The demoiselle crane is not a Wisconsin bird. But I photographed this individual in Wisconsin, thanks to the International Crane Foundation having its headquarters in Baraboo, Wis. It’s the only place in the world where you can see all 15 extant crane species. Read more …
Have you ever been walking peacefully along on a warm afternoon, enjoying the sounds of nature, when suddenly a grating sound not unlike the popping of a flame starter on a gas stove, but about one hundred times louder, pierces your ears?
It’s probably a chipmunk.
We saw this duck today on the edge of the lake while we were on our walk. We argued for a while over what kind of bird it was (Companion was convinced it was a gull until he caught the color of the bill), because white ducks are not a common thing around here. While it could be a leucistic (partially albino) mallard … Read more …
It’s summer, and birds of a certain age—too old to be fledglings and too young to be independent juveniles—are all around if you know where to look: usually upwards, particularly if you hear a high-pitched peep-peep. Read more …
I heard a bird tweeting loudly and insistently overhead as I approached the pond on my walk today. It turned out to be an Eastern kingbird chick demanding to be fed. Read more …
Purple martins are the largest swallows in the US, and since much of their natural habitat of sickly trees with large woodpecker holes has been destroyed in the East, the best place to see them is anywhere someone’s put up a purple martin apartment. Read more …
On our walk today, I spotted this male Eastern black swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes asterius) flitting about among the swamp milkweed and chased it down for a closer look. And it was flying quite well, despite an injured wing. Read more …
I only started noticing Eastern kingbirds last year. They’re only around in the summer (they migrate to the southern hemisphere for our winters), don’t come to feeders or hang out in residential neighborhoods (at least not in my experience), and they tend to perch in higher branches, so usually you need to be looking up to see one.
Blue jays aren’t uncommon in southern Wisconsin, but I hardly ever see them. I’m not sure if that’s because they don’t like my part of the city, or they flit about so fast in the treetops that it’s difficult to spot them. Read more …
On our walk today, we passed something fluttering in the grass. It was a blackbird chick demanding to be fed. Its father — or some random adult male blackbird for all I know — complied. But he changed angles faster than I could change my focus. I had to take a picture anyway, since I’ve never seen a red-winged blackbird feeding … Read more