Nine Springs Parade

I also made it out to Nine Springs today. On the way I picked up Warbling Vireo and Yellow Warblers. Got nice looks at the phalarope and the caspians. The ride back into the wind generated enough calories burned to enjoy a cold Bedlam IPA from Ale Asylum. Andy P.

Uff da! That's what they say, right, when you ride 15 miles? I live near Hilldale Mall on the west side of Madison. Prior to this, all of my BIGBYing barring a lone excursion to the Arboretum (an extra mile or two), has been on rides to the Picnic Point/University Bay area, but I knew I needed a few Larids to fill out my list, and I wasn't going to get them on Mendota. So, Nine Springs, via Lake Monona, and it paid off! On Monona I had a flyover Caspian Tern, a new BIGBY bird, and at Nine Springs, I finally added non-Killdeer and Woodcock shorebirds to my list - seven species in all, including a stunning female Wilson's Phalarope. There were also two Caspian Terns here, but the other coup for my BIGBY list was the lone Bonaparte's Gull. I had missed this species early and it's one that is not a "gimme" anywhere near me. On the way in we ran into Kim Kreitinger, who was also adding to her Bigby list... she pointed out that she had recently passed me in the standings. Unfortunately, Kim, the snipe put me up to 118, one more than you have listed! Of course, it's late April so all this will be moot tomorrow, but here's hoping we can pass Andy P before he tops his list off again...