Caspian Tern - Birdfreak
While looking for waterbirds in flooded farm fields (fuddles), A large bird flew by. I immediately knew it was a tern because I saw Forster’s Terns and Black Terns at Horicon Marsh. The bill sticks out in a unique way and the colors are so bright and great.
My uncle helped me with the identification and THIS IS A LIFER FOR ME!! Two of them flew right over us and then they were gone.
Caspian Tern - Birdfreak
Great Blue Herons - Birdfreak
This summer we have had a lot of rain. A lot of farm fields are flooded which sandpipers, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets and other waterbirds love. Frogs seem to love it to because my and my cousin Sammie saw (and caught) a lot of them and there were many different types.
Green Frog - Birdfreak
We also saw a family of Sandhill Cranes. They had one baby and were eating in a field. I love Sandhill Cranes and they are one of my favorite birds. There were also two more cranes in another field.
Sandhill Crane Family - Birdfreak
I am going to go again soon to look for shorebirds and more herons. It was a lot of fun. I even got a life bird which I will post about soon.
The American Robin is such a common bird that birders don’t seem to notice it sometimes. But in the winter, an American Robin is really exciting to see and when they first arrive in your yard, it is great.
It is fun seeming them eat worms, especially when they bite a worm and start hopping around to pull it out of the ground. I love to see the baby birds because they are cute and different from the adult.
The robin’s song is heard really early in the morning and really late at night. I love to hear them when I am camping. Their song is the best to wake up to.
My uncle Eddie made a video of an American Robin with music and let me add it to my post. I think this video is very funny.
On July 2nd, I went with my cousins and Grandparents to northern Wisconsin. On July 3rd, we went to Bayfield, Wisconsin to go on a ferry ride to Madeline Island, one of the Apostle Islands.
Madeline Island is located at the very northern point of Wisconsin on Lake Superior. It is the largest Apostle Island. The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is a scenic archipelago of 22 islands surrounding the northern tip of Wisconsin’s Bayfield Peninsula.
We saw about ten Double-crested Cormorants. A couple of them were flying but the rest of them were perched on a breakwater, preening. They were beautiful. There were also noisy Ring-billed Gulls and maybe some were Herring Gulls. They were all over, at least a hundred of them!
The ferry ride was pretty cool. It was the first time I ever rode a ferry. We drove our car right on to the boat. I really love Lake Superior.
Yellow-breasted Chat
I saw this Yellow-breasted Chat at Rock Cut State Park as a storm was beginning. There was a lot of lightning which scared Bandit, my aunt Susie’s dog that we were dog-sitting. The chat was flying around and it landed two times allowing me and my uncle Eddie to get really cool photos of it.
It hovered in one place which was cool to see. I think it was neat that we saw the Yellow-breasted Chat from the car. We never did hike much because of the storm. I also got a Yellow Warbler photo on this same trip.
Yellow-breasted Chat, hovering
Bandit hates thunder - photo by Birdfreak
Cool storm clouds by Birdfreak
Dickcissel
On June 28th my mom and uncle and I went to Seward Bluffs Forest Preserve. One of the cool birds we saw was a Dickcissel. We saw tons of them! The coolest bird we saw probably was the Lark Sparrow.
Lark Sparrow-Birdfreak
I also caught a really cool Virginia Ctenucha. It is a type of moth that flies around dooring the day. It was really pretty.
Virginia Ctenucha
On Saturday June 21st I went to Deer Run Forest Preserve to do another prairie study. The first thing I noticed was that some of the prairie was mowed. Sadly I found a part of a bird nest.
Last week at the bird field trip some people found a type of knapweed that is really invasive. I think that’s why they mowed it. Where it wasn’t mowed, I found Purple Coneflowers.
Purple Coneflowers where they didn’t mow - Birdfreak
The next thing I noticed was a stack of boxes for bees. I saw bees coming in and out of the bottom. I am going to find out why they are at this forest preserve.
Bee boxes - Birdfreak
I didn’t see any new birds on the survey, but my uncle helped me identify a butterfly we found, a Great Spangled Fritillary. It was a wonderful day and the weather was really great.
Great Spangled Fritallary - Birdfreak
The first time I saw a Yellow Warbler was at Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin. It was a really neat sighting because it was really close to me in a bush. Today I went to Rock Cut State Park and saw a lot of Yellow Warblers. One was bonking around in a tree and I got photos of it.
The Yellow Warbler song is hard to tell from other warblers, but easy to tell by looking at it. It is all yellow and has reddish streaks on the belly. It is hard to get pictures of it because it keeps flitting around. I am happy I got pictures of it.
On June 1st, I started my very own prairie study in a part of Deer Run Forest Preserve. I am calling it Dakota’s Prairie Study (DPS) and will be studying the area until late fall or longer.
The area is surrounded by trees on two sides and more prairie on another side. The last side is a farm field that has not been planted with anything. I have found a lot of birds so far in the field and different insects and plants too.
Grasshopper Sparrow - Birdfreak
Nesting Birds (carrying food)
Other Sightings
Turkey Vulture and Red-winged Blackbird - Birdfreak
I hope to write a post each time I do a DPS.
Deer Run Forest Preserve - Birdfreak
Today we went to Deer Run Forest Preserve for an NCIOS field trip. Our leader was Jack Armstrong. We saw a lot of cool birds. One of the coolest birds we saw today was a Henslow’s Sparrow in the SCOPE! It is lucky to just plain see it but in the scope, that is even cooler! I love its beautiful call that sounds like a hiccup.
Henslow’s Sparrow - Birdfreak
We also saw a family of Lark Sparrow’s. The babies were really cute. A Red-tail Hawk called and it sounded really neat. We saw Eastern Bluebirds fighting over a nest box with some Tree Swallows.
Here are some more highlights we saw at Deer Run Forest Preserve:
