Guess what’s coming up this Friday, February 12th? It’s the return of the Great Backyard Bird Count, a community science project designed to collect data about the presence of birds in winter. And oh boy, the count is right on time—we are entering into a very cold, very frigid week that will make getting outside a challenge. What better way to hunker down at home than with a blanket, a warm beverage, and your trusty binoculars?

This week’s Entryway to Birding blog pulls up a chair to the window and takes a look at what birds you might find near your home—whether you’re looking into a backyard or an apartment complex parking lot. Learn about the most common visitors you might see in south-central Wisconsin this winter and get some identification tips for some especially tricky backyard birds!

Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt

Winter has finally caught up to us. The snow, the wind, the cold weather—it all arrived this weekend. If you’re feeling like that’s put an end to your birding for the season, I hope you think again! Winter brings a whole new set of bird species our way—and finding some of these species involves expanding your idea of how you can go birding. There are endless ways to bird, but this week we’re going to delve into one of the most popular winter forms of birding—that is, birding by car!

Before you hit the road looking for your snowy owl or a rough-legged hawk this winter, read up on the basics so you can increase your chances of success. This week’s Entryway to Birding blog has advice for your first time road birding, including how to decide where to go, how to stay safe on the road, and best practices to make your birding adventure a fun one!

Photo by Michael Janke

It’s that time of year! We’ve reached the season where you can’t just assume that the bulky buteo flying above you is gonna be a red-tailed hawk. Rough-legged hawks are beginning to arrive, giving us birders a good reminder to bird every bird. I know I wouldn’t want to overlook a sighting of one of these arctic visitors!

You can find most of our raptors here year-round (rough-legged hawk aside), so perhaps the “winter” in the title here is a little misleading. But winter is a great time to turn your attention to raptors and even plan your birding outings around them. Songbird activity certainly slows down this time of year when many species migrate south, meaning you’re likely seeing fewer species if you’re out on a bird walk at a local conservation park or natural area. This gives you a good excuse to mix it up a bit, especially on those colder days—make some cocoa, hop in the car, and head to the countryside!

Photo by USFWS-Mountain Prairie

Back in late October, a rare visitor dropped into Madison—a black-throated gray warbler, normally found west of the Rockies. Everyone thought he would be a one-day-wonder, stopping for a quick pit-stop before continuing to ride the winds south on his journey to Mexico. But he stayed. And he stayed. And he stayed. Against all odds, he is still here.

For a new birder, seeing a rare bird like this can feel like a rite of passage. But unless you’re the one to stumble across a rarity, how would you even know it’s out there? How can you hear about these cool sightings, much less learn how to track them down? This week’s Entryway to Birding blog brings you the inside scoop on rarities, so you too can experience that special birding thrill.

Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt

Last week, I shared an overview of the incredibly diverse selection of waterfowl that will be visiting us over the next few months. And in the span of a week, things are already ramping up! Out at Goose Pond Sanctuary, tundra swans have arrived, greater white-fronted geese have joined the Canada geese, and a dozen species of ducks are mixed in among them all. Waterfowl migration season is truly here.

Having a general idea of what to expect on the water is one thing, but knowing how to pick out and identify individual species is another. For us newer birders (heck, probably for some experienced folks too!), IDing waterfowl can feel overwhelming. There’s so much variety, not only in species but in the types of viewing conditions you’ll face.

This week’s Entryway to Birding blog has your back. Don’t let those ducks intimidate you! We’ve got all advice you’ll need to sort through a raft of mixed ducks with ease—with or without a scope!

“The coots are back!” is a sentence that I never imagined myself exclaiming with such joy, but here we are. It’s mid-October and the American coots are definitely back, congregating in large flocks on our nearby lakes. I missed them more than I expected.

Fall migration has come in waves, with shorebirds in August, warblers in September, and sparrows in October. Late October and November kicks off waterfowl season, bringing us swans, geese, ducks, coots, loons, and grebes galore. Many of these birds will stick around until there’s no open water, meaning the next few months will be prime time for waterfowl watching.

This week’s Entryway to Birding blog will help you get familiar with the wide variety of waterbirds you might see over the next few months—and help you cultivate an appreciation for everything from their gorgeous plumages to their weird antics.

One of the things I love most about birding is how it’s taken me to new places, to new destinations that I might not have visited before. I’ve veered off the beaten path in search of new birds and it’s opened my eyes to the breadth of Wisconsin’s public lands. From state natural areas to state wildlife areas to state parks and more, Wisconsin has endless opportunities to get outside. Many of these areas are open to in-season hunting, but also to birders, wildlife-seekers, and other adventurers looking for new natural areas to appreciate.

If you’re venturing out this fall, we encourage that you go prepared—fall is also when many hunting seasons begin and there are a few things you should consider to keep yourself and others safe this time of year. Birders and hunters can absolutely co-exist and share these spaces that we all love, but it requires that you be informed and prepared. That’s what this week’s Entryway to Birding blog is here for—we’re bringing you some safety tips on everything from what to wear, to the best time of day to venture out, to what to do if you encounter hunters in the field.

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.

Identifying birds is hard. No matter the species, no matter the time of year—it’s a challenge. The right bird but the wrong lighting conditions can fool even an expert birder, but us newbies? Oof, sometimes it feels like we don’t even have a chance.

Every season, it seems like there are new arrivals destined to fool us, again and again. Right now, it’s shorebirds. In the few months that they’ve been gone, it feels like everything that I learned about shorebird ID migrated north with them. And unfortunately, it doesn’t look like my shorebird knowledge made the return trip, so I’ve had to do some studying up!

In this week’s Entryway to Birding blog, I’m going to share some of the most helpful shorebird ID tips I’ve picked up along the way. I’ll also talk through some side-by-side comparisons of some of our most common, yet confusing, shorebirds.

Let’s get started!

Photo by USFWS Northeast Region

Welcome back to the Entryway to Birding blog! In last week’s entry, we explored some of the many reasons that a new birder might benefit from joining eBird, a citizen science platform for recording bird sightings and observations.

This week, I’m going to show you just how easy, fast, and rewarding submitting an eBird checklist can be using the eBird Mobile app. For those of you who prefer to stick to the desktop version, I’ll have some website-specific resources to share with you too.

Let’s get started by looking at eBird Mobile, designed to be used on your smartphone.

Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt

In this week’s Entryway to Birding blog, I’m going to share some simple and practical tips to help you ID birds in the field—especially when you’re out there on your own. It may feel intimidating without a field trip leader or fellow birders beside you to help you out, but don’t let that hold you back from trying to improve your skills. I’ll show you how to use the Merlin ID app to help give you a great place to start with your IDs.

None of my advice is new or groundbreaking, but I hope it can give you a little more confidence if you’ve been flustered by an overwhelming amount of birds (it’s really a good problem to have!). When you’re birding solo as a beginner, you may not be able ID everything you see, but if you keep at it, you’ll find you improve with each and every attempt.

Let’s get started!

Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt

Have you seen a lot of cars pulled off onto the side of country roads lately? Have you wondered what they’re up to? If there’s a pond or wet, muddy field nearby, chances are they’re birding.

In previous weeks on our Entryway to Birding blog, I’ve probably made birding sound a lot like a walk in the woods with some binoculars. That’s not an inaccurate depiction by any means—but it’s also not a complete one.

Birding is a versatile and accessible hobby that can be done in more ways than one. If your intention is to look or listen for birds, then congratulations! You’re birding—even if you aren’t in the woods, even if you don’t have binoculars, even if you haven’t left your house.

Here’s a round-up of just a few of the many other ways you can bird.

Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt