American Tree Sparrow
Ryan Brady from Ashland is beginning to see Northern Shrikes and American Tree Sparrows in his neck of the woods. It shouldn't be long and we'll see both species in the southern region of the state. Time wise, we're also in the zone for Harris's Sparrows, so I plan on meeting Sylvia and Dottie before work this morning at Pheasant Branch to see what we can find for sparrow species. Looking at the current weather report just now, rain might put a damper on our plans.
Shrikes and tree sparrows, huh? Well, it looks like winter is just around the corner, but our foliage fall colors haven't peaked yet - most everything is still pretty green with the exception of a few patches of red and yellow. Dark-eyed Juncos began arriving in high numbers to southern Wisconsin over the past week. There are still several warbler species around, but for the most part it's yellow rumps and palms. I finally saw my first Blue-headed Vireo of fall migration last weekend.
I've been busy moving to my new apartment in Middleton this past week and there's still quite a bit of work left to be done. For the short term, I won't have a lot of time for my usual photographic essays and nature writing, so there will probably be more links to other bird stories and items I come across I think might be of interest.
Addendum - PBC Results:
Canada Goose
Mallard
Ring-necked Pheasant
Red-tailed Hawk
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Black-capped Chickadee
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Clay-colored Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
© 2008 Mike McDowell