Coulee Region Audubon Society

January 2013 Wisconsin Birding Events January 2013 Wisconsin Birding Events Bald Eagle Watching Days January 17-18, 2014 This annual event takes place in Prairie du Sac, home of a large concentration of wintering Bald Eagles.  Events include eagle watching tours, presentations on eagles and other raptors, and birding and optics exhibits, and kids activities. Location Prairie du Sac, WI Contact Information Organization Name: Ferry Bluff Eagle Council Phone Number: 608-683-2453 Madison Audubon: Faville Grove January 1, 2014; 6:55 am We will enjoy the predawn light as we meander through the prairie, arriving at the marsh overlook by 7:23 a.m. to see the sun rise over the Faville Grove Marsh. We will spend the early morning exploring the winter marsh and surrounding uplands. Directions Meet at the old farmstead at N7710 Hwy 89. From I-94, take the Lake Mills/Waterloo exit north on Highway 89 about 2.5 miles to the driveway on the righ...

Prairie Chickens at the Buena Vista marsh Trips April 20th or April 21st, 2012 I will be leading a small group to watch the Prairie Chickens at the Buena Vista marsh (near Stevens Point) on 4/21. There are only 6 spaces available in the blinds that day and someone has already spoken for one of those. Therefore, I can take 4 more people on that day.If more people would like to go, it would be possible to schedule a second trip or to reschedule the trip on 4/21 to Friday 4/20. There are 24 positions open in the blinds on that day. If you would like to go on either of these dates, please let me know and also let me know which date or dates will work. I will fill the Saturday spaces on a first-come, first-served basis. If anyone is willing to “lead” a group on Friday, let me know. If there is a second leader, we could run 2 trips. If there isn’t a second leader, I will schedule Friday or Saturday based on interest. There is a non-refundable $15 fee for the Prairie Chicken View...

La Crosse 2011 Christmas Bird Count Summary Saturday, December 17, 2011 Check our CBC page for final results From Dan Jackson on 12/29/2011:Once again, I would like to say thanks for your help with this year’s La Crosse/La Crescent Christmas Bird Count. This year’s count, due in part to warm weather and also in part to a great effort by everyone involved, was one of the most successful in terms of the number of species and the number of birds seen that we have had in recent years. Ninety-eight people helped out with this year’s count. This included 50 people who worked by themselves or as a member of a team to cover the 27 sections of the count circle and also included 48 people who counted at 40 different feeders in the count circle. Our results were great. We saw close to 14,000 birds of 73 species on Saturday 12/17/11 and an additional 5 species were seen during count week (the 3 days before and after the count day). Highlights included seven species of owls ...

Waterfowl Observation Field Trip Saturday November 12, 2011 Dan Jackson will lead a waterfowl observation field trip. Meet at 1:00 PM at the Kwik Trip in La Crescent that is located just west of the stop lights at the west end of the causeway between La Crosse and La Crescent. From there, we will head south to the Brownsville overlooks and the Wildcat landing mudflats. Depending on weather, birds and interest, the trip will last 2-3 hours.

Myrick Marsh Birding 101 Wednesday June 15, 2011 After the June Pot-luck, we will do a short "birding 101" bird walk in the Myrick Marsh. Although the migrants will have already passed through the area, there are many interesting birds that nest in the Myrick Marsh. We will walk out in the marsh in hopes of seeing Common Moorhens, Sora and Virginia Rails, Herons, Geese, Ducks, Black Terns, Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and other marsh residents.

Wyalusing State Park Saturday May 21, 2011 On Saturday, May 21st, the Coulee Region Audubon Society will host a birding field trip to Wyalusing State Park. We will meet in the parking lot by the gate house at 6:30 AM and will bird until around noon. This is a very special birding location. Local specialties include: Cerulean, Yellow-Throated, Kentucky, and Prothonotary Warblers, Cuckoos, Henslow's Sparrow, Acadian Flycatcher, Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, and many others. There is a strong probability that late migrants will still be coming through which means that we can and will seem many other species of sparrows, thrushes, warblers and other great birds. For those interested in carpooling, please e-mail Dan Jackson at DanJackson@LBWhite.com.

I-90 Adopt-A-Highway Clean-up Saturday April 9, 2011 Meet at 9 a.m. at the Dresbach Information Center parking lot just off I-90 in Minnesota. Plan on 2 1/2 hours of work and wear sturdy shoes and work gloves. Safety vests and trash bags are provided. We meet for lunch afterward in La Crescent. Call Mark Webster at 787-6398 for more information.

