Snow Bunting

Snow buntings have been making their way through southern Wisconsin, returning from their high Arctic nesting grounds. With a splendid white underside and copper back and face, snow buntings' markings merge with the coming winter snowstorms. Their copper ear coverts give the appearance of blushing—a modest bird.

Male snow buntings make their way to the Arctic by early April, when temperatures still hover in the negative double digits. While most of the Midwest wriggled uncomfortably in the polar vortexes last year, snow buntings felt the familiar spring breeze of the northern limits of the earth.

During the nesting season, snow buntings have no northern limit and are circumglobal in their distribution; stretching from Canada to Russia to Norway. Some research suggests that snow buntings are bound by southern limits relating to light regimes—when there is not enough light, the buntings are not able to reproduce.

You can look for snow buntings at Faville Grove in open fields, along gravel roads, and on power lines. Perhaps the rock outcroppings of the ledge savanna offer similar habitat to the rocky tundra where they spend their “summers.”

Written by Drew Harry, Faville Grove Land Steward

Photo by Eric Begin, Flickr Creative Commons

Northern Pintail

Sleek and slender, it looks more like a drawing than a real dabbler.  The drake’s plumage—smooth gray on the sides and upper back; jet black accents along a tail in sharp relief; a chocolate head, richer than Venezuelan cocoa couverture; pearly white breast plotted like a pointed lapel against the darker colors—is aesthetically simple and, for me at least, appealing.

North America, distinguishes this bird.  Around 1,000 nest in Wisconsin each year, gracing the marshes and grasslands with a sartorial gravitas.  The birds arrive early in the year, mid-March, hemming themselves along the shortgrass uplands relatively far from water, creating a runway from nest to wetlands where they dabble, court, and rest. 

With the eclipse, the drakes molt a new plumage, decidedly less crisp, swapping layers—fashion for comfort.  They also leave the hen to incubate the young and raise the newly hatched.  If found in a Wisconsin fall, the bird will be moving south hurried by the cold gray winds and skies that stole its color.  Think of the pin-up for waterfowl and you’ll see this bird, tailored in breeding plumage, the Northern Pintail. 

Written by Drew Harry, Faville Grove Land Steward

Photo by Rick Leche, Flickr Creative Commons

Peregrine Falcon

Many recent visitors to Goose Pond Sanctuary have been treated to views of the fastest bird in the world - a peregrine falcon.

A peregrine's average cruising flight speed is 24 to 33 mph and increases to 67 mph when in pursuit of prey! When stooping (dropping on prey with their wings closed) these falcons can reach speeds of 238 mph.

When hunting, peregrines start by watching from a high perch (in our case, the dead trees on Goose Pond Road between the two ponds). They also hunt by soaring from great height. Stoops begin 300–3,000 feet above their prey and end either by grabbing the prey or by striking it with the feet hard enough to stun or kill it.

Peregrine falcons eat mostly birds, of an enormous variety—450 North American species have been documented as prey. They have been observed killing birds as large as a Sandhill Crane and as small as a hummingbird.  However, they especially like to feed on shorebirds and ducks - which is why we they've been frequenting Goose Pond during this heavy migration season.

On October 19, Daryl Tessen reported seeing 13 different species of shorebirds at Goose Pond to WISBIRDN.  We found five species of ducks on October 23, including 635 mallards and 230 green-winged teal. We also observed a peregrine chasing (but not catching) shorebirds.

Greg Septon, Wisconsin’s peregrine biologist, wrote in the Atlas of Breeding Birds in Wisconsin that peregrines have historically nested on about 20 cliff eyries along the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers and in Door County. These eyries were abandoned during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s due to the use of DDT.  

Peregrines were reintroduced into Wisconsin beginning in the 1980’s. During the first Breeding Bird Atlas in the 1990s, peregrines were recorded nesting at 11 sites. Their nests were mostly found at power plants or tall buildings along Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, or the Mississippi River - the only inland record was from Madison.

This year - the first year of the second atlas project - shows at least 14 pairs have been found nesting including a pair at the MG&E power plant in Madison and at Devils Lake State Park!

Dan Berger, co-founder of the Cedar Grove Hawk Research Station in 1950, banded young peregrines from Wisconsin eyries in the 1950’s and was very pleased to find banded young a few years ago from the cliff at Maiden Rock on the Mississippi River.

Dan reported in the first week of October that over 30 peregrines had been seen at Cedar Grove but none were trapped and banded.

The name "peregrine" means wanderer, and the peregrine falcon has one of the longest migrations of any North American bird. Tundra-nesting falcons winter in South America, and may move 15,500 miles in a year.

