Thanksgiving Weekend - Clubs/Friends

My Thanksgiving week blogs have focused on personal items of gratitude, memories, and have focused on areas of personal joy. This final Thanksgiving week post incorporates all three of these topics in one topic beyond family...which are clubs and friends. The most recent of which is described below.

I've immensely enjoyed the Burroughs Audubon Society since moving to KC 15 months ago. In attending a handful of their meetings and tagging along a few field-trips I am privileged to know other area birders and have been exploring the surroundings.

I am amazed at the generous kind nature of people when they are doing what they enjoy, and had a blast last weekend on a Burroughs field-trip. Seeing various species, enjoying the outdoors, debating specific field-marks, and helping others find new species is a different style of enjoyment than quite reflective times outside.

   

Binoculars, scopes, field-guides, friendly conversation, snacks and watchful eyes/attentive ears are common items on field-trips.

Many good memories come from other clubs and friends, too many to detail here....but as this week of Thanksgiving draws to an end my mind drifts to the Nine Springs Golf Course, Mead Wildlife Area, Hiawatha Valley Audubon Society, and friends/colleagues from previous locations/positions.  I'm grateful for all of them, and hope everyone had a wonderful week of thanksgiving. 

Birds of Easter Weekend

I hope everyone had a happy Easter weekend. We've been busy this week, and I continually struggle to find enough time in the day. Michaela and Danielle visited Grandparents in Minnesota this past week, playing with cousins, hiding Easter eggs, and enjoying family.

I had many long nights working this past week, but Christine and I were able to attend my Spring department meetings in Fond du Lac on Friday and Saturday. On the way to the meetings we stopped at Mead Wildlife Area in hopes of finding Greater-Prairie Chickens for Christine. We were in luck.

While I enjoyed the meetings Christine bummed around town and took in a movie. Saturday afternoon we went for a walk at Horicon Marsh International Education Center and a drive on Dike Rd. It was our first trip to Horicon, and were able to find 60 species in a few hours of looking. A few pictures are below, with other pictures linked here for a Northern Harrier, Pied-billed Grebe, and American White Pelican

American Coot


Savannah Sparrow


American Bittern


Blue-winged Teal


Northern Shoveler

Sunday I finished the Red-shouldered Hawk survey, finding 34 species at 12 points during the morning observations. Eight new species from Thursday morning, but four that I did not find the second time around.

This Friday I'll be at an undergraduate research symposium with my environmental economics class. It should be a fun trip, but of course we have to finish the project yet!

Birds & Golf

Scattered flurries have not dampened my excitement for the return of birds and golf this spring. Sunday I was on campus for a preview day talking about golf and saw a tentative schedule from the Athletic Director. Seven meets in four weeks with the conference tournament being the only one partially on a weekend. I'm fortunate to have a wonderful AD to work with!

Before going to campus I also sent out the following email Sunday morning. I'm hopeful that a few individuals from campus, Marshfield, and the surrounding areas will join me for the bird walks on campus.

Dear campus associates,

As many of know I am outdoor enthusiast and I am passing along a personal invitation for anyone to join me in one or more of the birding opportunities listed below.

Next month I will lead two Bird Walks at the Wood open to anyone. These walks will be held on Tuesday May 3rd 8:10 am and Wednesday May 11th at 8:10 am. We'll walk through and around the Arboretum searching for local birds that have returned and hopefully find spring migrants on their way further north. Meet at the south side of the parking lot on W 7th St near the trail to the tennis courts. Bring binoculars if you have them. Wear boots as the Arboretum will likely be wet and muddy.

On April 9th I will be attending the WSO and ALAS sponsored Field Trip at the Mead Wildlife Area. This field trip will be led by Dan Belter and Gerry Janz and is open to birders of all levels. If interested meet at 7:30 am at the Mead Wildlife Visitor Center or carpool from Wausau or Marshfield with me. Bad weather may cancel the field-trip, with cancelations typically posted on the Wisconsin Birding list.

I will be conducting a Red-shouldered Hawk survey twice between April 13th and April 24th. This survey begins at sunrise and is approximately four hours long. If anyone is interested, please let me know and I will try to accommodate dates with good weather forecasted that work for those interested.

I will be conducting an Owl survey during the next two weeks. This survey is a night survey and last approximately three hours. It needs to take place at least a half an hour after sunset and must be finished a half an hour before sunrise. If anyone is interested, please let me know asap and we can find a night with good weather forecasted to conduct the survey.

Enjoying the return of our feathered friends,

Malcolm Gold

If I had to pick only one season, it would definitely be spring!

Seasonal Visitor

Lately there has been an influx of postings to the Wisconsin Birding Network with the return of early spring migrants. Spring is a perfect fix for my cabin fever, as the season brings me hope of new and exciting times and renewed interest.

Spring is the highlight of Wisconsin birding, as an ever changing group of migrants populate the state. Some species are returning for the breeding season, other species are just passing through. The end of April and beginning of May are the best weeks for warblers and other passerines. Birding by car today I saw 38 different species, with the number of hawks being noteworthy. I saw 8 American Kestrels (including this cooperative female), 3 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 Northern Harriers, 4 Bald Eagles, and 6 Rough-legged Hawks. This light-morph Rough-legged Hawk was found on the Mead Wildlife Area. Rough-legged Hawks visit during winter from the north, and soon will be gone again until next winter.

Mead Wildlife Website

I have spent much of the past two weeks updating, transitioning, and partially redesigning the Mead Wildlife Area's website. Two nights ago we (with the help of an expert) transitioned the DNS and domain name over to a new server, one that supported a different design which hopefully allows for easy maintenance.

If you're interested, take a look and give me feedback. I suspect there will be many issues to resolve in the coming week yet.

http://www.meadwildlife.org/

Mead Pancake Feed

This morning I helped at the Mead Wildlife Area for a pancake fundraiser. Christine and the girls showed up a couple of hours later and I was no longer needed as a volunteer. So we had breakfast and hung around the property for the next three hours for personal enjoyment.

Laura and Samantha Lee (Friends from work) were there at the same time and all of us enjoyed a wagon tour of the property. We haven't been out birding much, and as such it provided me an opportunity to see a Yellow Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, and a Black Tern for the first time this year.

After the ride, Christine took some pictures while the rest of us went for a short walk. The weather was awesome and I got too much sun on my face today. Tomorrow is supposed to be just as nice and I am headed to Beuna Vista Grasslands birding early in the morning, wish me luck! Then is back to Marshfield for graduation at noon, the year is wrapping up quickly. For the time being, here are birds from today.