Buena Vista Prairie Chicken Viewing April 3, 23 or 24, 2011- Portage County We would like to find out if anyone is interested in making an early morning trip to the Buena Vista Marsh to view Prairie Chickens. We would need to arrive 2 hours before sunrise and therefore would leave La Crosse as early as 2:30 am. Currently, there are 18 seats available for 4/3, 22 seats available for 4/23 and 16 seats available for 4/24. Please e-mail Dan Jackson at DanJackson@LBWhite.com by 3/9 if you are interested in going and what days you might consider. We will make plans based on current blind availability at that time. This trip will include a walk of up to 1/4 mile to reach the blind. If anyone prefers to travel the night before, we can make arrangements to meet at the viewing location.

Mississippi River Waterfowl Viewing Saturday March 19, 2011 On Saturday, March 19th, the Coulee Region Audubon Society will host a waterfowl viewing along the Mississippi River south of La Crosse. We will meet at 8:00 am at the entrance to Goose Island County Park near the Goose Sign. This location is south of La Crosse off of Hwy 35. The road into the park is called County Road GI and this intersects with Hwy 35 about 1 1/2 miles south of the intersections of Hwy 35 and Hwy 14/61 on the south edge of La Crosse. Migrant waterfowl congregate on Pool 8 of the Mississippi R., and are viewable from either side of the River. Our field trip will start at Goose Island and then proceed south along the river as far as Ferryville. We will make various stops along the way to look at migrating waterfowl, Peregrine Falcons at the Genoa Power Plant, and any other birds that we can find including a potential side trip into the hills near Rush Creek. This trip is a shortened version of t...

Golden Eagle Field Trip Saturday February 12, 2011 From Dan Jackson:Results of the Golden Eagle Survey are below. Also note that the National Eagle Center is running a Golden Eagle Seminar / Field Trip on Saturday, Feb 12 at 1:00 PM. Rather than running our own separately, it would make sense to join Scott Mehus on this trip. He is much more familiar with where the birds are hanging out and we will see MANY Golden Eagles by joining him. To take part in this event, I would suggest that we leave La Crosse at 11:30. This will allows us to get there in plenty of time for the program and field trip. I will find out from Scott when this field trip will end so that interested people can plan. Thanks, Dan Jackson, President Coulee Region Audubon Society La Crosse, Wisconsin DanJackson@LBWhite.com From: Eileen Hanson [mailto:eileen@nationaleaglecenter.org] Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 3:00 PM Subject: 2011 Golden Eagle Survey RESULTSGolden Eagle Spotters, This year’s...

Lake Michigan Field Trip Saturday January 8, 2011 From Dan Jackson:Matt Paulson and I are planning to join the WSO Lake Michigan field trip on Saturday, January 8, 2011. The event starts from the South Shore Yacht Club in Milwaukee at 8:00 and then heads north with stops at the Milwaukee River, North Point in Milwaukee, Doctors Park, Port Washington, Herrington Beach, 6 Mile Road, Kohler Andrae State Park, and North Point in Sheboygan. This field trip is a great way to start a new birding year and often results in sightings of Lake Michigan specialties including Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Harlequin Ducks, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Mute Swans, Snowy Owls, Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspurs, and as many as 7 species of gulls (including Thayer’s, Iceland, Glaucous, Great Black-back, Lesser Black-backed, as well as Herring and Ring-billed). We will leave the La Crosse area at 4:00 am in order to get to Milwaukee before the event begins and we will leave Sheboygan for the trip home ...

La Crosse 2010 Christmas Bird Count Results Summary of Saturday, December 18, 2010 Count From Dan Jackson:I am still waiting on a couple of reports from people who had indicated that they planned to help out with this year’s Christmas Bird Count. However, since it is newsletter deadline time and I haven’t heard from them,  this  will be the published version of the count report. At this point, we have reports of 11,244 birds of 51 species. These were counted by 86 participants who logged a total of 427.25 hours of counting time. Although the species count is somewhat low compared to prior years (due almost entirely to the lack of open water and therefore very few species of waterfowl and water birds), our count number is one of the highest in the last 20 years. If waterfowl were taken out of the previous counts with higher total numbers, this year’s count would be at least comparable with those counts. This is partially due to a very high level of participation...