Sunday, Nov 2, 8:00am (Time Change-Fall Back Saturday night)
Washington Park – Urban Ecology Center
1859 N 40th St, Milwaukee

Meet at  the 40th Street Parking Lot
This 130-acre park was designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead in 1891. The park is now home to soccer fields, basketball courts, and the Urban Ecology Center. But once the park had different features including a mile-long horse track and the Washington Park Zoo. Near the UEC building is a seven-acre lagoon with cattail edges, an island, and a bridge going from north-to-south. All that plus a native plant and shrub area on the west side make for great bird habitat.

eBird Site: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L291403
Trails: Mix of paved, mulch and grass. Mostly flat with a little slope around the west side of the lagoon and over the bridges.
Restrooms: Available in UEC building when open. Building closed Saturdays & Sundays. Porta Potties (sometimes) available at the north end by the soccer fields
Park Map: https://county.milwaukee.gov/files/county/parks-department/Park-Maps/Washington1.pdf

Join us! Walks are free and open to all levels of birders

List of Weekly FREE Bird Walks in Milwaukee

Subscribe! Each week, you’ll receive an email with where we’ll be birding next. Posts may go to your “Social” folder if using gmail

Milwaukee Birding News

Such a pretty feather. Leave it on the ground, since the passing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 they are not for keeping.

What bird does this feather belong to? Use US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Feather Atlas

Seriously, the feather trade is that big a deal? Yes. Check out this books about a heist mystery and the market for fly tying feathers in The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson.

Tree Swallows love feathers for their nests. Especially white ones. Learn more in Bernd Heinrich’s White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows

The county needs eBird records throughout the year for every park and natural area. Every week there are priority parks needing eBird lists. A park could be a priority because no surveys have been done for that week. Alternatively, it could be prioritized because there are surveys, but MKE Parks suspect more species might reside there than previously identified.

We can help MKE Parks! Pick a priority park, go bird, eBird it and note time spent there.

For October 22-31

• Franklin Savanna (last time on the list for the year)
• Kinnickinic Parkway (last time on the list for the year)
• Menomonee River Pkwy 5 (last time on the list for the year)
• Milwaukee Airport Park
• Oak Creek Pkwy 6, 9 (last time on the list for the year)
• Rawson Park (last time on the list for the year)
• Root River Pkwy 1 (last time on the list for the year)

Based on the needs spreadsheet from MKE Parks, 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.

Note- even if it’s already been birded this week, going another day or even a different time of day helps. The parks department wants a number of surveys for each park. Birding more than once in a week is very helpful!

Find a park and a park map: https://county.milwaukee.gov/EN/Parks/Explore/Find-a-Park

Wisconsin Metro Audubon is also birding for Waukesha Parks…

Bird where you can and share your ebird list with their ebird account: WaukeshaCountyBirding

OCTOBER bird surveys needed at these locations- all are ebird hotspots

• And a brief tip for Mukwonago Park- last week 46 species were identified and that didn’t include the whole park (they have a lot of trails). Warblers and vireos may be found at the first picnic area as you enter the park, check the treeline and the shrubs by the picnic tables! If you don’t have a park pass, you may be able to park on Beulah Rd just west of the park, south of LO on the shoulder and walk kitty corner to the grassy field which is part of the park and trails take you to the lake area and into the rest of the park.
• WAUKESHA PARKS
• -Share your ebird list with their ebird account: WaukeshaCountyBirding
• Berg Property – free – address S102W33451 CTH LO should get you there or very close.
• Fox Brook Park (pass or daily fee)
• Menomonee Park (pass or daily fee)
• Minooka Park (pass or daily fee)
• Mukwonago Park (pass or daily permit fee required- note they have camping!)
• Muskego Park (pass or daily fee)
• New Berlin Recreation Trail – bike path from Greenfield Park to Waukesha! Free