Arlene Koziol photographed an unbanded peregrine on October 19 and we observed a banded peregrine on October 23rd.  We could see the silver Fish and Wildlife Service band and could not see the other leg that may have contained color bands. The unbanded bird may be heading from the tundra to South America while the banded bird may be Wisconsin peregrine. If you see a banded peregrine please let us know the band color code and we will try and get the location it was banded.  

Thanks to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for providing information on the peregrine falcon.

Written by Mark Martin & Sue Foote-Martin, Goose Pond Sanctuary Managers

Photo by Ron Knight, Flickr Creative Commons

Dark-Eyed Junco at Faville Grove

A common feeder bird, Dark-eyed Juncos come with the first frosts in southern Wisconsin.

The bird's Latin name (Junco hyealis) means “of the winter.” Juncos arrive for the winter in mid-September and head north in March-May. It could be discouraging that Juncos, the bird “of the winter,” stay in Wisconsin for seven months. We've been seeing plenty of Juncos, but the windy, sunny, and cool fall days have a permanence of their own. Here at Faville Grove, winter is a long way off. We are busy collecting seed for our fall planting, and we hold volunteer work parties every Wednesday and Saturday 9:30 am-noon and 1:30-4:00 pm (Saturdays only).

Seed is a vital component of the junco's diet, up to 75% by some accounts. Skilled at finding feeders and hopping around lawns for food, juncos keep a steady diet throughout winter. Our restored prairies contain abundant and diverse seed sources for migrating birds and recent winter residents.

Juncos can reside year-round in northern Wisconsin. Throughout North America, year-round junco residents have, on average, shorter wings. Longer wings offer an advantage flying long distances, which is why migrants will often have longer wings.

Look for Dark-eyed juncos at feeders or in woodlots, hopping along the ground and tipping their white tail feathers. If you're not yet in the mood for winter, you'd do well to avoid the Dark-eyed Junco, though it might be difficult to miss one of North America's most common birds.

By Drew Harry, Faville Grove Land Steward

Photo by Eric Belgin, Flickr Creative Commons

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill crane numbers are increasing at Goose Pond Sanctuary. We counted 38 cranes roosting on the pond on October 6th and we would not be surprised to see their numbers increase through the middle of November.

This is probably the most roosting sandhills we have had at Goose Pond during fall migration. In the early 1900’s, Kumlien and Hollister wrote that sandhill cranes were abundant in migration in southern Wisconsin.  In the mid 1930’s crane research Franklin Henika estimated the state’s population at 25 pairs.

In 1991, Sam Robbins wrote in Wisconsin Birdlife and sandhill cranes are  uncommon migrant and “Once the fall waterfowl-hunting season starts, Sandhills depart.  Many cranes are gone by October 15th and by November 15th most have moved out…It is doubtful that the state will ever again know the huge flocks that Hoy and Kumlien found in the 1850s.”

Sandhill cranes are staging in the fall, mostly on large wetlands, and now many cranes are staying in Wisconsin until the water turns hard.  If you want to see large numbers of staging sandhill cranes, visit Crex Meadows State Wildlife Area in northwest Wisconsin. Last November, Philip Schwarz was photographing cranes at Crex Meadows and estimated the saw 15,000 cranes.    

Another good crane staging area is northwest of Portage near Aldo Leopold’s shack. The Aldo Leopold Foundation has four viewing days and you can also see large numbers of cranes feeding in the fields during the day.  Good roads to drive are Highways T and U (between the International Crane Foundation (north of Baraboo) and the Aldo Leopold Foundation on Levee Road.   

Once cranes leave Wisconsin many stop at Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife Area in Indiana before heading to Florida for the winter. The Indiana DNR website states that over 10,000 cranes stop in Jasper-Pulask in fall migration.

Sandhill cranes prefer to roost in standing water or on island where they are safe from canine predators, mostly coyotes.  Goose Pond water levels are low this year  providing ideal crane roosting habitat.  When the pond is deep or dry there is no or limited crane roosting habitat.  During the day cranes fly out to feed in the surrounding picked fields of wheat, corn, and beans so near dusk is an excellent time to see the cranes and waterfowl return from feeding flights.  Our Goose Pond family of three likes to be by themselves and we frequently see them in the local fields or flying around.

Sam Robbins liked to visit Goose Pond Sanctuary and he would have been impressed on how cranes numbers increased in fall migration.  Hopefully you can stop this fall to view the cranes and other waterfowl! Stay tuned for a possible "Scope Days" announcement for waterfowl viewing at Goose Pond Sanctuary.

Written by Mark Martin & Sue Foote-Martin, Goose Pond Sanctuary Managers

Photo by Tim Lumley, Flickr Creative Commons