Sunday, Nov 24 8:30am Lynden Sculpture Gardens
2145 W Brown Deer Rd
Lynden Sculpture Gardens have birds, a pond, a beautiful American Elm tree and sculptures. We will have the pleasure of joining the Milwaukee Freaks Bird and Botany Club on their hike.
Recent EBird for this location: HERE
Milwaukee Birding News:
Birds in Art. The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau’s annual Birds in Art exhibit is a treat for all and is closing on Dec 1. Go!
2025 Bird Calendars. Looking for a calendar for 2025? Consider one featuring Wisconsin birds:
Aldo Leopold Wisconsin Phenology Calendar
Lake Michigan Bird Observatory Calendar
Nicole Seward Nature Photography – needs to be pre-ordered now
Schlitz Audubon Raptor Calendar
Have a 2025 nature or bird calendar to add to this list? Put it in the comments
Christmas Bird Count routes are being assigned:
Northern Milwaukee County, reach out to Norma, robnz54@gmail.com, for a Saturday, Dec 14th route
Southern Milwaukee County, contact Carol Howard, carol.howard@milwaukeecountywi.gov, for a route on Sunday, Dec 15
County Grounds in Wauwatosa. The 4th Annual Milwaukee County Grounds Christmas Bird Count is on Saturday, December 14th, 2024. Pre-dawn shift listening for owls from 6:00-8:00am and then a 9:00-11:00am walking count. Details and registration link: https://tosahistory13.wixsite.com/tosa/signup
Urban Ecology Center – all sites. Saturday, Dec 14. Details and registration HERE
Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is one of the longest-running citizen science efforts in the United States. It began as a replacement for Christmas bird hunt competitions. Instead of bagging birds, birders tally everything seen and heard within an assigned area. One hundred years of December data has been used to study bird population decline and species shifts. Be a part of a fun and significant bird count event!
For additional SE Wisconsin Bird Walks – scroll all the way down!
Last Week:
Report by Lisa: Crisp fall day to head into Seminary Woods in St Francis. A record number of 21 birders joined the hike! It was a day of raptors. From the parking lot the group saw a fly-over by a Red-tailed Hawk. Next up was a Bald Eagle who provided a welcome to Sanctuary Woods landing in a tree and giving good views to all. The third raptor was a Merlin hunting for and then eating breakfast in front of the group. Back in the prairie, two Red-tailed Hawks were flying over and chasing each other.
Winter can be a great time to start birding. We can focus on our resident birds, learning the looks and sounds of woodpeckers, cardinals, chickadees, and nuthatches. Then in the spring when the warblers, raptors, shorebirds, swallows, and sparrows begin swirling all around us we have an easier time with identification.
pic: Jeff Bentoff
pic: Katie Fisher
Milwaukee parks that need birding this week
The county tracks every parkland and records to see if there are surveys recorded on eBird. Every year they identify priority parks by week. A park could be a priority because there are no surveys done in that week; or because there are surveys but they think there may be more species there than previously identified.
Based on the spreadsheet they create, Wisconsin Metro Audubon Society (Thanks Colleen!) curates suggested locations based on accessibility to the property and availability on the ebird hotspots tool. Please track your time spent! At the end of the year WMAS provides hours to the county. Follow Wisconsin Metro Audubon on Facebook for their weekly park posts.
Milwaukee Parks that need birding this week (Click on the triangle if you don’t see this week’s list)
Find a park and a park map: https://county.milwaukee.gov/EN/Parks/Explore/Find-a-Park
Note- even if it’s already been birded this week, going another day (or a different time of day) helps. The parks department has a number of surveys it wants for each park, so birding more than once this week is very helpful!
Ongoing FREE Bird Walks:
Sundays 8:30am Milwaukee Birders
Location varies – see this week’s location above.
