― Lauren DeStefano
And a beautiful finale it was. Once again we were privileged to have absolutely gorgeous weather over the weekend. On Saturday I spent most of the morning photographing brilliant fall colors at Pheasant Branch Conservancy. Naturally, there was birding to be done, too.
There seemed to be fewer White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows, but a slight uptick in Fox Sparrows. As Sunday's outing demonstrated, sparrow diversity is still exceptionally good at the prairie right now. Actually, I think even more migrants might have moved in during the night.
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
After birding, I decided to drive up to Devil's Lake State Park for more fall foliage photography. According to the Wisconsin Fall Color Report, Sauk County is presently right about at peak. I wasn't disappointed. As I expected, given the nice weather, hundreds of people had the same idea. It was the most crowded at the park I've ever witnessed. There was a veritable line of people ascending Balanced Rock Trail to the top of the east bluff.
Once at the top, I found a nice spot to capture the dramatic scenery...
Looking east.
Looking west.
Rock Lichens
Pheasant Branch, Dane, Wisconsin, US
Oct 22, 2016 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
41 species
Canada Goose
Mallard
Ring-necked Pheasant
Cooper's Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Sandhill Crane
Ring-billed Gull
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Gray Catbird
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Field Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
All images © 2016 Mike McDowell