― Mehmet Murat ildan
It was very foggy Saturday morning at the prairie parcel of Pheasant Branch Conservancy, perhaps even too much so for digiscoping. Though the above photograph looks a little like a moonrise over the trees, it's actually the sun glowing through the dense fog. Sandhill Cranes, Canada Geese, and Red-winged Blackbirds flew above me as I made my way up the trail toward the oak savanna. I could barely see them and wondered how they were able to tell where they were going.
Nearing the trail bend before the drumlin, I heard a recognizable bird call that prompted me to ready my digiscoping rig. It was a small flock of Bobolinks. In their brown and striped fall suits they might be mistaken for a sparrow of sorts. The males begin to molt back to their mostly black and white colors during January and February. The spring trip back to Wisconsin begins in late March and early April, with the first returning birds arriving in the first few days of May. The Bobolinks remained perched in the brush as if waiting for the fog to lift before moving on.
Bobolink
While fog generally conceals, it can also reveal as Mehmet Murat ildan suggested in the above quote. It's decorative as well as revealing. I became keenly aware of just how may spiders were present at the prairie. Curiously enough, for all the water droplet covered webs I observed, I was unable to find even a single spider.
The asters remain magnificent...
The fog was finally beginning to lift and the transition was almost like a rapid sunrise. There was a good showing of sparrows and even more are on the way. In addition to the Lincoln's Sparrows and White-throated Sparrow pictured here, I also found Clay-colored, Field, Song, Swamp, Chipping, Savannah, and even a single White-crowned Sparrow.
Lincoln's Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Nature's colors were on display in various forms throughout the morning...
Indigo Bunting
Sumac
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Including the creek corridor, I observed only seven wood warbler species during my hike. It was a collection of expected late September migrants like Black-throated Green, Yellow-rumped, Nashville, Tennessee, and Palm Warblers. Common Yellowthroats remain abundant, but there's no way to distinguish the residents from arrivals from further north. Now my emphasis will be sparrow migration and I'm hoping for a Harris's, so I'll be spending a lot more time at the prairie in the coming weeks.
Palm Warbler
American Goldfinch
Short-winged Blister Beetle
Pheasant Branch, Dane, Wisconsin, US
Sep 26, 2015 7:00 AM - 11:00 AM
63 species
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Ring-necked Pheasant
Wild Turkey
Cooper's Hawk
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
House Wren
Sedge Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Ovenbird
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
All images © 2015 Mike McDowell