a very nice flock in the small woodlot on the west side of the East Avenue paved trail. If you include a few species that were found by 3 of us after the majority of the group broke up, we had a total of 68 species. This included 11 species of warblers, a flock of Black Terns, Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos, quite a few quiet empid flycatchers, and other great birds. The Wilsons and I did see a Harris' Sparrow in the Oak Grove Cemetery afterwards. It was hanging out with a White-crowned Sparrow in the brush dumping area right behind the UW La Crosse baseball field. Our last of the Hixon Forest walks will be held on Thursday morning at 6:30 am starting from the parking lot at the end of Milson Court (along the north edge of the Forest Hills Golf Course). It looks like we will finally have a nice morning for that event. Hopefully, the warblers will cooperate. My eBird list for this morning's walk is below. Dan Jackson, President Coulee Region Audubon Society La Crosse, Wisconsin Myrick Marsh, La Crosse, US-WI May 14, 2013 6:30 AM - 9:00 AM Protocol: Traveling 1.0 mile(s) Comments: Coulee Audubon / Myrick Hixon Eco Park Myrick Marsh Bird Walk 68 species (+1 other taxa) Canada Goose 50 Several pairs with goslings Wood Duck 12 Mallard 10 Blue-winged Teal 4 Redhead 1 Lesser Scaup 1 Pied-billed Grebe 5 Great Blue Heron 6 Bald Eagle 1 Sora 3 American Coot 25 Killdeer 3 Spotted Sandpiper 4 Black Tern 10 Mourning Dove 2 Chimney Swift 12 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Least Flycatcher 1 Empidonax sp. 4 Great Crested Flycatcher 3 Eastern Kingbird 2 Warbling Vireo 5 Red-eyed Vireo 1 Blue Jay 1 American Crow 1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 8 Tree Swallow 15 Black-capped Chickadee 3 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 House Wren 5 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 Gray-cheeked Thrush 2 Swainson's Thrush 4 American Robin 5 Gray Catbird 8 Brown Thrasher 2 European Starling 2 Ovenbird 1 Northern Waterthrush 12 Tennessee Warbler 3 Nashville Warbler 3 Common Yellowthroat 2 American Redstart 12 Magnolia Warbler 1 Yellow Warbler 35 Chestnut-sided Warbler 1 Blackpoll Warbler 3 Palm Warbler 15 Yellow-rumped Warbler 50 Wilson's Warbler 4 Chipping Sparrow 1 Clay-colored Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 9 Lincoln's Sparrow 2 Swamp Sparrow 4 White-throated Sparrow 2 Harris's Sparrow 1 1 adult in breeding plumage. Larger than white crowned with distinct black bib over grey belly White-crowned Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 3 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1 Red-winged Blackbird 60 Yellow-headed Blackbird 5 Common Grackle 20 Brown-headed Cowbird 2 Baltimore Oriole 5 American Goldfinch 5 House Sparrow 8 View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14109682 From Dan Jackson on 5/9/13: This morning, we completed the second of the Coulee Audubon - Myrick/Hixon EcoPark early May bird walks in the Hixon Forest. Just like last week, we were met with rain. Nine of us participated despite the rain and things were definitely much slower than last week. The trees weren't dripping with warblers but we did eventually get to see or hear 8 species of Warblers including my first of year (FOY) Blackburnian Warbler. We also found both Yellow-throated and Blue-headed Vireos, an Indigo Bunting, a few Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and both Swainson's (seen) and Wood (heard) Thrushes. Details are included in the eBird report below. Thanks to all who participated. Hopefully, next week we can do that trip without rain. Enjoy the birds, Dan Jackson, President Coulee Region Audubon Society La Crosse, Wisconsin Hixon Forest, La Crosse, La Crosse, US-WI May 9, 2013 6:30 AM - 8:00 AM Protocol: Traveling 1.0 mile(s) 34 species (+1 other taxa) Wood Duck 10 Great Blue Heron 6 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Empidonax sp. 1 Yellow-throated Vireo 2 Blue-headed Vireo 1 Blue Jay 1 American Crow 1 Black-capped Chickadee 8 Tufted Titmouse 1 House Wren 3 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 Swainson's Thrush 2 Wood Thrush 1 American Robin 15 Gray Catbird 1 Ovenbird 1 Black-and-white Warbler 1 Tennessee Warbler 2 Nashville Warbler 4 American Redstart 1 Blackburnian Warbler 1 Palm Warbler 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 9 Eastern Towhee 1 Chipping Sparrow 2 Lincoln's Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 5 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 3 Indigo Bunting 1 Brown-headed Cowbird 6 American Goldfinch 3 View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14047223 From Dan Jackson on 5/7/13: We had a big flock of birders show up for this morning's bird walk in the Myrick Marsh and we had a gorgeous morning for a walk. We split the group and headed around the loop in opposite directions. My group ended the day with 63 species. Not a tremendous number of warblers but enough to keep it interesting and fun. The species list is below. For me, the highlights were a single Common Tern that flew by, very cooperative Green-winged Teal, Soras, and a Horned Grebe that were very close to the trails, and nice looks at a Prothonotary Warbler and a Yellow-throated Vireo. There will be a walk in Hixon on Thursday morning and we will do both walks next week as well. Enjoy the birds, Dan Jackson, President Coulee Region Audubon Society La Crosse, Wisconsin