Wisconsin Statewide Birding Report 9.5.06
The hot weather and south winds slowed migration for most of the past week. However; the recent cold front that passed on Sept. 3 kicked off the major period of migration for Neotropical migrants. In the next two weeks millions of warblers, vireos, hummingbirds, orioles, flycatchers, and thrushes will pass through Wisconsin's forests and shrub lands. Good spots to look for fall warblers include forest edges with lots of fruit and sunny edges that attract insects. Patches of shrubby woodland with lots of native fruits will be good for thrushes and some of the warblers that eat fruit in the fall. Wetlands are still very birdy at this time of the year with lots of local waterfowl, grebes, coot, and shorebirds when there are exposed mudflats. Birders this last week reported good numbers of common nighthawks migrating south as is typical for the last week of August. Backyard birders with hummingbird feeders should notice a big push of migrants in the next two weeks. As always, please report sightings to Wisconsin ebird (
www.ebird.org/WI) to help better track migrant bird populations.
