My Best BIGBY Find to Date!

While taking a walk down the sidewalks of my neighborhood, Paul Schilke and I found a black vulture in a kettle of turkey vultures!!!

"largest" bird in this photo

It just goes to show, you absolutely never know what you'll find on an evening stroll. Oh, the joy of birding!

Late to the Game 2016

I've been slow to start this year's BIGBY, but with some nice backyard feeder birds and a neighborhood walk this afternoon, I'm on the board!

They're Baaack!

Today has been spectacular so far at UW Lakeshore Preserve. There was a giant flock of 130+ swallows over Mendota this morning near the boat launch/out past willow creek sandbar, with the "slam" of species (northern rough-winged, bank, tree, cliff, barn...)

Warblers...

• yellow
• magnolia
• Wilson's
• Canada
• northern waterthrush
• northern parula
• black-throated green warbler
• Tennessee
• Nashville
• black-and-white
• yellow-rumped

Neotropical Migrants!

Today was really our first good "passerine push," which brought several new species to UW-Madison's Lakeshore Nature Preserve (my favorite BIGBY spot). I had my FOY cliff swallow, savannah sparrow, warbling vireo, house wren and Baltimore oriole!

BIGBY Machine!

I got a bike at Bike-o-Rama this year, and I love it! It's a commuter, which is perfect for the paved city paths.

Downtown Breezer 8

It's a 19.5" frame, and I souped it up with a water bottle holder to match my helmet. I also added a coffee mug holder to the handlebars, and you can see the scope rigged up to the back rack with a net bungee. I often put my bins in the front basket, though I can't leave it that way if I stop; it makes the bike too top-heavy and actually leans it over the kickstand!

The only bird I've actually added "exclusively" with the bike so far are lesser black-backed gull and Virginia rail, but at spots I usually walk to on campus.

Spring Migration

I've been slowly adding species, but am holding tight currently in 3rd with 84! Today, I got my FOY blue-gray gnatcatcher in...you guessed it...lakeshore preserve. (All of my species have been on foot there so far.) Yesterday, I finally found some yellow-bellied sapsuckers in Bill's woods, and singing chipping sparrows are all around campus again. There was also a sora singing in university bay marsh.

Over the weekend, I took a long walk and had a singing swamp sparrow by university bay. There was a single pine warbler singing in the pines on the edge of bills woods, and a great blue heron hunting the edge of lake Mendota.

Migrants

This afternoon, I finally found some blue-winged teal in university bay! There was also a double-crested cormorant swimming. A belted kingfisher was flying high and calling. However, the ice isn't gone. This is what the lake looks like north of picnic point right now.

Anyway, near the entrance, there was a field sparrow at the edge of the woods (odd place, I know). As we walked to biocore, we heard an eastern towhee singing, and later found a fox sparrow foraging. On the way back, we found a pied-billed grebe in 1918 marsh. 

I corrected an odd miss, too: blue jay. I'm really not sure if I accidentally didn't count it earlier or if I really hadn't seen one. I couldn't remember a notable sighting, so I didn't fill it in. Anyway, finally saw one definitively today at the picnic point entrance.