Free walks – open to all levels of birders
Sundays 9:00am (Note winter time)
Wisconsin Metro Audubon Society Bird Walk (WMAS)
Wehr Nature Center 9701 W College Ave. Mix of mulched, wooded, grass and boardwalk paths
NEW** Mondays 8:00am Estabrook Park
4600 Estabrook Parkway
With Andy of Signs of Life in Estabrook Park, meet in the north parking lot. Mulched and dirt paths, stairs to river path
Tuesdays 8:00am Menomonee Valley
Urban Ecology Center (UEC),
3700 W Pierce St
Mostly paved trails
Wednesdays 8:00am Washington Park
Urban Ecology Center (UEC)
4023 W Galena St
Mostly grass and paved paths
Thursdays 8:00am Riverside Park
Urban Ecology Center (UEC)
1500 E Park Place
Mulched and dirt paths. Stairs to river
**Except for December: It will be first Saturday, Dec 7**
Second Saturdays 11:00 am Lake Park Duck Watch
Meet on the east side of Lincoln Memorial Drive between Bradford Beach and Linwood Water Treatment Plant
Third Saturdays 8:00am Schlitz Audubon Nature Center 1111 E Brown Deer Rd, Registration requested https://www.schlitzaudubon.org/calendar/
Check out Chirp Chat episodes by Xcaret Nuñez. It’s all about birding Milwaukee area on WUWM last Wednesday of the month
Nearby Bird Clubs to checkout:
Benjamin F. Goss Bird Club meets at Retzer Nature Center
BIPOC Birding Club chapters in Madison and Milwaukee
Hoy Audubon Society meets in Racine
Ozaukee Washington Birding Coalition meets second Wednesdays at Riveredge Nature Center, Lac Lawrann in West Bend, Mequon Nature Preserve or Cedarburg Bog – check their Facebook page for updates
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center Bird Club second Wednesday at 6:30pm
Wisconsin Metro Audubon Society (WMAS), third Wednesday at 7:00pm Wehr Nature Center
Wisconsin Society for Ornithology statewide birding organization with field trips around the state and advocating state wide for conservation of birds and bird habitat
Join one or more of the above bird clubs – Support local birding
Upcoming Area Bird walks:
Have a birding event to share? Let me know, email us on the Contact Page
Walks listed are FREE unless noted. Please register if requested
November
American Bird Conservancy Webinar: Every Acre Counts: Conserving Habitat for Birds
Tuesday, November 19, 2024 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET
FREE. Register for Zoom link. From Wisconsin Society for Ornithology newsletter: The next American Bird Conservancy webinar will put a spotlight on Wisconsin with a presentation from Jayme Strange, who is the Coordinator of the Northern Forest Birds Conservation Delivery Network that covers Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. She will be talking about improving critical bird habitat with landowners and public land managers in the Great Lakes with examples of Swainson’s Thrush and Golden-winged Warbler projects. Other topics for the webinar include minimizing pesticide use and some reserve projects in Bolivia.
Raptor Banding at Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station
November 20th, 7:00 to 8:00 PM
Wisconsin Metro Audubon Society at Wehr Nature Center
The western shore of Lake Michigan has long been known to concentrate birds of prey during their annual southward migration each fall. To study this movement scientists established Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station (CGORS), the longest continuous raptor banding operation in North America, to band migrating raptors and track long-term avian migratory trends. Station banding director Danny Erickson will discuss the history of CGORS, WI raptor identification and banding, and the collaborative work the station does s to our knowledge of these charismatic birds and the conservation of raptor populations. Erickson is a field biologist from Milwaukee who studies raptor movement and population trends through banding. Since 2021, he has overseen the count and banding operations at CGORS each fall. He is currently a MSc student at UW-Green Bay studying novel disease in migrating Sharp-shinned Hawks.
Website: https://cgors.org/
December
Waterbirds of the Cedarburg Bog with John O’Donnell
Thursday, December 12, 1:00-2:00
Riveredge Nature Center
The Cedarburg Bog Important Bird Area (IBA) is a mosaic of dry and wet habitats. In this presentation, the primary focus will be on resident and migratory bird species using the wet habitats of the bog, e.g., cedar swamp, hardwood swamp, conifer bog, string bog, sedge meadow, willow/alder/dogwood swamp, and six glacial relict lakes surrounded by emergent vegetation. Much of the Bog has boreal features that attract species not typically breeding anywhere else in southern Wisconsin. Special attention will be given to these species as well as to recent arrival species looking for a new home.
Part of the FREE Science Thursday Lecture series. Please register HERE
Owl Prowl for Adults
Friday, December 13, 7:00-9:00 pm. $7-12
Wehr Nature Center
Join a naturalist for an evening out with the owls. An interactive program will highlight the habits and adaptations of our nocturnal neighbors. Then we will walk the trails listening and looking for great-horned and Eastern screech owls.
Fee: $12 per person; $10 for Milwaukee County residents; $7 for Friends of Wehr (FOW) members; $5 parking fee applies for non-FOW members.
Online registration is required two days prior to the program. https://www.wehrnaturecenter.com/event/owl-prowl-for-adults-wehr/
Milwaukee Birders 