By Jeff Baughman
On Saturday, June 18, 2022, the WSO held its Birdathon/Bandathon at our Honey Creek property in Sauk County. The Birdathon portion of the event included an early dawn chorus field trip and later a hike on our trails north of Skyview Road.
The dawn chorus trip started at Alder Drive and Skyview Roads intersection at 4 AM. It was a perfect morning for birding, with clear skies and no wind but a little chilly (mid 40’s). Our group of 4 walked east along Skyview Road listening to the beginnings of the dawn chorus. It was still too dark to see anything other than silhouettes, our first songsters were Mourning Dove, Sandhill Crane, Great Horned and Barred Owls, Willow Flycatcher, Tree and Barn Swallows, Gray Catbird, Veery, American Robin, Swamp and Song Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbird, and Common Yellowthroat.
As the sun began to show on the ridge tops, we continued east on Skyview for another 100 yards and then reversed course. With the increased morning light, the variety of birds we were able to see and hear increased too. We added a couple of flyby Mallards, Downy and Pileated Woodpeckers, Eastern Wood-Pewee, House Wren, Chipping Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, and Yellow Warbler. At Alder Drive, we heard our first Blue-winged Warbler, had a pair of flyby Yellow-billed Cuckoos, a Louisiana Waterthrush zipped by us, and a singing Indigo Bunting.
This Blue-winged Warbler was banded by Dr. Anna Pigeon and her team.
West of Alder Drive, we added a calling Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher. Reaching the nature trail we headed back to the nature center. Along Alder Drive, we added a Baltimore Oriole, Northern Flicker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Belted Kingfisher, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Green Heron.
We returned to the nature center at about 6 AM. Our 2-hour jaunt netted 42 species either heard or seen right from the road. (eBird Checklist:
https://ebird.org/wi/checklist/S113168818)
At 8 AM, ten people gathered for a hike on our Nature Trail along Honey Creek. Most of our group was engrossed in observing the banding operation that Dr. Anna Pigeon organized, but with a little coaxing, we started down Alder Drive. There were several banding nets lining Alder Dr. and this is where we found our first Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (both male and female) caught in one of the nets. Once on Skyview Road, we heard both Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoos, had a pair of Mallard flyby, as well as a Ruby-throated Hummingbird zipping by us. We also added Veery, Willow Flycatcher, Northern Flicker, Swamp Sparrow, Blue-winged Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, and Indigo Bunting.
As we started down the hiking trail we soon added Yellow Warbler, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Wood Thrush, Yellow-throated Vireo, and Eastern Wood-Pewee. We then heard a singing Scarlet Tanager. We talked about how similar its song is to American Robin and Rose-breasted Grosbeak, but hoarser. The group was excited to see this scarlet-and-black bird at fairly close range as well. Continuing on to the first stream crossing we added a scolding pair of House Wrens, heard Great Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and a Turkey Vulture flying along the ridge.
After crossing the stream we encountered, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Eastern Phoebe, heard Red-headed, Red-bellied, and Pileated Woodpeckers, and also heard our first Louisiana Waterthrush as we neared the second stream crossing. We made the second crossing and walked the trail a way but had difficulty seeing the Louisiana Waterthrush because of the vegetation. I decide to return to the stream and go back across to the trail that connects to our Dischler tract.
Dan Pickarts and his crew did an excellent job of clearing the hiking trail along the stream corridor, but they didn’t have time to complete the entire trail up to the Dischler tract. With some effort, we finally located the main trail and continued our hike up the ridge to the mature Maple/Oak forest habitat. Here we again heard Scarlet Tanager, a couple of Ovenbirds, Great Crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, American Redstart, Downy Woodpecker, and White-breasted Nuthatch. We finally heard and saw one of our target birds in this habitat; an Acadian Flycatcher. It was somewhat disappointing though that we didn’t have Cerulean Warbler. A bird that is threatened here in Wisconsin as well as throughout most of its normal range. Although, we did have a good discussion on the song similarities of Cerulean Warbler and Northern Parula and how to separate them.
Acadian Flycatcher
For the remainder of the hike, we enjoyed the natural beauty around us. Especially the views from the ridge top down to Honey Creek a hundred feet below. After leaving the ridge top we walked the meadows down to Skyview Drive and continued back to the nature center.
Our 3-mile, 2-hour hike ended at about 10 AM. Our species total was 50 species but the comradery, the learning, and the stories shared were enjoyed by all.
(eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/wi/checklist/S113192919
The 2022 Honey Creek Birdathon ended with 57 species either seen or heard. Thanks to all that participated in this worthwhile event. I would encourage everyone to visit WSO’s Honey Creek Property. You won’t be disappointed!
(eBird Birdathon Trip Report: https://ebird.org/wi/tripreport/64881?welcome=true)
Jeff Baughman
