Oct 17, Sunday, Forest Beach Migratory Preserve, 8:30am
4970 Country Club Rd, Port Washington
Hoping there will still be hawks moving that morning. A former golf course with over 100-acres of restored land, Forest Beach has a number of great bird habitats. There are small ponds, wetlands, conifer stands, open grasslands, and a large tract of woods. On the Northeastern corner of the property is a viewing platform for fall Hawk watches. It is amazing to see raptors flying south along the shore from that vantage point.
Website: https://www.restoringlands.org/forest-beach-migratory-preserve
eBird: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L631950
Trails: Mix of grass, mulch and paved paths
Restrooms: None, last stop is at the Mobil Station just off exit 100, intersection of Hwy 32 and East Seven Hills Rd
Park map: Habitat map: https://www.restoringlands.org/_files/ugd/949e20_462f951754524429a7e0b667930c2fb0.pdf
Join us! Walks are always free and always fun . Open to all levels of birders
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Nearly every morning, there is a
FREE Bird Walk in Milwaukee
Milwaukee Birding News
UEC Talks birding with Milwaukee Magazine! Fun article. Urban Ecology Center has three free bird walks every week.
Public Meeting on Veterans’ Park Lagoon Project on Wed Oct 21. Details HERE
Everything you need to know for a hawk watch. Find great resources at Hawk Migration Association including the guide seen below
Last Week
Great fall weekend of leaves and birds. Saturday at Havenwoods State Forest started with seeing an American Kestrel at the top of a Norway Spruce. Well, what we thought was a Kestrel. After zooming in on the pic, Andy changed our ID to a Merlin! Birders check your eBird list – it needs to be changed! W moved on to watching a Turkey Vulture in a tree until it flew off. They are very big birds and it was great to see it up close. Our final bird treat was an active group of Eastern Bluebirds chattering away in a small clearing. eBird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S401001862
Sunday at Lakeshore State Park, photographers also provided bird identification. Yosef and Eli’s patience and focus allowed for an ID of a Least Sandpiper in the lawn area across from the beach. We watched two Belted Kingfishers chase each other around the west side of the lagoon. Here we also had American Kestrels – four of them! Always a treat to see them hovering and hunting. After that we followed sparrows hopping along rocks and shrubs seeing Savannah, Lincoln’s, Song, White-throated and White-crowned. eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S401396293
Upcoming Bird Talks & walks:
Have a birding event to share? email us on the Contact Page
October
Horicon Marsh Birding and Nature Tour with Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
Wed, Oct 14
Details HERE
Effective Ways to Prevent Window Strikes
Wednesday, Oct 14 at Lac Lawrann and virtual
Ozaukee-Washington Birding Coalition presentation, Details HERE
Birding Old Marsh Rd at Horicon Marsh
Saturday, Oct 17
Details HERE
The Dawn of an Osprey Population in SE Wisconsin: A Success Story
Wednesday, Oct 21 by Wisconsin Metro Audubon Society
Details HERE
Birding Lake Park with the BIPOC Birding Club
Sun, Oct 25
Details HERE
Using Phone Apps as Birding Tools
Sun, Oct 25 at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
Details HERE
Family Owl Prowl at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
Mon, Oct 26
Details HERE
November
Your Best of Bird and Wildlife Photography with Mike Crivello Cameras
Thurs, Nov 5 at Brookfield Library
Details HERE
Audubon Great Lakes- Conserving Coastal Wetlands for Birds & People
Wednesday, Nov 11 at Mequon Nature Preserve
Details HERE, free and registration requested
Expresscapes Free Personal Garden Design with Lake Michigan Bird Observatory
Wednesday, Nov 18 at UEC, Washington Park
Spots are limited, and registration is required. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/EXPRESSFL26
** Follow Bird City Milwaukee on Facebook!
Check out Milwaukee Birders on Facebook and Instagram for event announcements
Check out Chirp Chat episodes by Xcaret Nuñez. It’s all about birding Milwaukee area on WUWM 89.7 last Wednesday of the month
List of Milwaukee area BIRD CLUBS !
Milwaukee parks that need birding this week
The county needs eBird records throughout the year for every park and natural area. During the year, some parks are priorities for birding. We can help MKE Parks! Pick a priority park from the list below, go bird, eBird it and note time spent there.
MILWAUKEE COUNTY PARKS : Oct 1-15
- For Parkways, the number corresponds to the eBird hotspot. Hotspots usually go from
- major road to major road although there are a few exceptions.
- Dretzka Park
- Franklin Savanna (if you haven’t been, messenger us using the Messenger feature and we can explain access. Neat place but needs some explanation.
- Little Menomonee River Pkwy 2, 3, 4 (in Ebird it’s called Little Menomonee River S of Good Hope, N of Hwy 145), 5 (in Ebird it’s S of Mil Rd, N of Appleton), and 6
- Menomonee River Pkwy 1,4, 5
- Milwaukee River Pkwy #3
- Oak Creek Pkwy 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 north and south, 13 (some don’t have trails)
- Root River 3,4,6,7,8, 15, 16, 18- some don’t have trails
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.For Parkways, the number corresponds to the eBird hotspot. Hotspots usually go from major road to major road although there are a few exceptions.
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. A Waukesha County Park pass is needed for a number of these locations. To purchase passes visit:
https://wiwaukeshacountyweb.myvscloud.com/…/splash.html#
Note that seniors (60+) can purchase annual park passes for only $20!
September bird surveys needed at these locations- all are ebird hotspots
- Ashippun Lake – Waukesha County- (free)
- Ashippun River Greenway (free, no trail)
- Berg Property (off LO west a little bit from Mukwonago Park)
- Fox Bend Park-(access through cul de sac at end of King Pkwy- currently the easiest way to the trail, or St Martins Woods SNA or Big Bend Park but don’t count bird in BBP)
- Fox Bend South free (small parking area on gravel; don’t block the gate) On Forest Home Ave, 42.86084° N, 88.23814° W. Start on the farm access road heading in direction of river. You can access a fair amount of it via this road, plus a dirt trail. Backtracking a bit or a bit of bushwhacking depending on what you feel like doing. This property is quite large and we haven’t been to all of it yet.
- Fox Brook Park (fee or daily pass)
- Menomonee Park
- Monches County park (daily fee or pass)
- Mukwonago Park (daily fee or pass)
- Muskego Park
- Pewaukee River Greenway (we only need 2 for October here!!)
- Ryan Park- (pass or day fee)
- School Section Lake (requires lake pass)
- Spring Brook Greenway
- New Berlin Recreation Trail (free- bike from edge of Greenfield Park into Waukesha!)