Snowfall via GOES-16
Here in southern Wisconsin we got around an inch of snow Friday night. The forecast was calling for as much as 4 inches, but it appears from the GOES-16 satellite image above that most of it got dumped in Iowa and southeastern Minnesota before it got to us. Perhaps one day I'll be able to use my snowshoes again.
Cedar Waxwing
The large flock of Cedar Waxwings continues to forage on various fruit trees in the Deer Creek area. They were absent yesterday, but returned Sunday morning. Just to be sure, I walked across the street from my apartment to inspect the flock for any Bohemian Waxwings, but found none. It's happened twice before, so you never know.
Pheasant Branch Creek Corridor
Me, Sylvia Marek, and Dottie Johnson took a hike along the creek corridor, which was recently reopened since the flood destruction late this past summer. I was amazed how well Middleton cleaned up the destruction, but there's still a lot of work to be done. The three of us were very grateful to be back in our favorite birding haunt. Bird-wise we found a Belted Kingfisher, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees, Northern Cardinals, Swamp Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, White-breasted Nuthatches, various woodpeckers, and Wild Turkey tracks. A lone Sandhill Crane call was briefly heard.
Wild Turkey tracks
North of Century Avenue, we came across a slumbering Great Horned Owl, but I didn't have my camera with me. The photograph below was taken a few years ago along the south section of the creek corridor just north of Parisi Park.
Great Horned Owl
I birded several locations along the western shore of Lake Mendota on Saturday. I was hoping to find scoters, but luck wasn't on our side. However, I did find Common Loons, Common Goldeneye, Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers, Common Mergansers, American Coots, Pie-billed Grebes, and a single Horned Grebe. There weren't any Tundra Swans, either! At Governor's Island I found an Orange-crowned Warbler in a mixed species flock that also included American Tree Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and both kinglets. Ruby-crowned Kinglets and an Orange-crowned Warbler? Go south, insectivores!
Horned Grebe
All images © 2018 Mike McDowell