Myrick Marsh, La Crosse, US-WI May 7, 2013 6:30 AM - 8:30 AM Protocol: Traveling 1.0 mile(s) 63 species Canada Goose 15 Wood Duck 8 Mallard 8 Blue-winged Teal 10 Northern Shoveler 3 Green-winged Teal 1 Redhead 15 Lesser Scaup 6 Bufflehead 30 Ruddy Duck 1 Pied-billed Grebe 5 Horned Grebe 2 Great Blue Heron 4 Great Egret 1 Bald Eagle 5 Sora 5 American Coot 50 Killdeer 3 Spotted Sandpiper 2 Greater Yellowlegs 1 Common Tern 1 Single bird. Darker wingtips than Forster's (not pale in primaries). shorter tailed. Rock Pigeon 1 Mourning Dove 4 Chimney Swift 8 Belted Kingfisher 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Yellow-throated Vireo 1 American Crow 3 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 8 Tree Swallow 15 Black-capped Chickadee 5 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 House Wren 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5 American Robin 15 Gray Catbird 2 Brown Thrasher 1 European Starling 4 Northern Waterthrush 5 Prothonotary Warbler 1 Tennessee Warbler 5 Orange-crowned Warbler 1 Nashville Warbler 2 Common Yellowthroat 1 Yellow Warbler 5 Palm Warbler 12 Yellow-rumped Warbler 30 Chipping Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 8 Lincoln's Sparrow 1 Swamp Sparrow 5 White-throated Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 4 Red-winged Blackbird 50 Yellow-headed Blackbird 6 --- 3 on east side and 3 way over by Lang Drive Common Grackle 15 Brown-headed Cowbird 6 Baltimore Oriole 2 Pine Siskin 5 American Goldfinch 4 House Sparrow 12 View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14024103 From Dan Jackson on 5/2/13: This morning was our first morning bird walk in the Hixon Forest. It was scheduled for 6:30 and it started to rain before I got there so I was almost hoping that no one would show up. It turned out that there were 5 hardy people already there and they were smarter than I was. I was unconvinced that it was a good idea until I opened my car door. Before I got my feet out of the car, I had heard an Ovenbird and a Northern Parula. When I looked up, I realized that the trees around the parking lot were full of warblers. There were probably over 100 warblers in the trees around the parking lot and we also heard and/or saw a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, an Eastern Towhee, a Veery, dozens of White-throated Sparrows, and more. We ended up with 9 species of Warblers including: Chestnut-sided Warbler (1) Blackpoll Warbler (probable) Ovenbird (1 singing) Nashville Warbler (10+) Orange-crowned Warbler (10+) Black-and-White Warbler (2-3) Palm Warbler (1-2) Northern Parula (2) Tennessee Warbler (1) Yellow-rumped Warblers (75+) Other birds included two Veeries, dozens of White-throated Sparrows, and a Yellow-throated Vireo (heard only) and a Rose-breasted Grossbeak (heard only). The weather really slowed down the Warblers. They were hanging out in about a dozen trees and there were multiple birds in each tree. They were moving very slowly and were checking out catkins, buds and bark for food. When it started to hail, the birds all flew to the ground where we watched several huddling next to the trunks of trees. When the hail stopped, they flew back up and started to feed again. Although we all got wet, it was a very productive morning. I will be leading a bird walk at 6:30 AM on Saturday morning in the Myrick Marsh that is the kick-off event of the day's International Migratory Bird Day celebration. There will also be another bird hike at 10:00 am. There will be 6:30 am bird walks for the next two weeks in the Marsh (Tuesdays) and Hixon Forest (Thursdays). Cheers, Dan From Dan Jackson on 4/30/13: This morning was the first of the "May" bird walks at the Myrick Marsh and Hixon Forest. On Tuesday mornings, we walk in the Myrick Marsh and on Thursday mornings, we walk in the Hixon Forest. We start at 6:30 and are usually done about 8:15 - 8:30 with some people leaving early as needed. Today, we had about 24 people which made for a very good sized group. Things were a little slow with most of the ducks gone and the migrants just starting to arrive. New birds for the year for me included a Common Yellowthroat and a White-crowned Sparrow. The full list is below. Enjoy the birds, Dan Jackson, President Coulee Region Audubon Society La Crosse, Wisconsin Myrick Marsh, La Crosse, US-WI Apr 30, 2013 6:30 AM - 8:15 AM Protocol: Traveling 2.0 mile(s) 46 species Canada Goose 30 Wood Duck 20 Mallard 10 Blue-winged Teal 30 Northern Shoveler 6 Green-winged Teal 2 Ring-necked Duck 6 Lesser Scaup 4 Bufflehead 8 Ruddy Duck 3 Pied-billed Grebe 4 Great Blue Heron 4 Bald Eagle 1 American Coot 250 Killdeer 1 Spotted Sandpiper 3 Rock Pigeon 1 Mourning Dove 6 Chimney Swift 6 Belted Kingfisher 1 Downy Woodpecker 3 Northern Flicker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Eastern Phoebe 1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 5 Tree Swallow 15 Barn Swallow 1 Black-capped Chickadee 5 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 House Wren 2 American Robin 25 European Starling 3 Common Yellowthroat 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 8 Chipping Sparrow 4 Song Sparrow 12 Swamp Sparrow 1 White-throated Sparrow 3 White-crowned Sparrow 1 Northern Cardinal 3 Red-winged Blackbird 50 Yellow-headed Blackbird 1 Common Grackle 20 Brown-headed Cowbird 8 American Goldfinch 2 House Sparrow 8 View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13939744