Scarlet Tanager
One look at NexRad last night and I knew birding this morning was going to be hot! About an hour after sunset, migrating birds took advantage of southerly winds throughout the eastern half of the US. However, birds heading up through southern Wisconsin faced a line of storms associated with a cold front which put a damper on their northbound progress:
Today, songbird "fallouts" are being reported at Lake Park in Milwaukee, Bay Beach Sanctuary in Green Bay, and other birding hot-spots throughout Wisconsin. At Pheasant Branch Conservancy we found 16 warbler species including Blackburnian Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, and Orange-crowned Warbler. A beautiful sunlit male Scarlet Tanager was one of the first birds I saw this morning. Other new arrivals included Wood Thrush, Yellow-throated Verio, and Least Flycatcher. My birding group finished with 65 bird species during our 2 hour walk along the creek corridor trail.
Location: Pheasant Branch
Observation date: 5/5/10
Number of species: 65
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Solitary Sandpiper
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Chimney Swift
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Blue-winged Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch
Scarlet Tanager © 2010 Mike McDowell