Bird & Nature Blog
A clutch of the latest stories from Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance
The Natural Heritage Conservation wing of the DNR just published a report on the state of Wisconsin birds with a combination of bad news, good news, and ideas for creating more good news for birds and those of us who cherish them. Please use this link to read the full report: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/wnrmag/2020/Fall/Bird
Photo by Patrick Ready
Welcome back to the Entryway to Birding blog! I’ve recently been reflecting on how I bird—where I choose to go, the pace that I move at, what my intentions for birding are. Much of my birding during September has been focused on finding warblers and enjoying their presence before they continue south for the winter, and my warbler searching has resulted in some very slow birding sessions—not slow in bird activity, by any means! But “slow” as in, “No, I haven’t moved more than 15 feet from the spot you last saw me, and yes, it has been over an hour” type of slow.
At first this slow birding was just a product of the birds—I had found a warbler flock early one morning and they were busy feasting on bugs and weren’t going anywhere. They left me wishing I had brought a camp chair. After a mesmerizing “slow” hour of watching these birds, I realized that I need to slow down more often. I’ve been challenging myself to give “slow birding” a try, and this week’s Entryway to Birding blog will break down why you might want to switch up your pace too.
Milkweeds are the host plant for monarch caterpillars, making them essential for healthy monarch populations. This fall, Madison Audubon and in particular our staff at Goose Pond Sanctuary have established a goal for volunteers to collect 50 pounds of milkweed seed for the butterflies, and we need your help!
The primary focus is on common milkweed since it is indeed common and found in old fields, along roadsides, and possibly in your yard. We also would like people to collect butterfly, whorled, and swamp (red) milkweed seed as they are highly desirable species that are not easy to locate in large numbers.
Madison Audubon photo
Neonicotinoids are a type of pesticide used on a wide variety of crops in this and other countries. They can be long-lasting, effective against many insects, can be applied via seed coatings, and are less toxic to mammals than other pesticides. Those first three attributes are why they have raised many concerns among conservationists and environmentalists. Lots of insects are beneficial to us and even those that are bothersome can be important food for other creatures, especially birds. Birds eat seeds as well as bugs.
Photo by Arlene Koziol
It sounds simple, doesn’t it? You know how to count, so just … well … count them! But as I’m sure any birder—new or experienced—knows, counting birds can be deceptively hard. Not only might you encounter birds in large numbers that may feel overwhelming to parse, but the conditions that you’re viewing birds in are always changing.
With practice and the help of some useful estimation methods, counting birds gets easier in time. This week’s Entryway to Birding blog brings you some tips and advice for navigating some of those more challenging, less straightforward counting situations, so you can spend more time enjoying the birds and less time stressing about getting “exact” counts for your checklist.
Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
