Water Striding in the Baraboo Hills

Frog by Birdfreak

We went birding at Hemlock Draw in Sauk County Wisconsin. We hiked to Honey Creek and found Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Acadian Flycatchers and Cedar Waxwings. We also found cool insects, frogs, and fish. I really enjoyed hiking along the bank and exploring the creek.

The cool bug that I found was a Water Srider. What I learned from my Kaufman insect guide is that four of their legs are long to stride on the water and two are small and not very visible. At first I thought they had eight legs until we got home. Kaufman’s book said: “What appears to be a water strider with eight visible legs will actually be a mating pair.” So, there are actually two of them in the photo below!

“Eight Legs” of (two) Water Strider(s) by Birdfreak

As we were hiking back to the car to eat lunch we found a Hooded Warbler right off the trail. It was really angry at us for disturbing it and I wondered if it had a nest close by.

Hooded Warbler by Birdfreak