Fun Fall Birding - 4th Sunday outing – November 2021

Chuck Henrikson leading the group.

The 4th Sunday Bird and Nature Adventure at UW Lakeshore Nature Preserve on November 28 featured "Fun Fall Birding" with avid birder Chuck Henrikson.  About a dozen people including  families and kids learned from Chuck about Wisconsin migrant bird species and some handy birding apps (eBird, Merlin, Birdnet) and took a walk to see what birds were coming through on a cold bright windy late fall day. 

The first bird spotted was a magnificent Bald Eagle that soared low over the shoreline trees and fortunately did not alarm and flush the large flocks of migrating waterfowl on the bay that the group wanted to observe. They were joined along the path for a time by about a dozen more Picnic Point visitors.  Newly restored shoreline areas where Preserve staff have facilitated removal of invasive trees and brush and left large natural stumps to sit on for quiet nature observation provided great views.  Birds seen on University Bay included dozens of large graceful Tundra Swans, hundreds of Bufflehead and Canada Geese flashing white markings in the sun, flocks of cute black American Coot, and several large billed Northern Shovelers and brightly patterned Hooded Mergansers.  Lower winter water levels, quiet surroundings and healthy aquatic habitat provide acres of much needed critical shallow water rest areas for the thousands of native waterfowl that dabble and dive for nourishment on this important annual bird migration stopover site. 

Land birds seen on the relatively calm leeward side of Picnic Point along the bay included elusive Brown Creepers, several species of Woodpeckers, a couple late-staying Gold Crowned Kinglets and a rare sighting of a solitary Hermit Thrush spotted foraging on shoreline mudflats by only one but very credible birder. Several participants stopped after the walk at the Lot 9 boat landing for close up enjoyment of the graceful Tundra Swans, a possible Trumpeter Swan and a couple more waterfowl species. 

December will offer more opportunities to visit the UW Lakeshore Nature Preserve to see some of these beautiful migrating birds even after ice forms as long as there is still some open water.  Join the Friends of Lakeshore Nature Preserve the 4th Sunday of December to visit Favorite Places at the Preserve.  Bundle up and enjoy nature doing its thing! 

The following Citizen Science bird observation data was reported to Cornell Labs via eBird as outing leader Chuck Henrikson has consistently done every day for over 1400 days.  You can do eBird reporting too and help provide scientific data that helps guide climate and ecological choices.  ​Photos and report by the Friends' host Paul Noeldner.

300 Canada Goose 
52 Tundra Swan 
8 Northern Shoveler 
50 Mallard 
5 Redhead 
3 Ring-necked Duck 
200 Bufflehead 
2 Hooded Merganser 
2 Common Merganser 
2 Red-breasted Merganser 
50 American Coot 
12 Ring-billed Gull 
1 Bald Eagle 

1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 
2 Downy Woodpecker 
1 Hairy Woodpecker 
2 American Crow 
4 Black-capped Chickadee 
2 Golden-crowned Kinglet 
2 White-breasted Nuthatch 
2 Brown Creeper 
1 Hermit Thrush 
3 Cedar Waxwing 
2 House Sparrow 
1 Dark-eyed Junco 
1 Northern Cardinal
Number of Taxa: 26