Wisconsin Statewide Birding Report 12.23.10
Many of the state's Christmas Bird Counts were conducted in the last week. So far not many results have been posted on wisbird website but here are some generalizations: The large amounts of snow and cold have probably reduced overall species richness on the counts as not many birds that are cold averse are lingering. Overall numbers of ducks and geese are probably also down due to the ice amounts on lakes and rivers and high snow totals. This appears to be a good year for Bohemian waxwings as they are showing up in central and southwestern Wisconsin outside of their usual northern Wisconsin wintering areas. Northern counts are finding decent numbers of winter irruptive birds including redpolls, pine grosbeaks, pine siskins and both species of crossbill. It appears to be a poor year for Snowy Owls. A golden-crowned sparrow showed up at the Eagle Optics feeders (how appropriate!) in Middleton. This is believed to be only the sixth state record and first since 1993. A few wintering Harris' sparrows have been seen as well as a number of "Oregon" slate-colored juncoes (western subspecies). Varied thrush have been reported in three counties and a few Townsend's solitaires have been reported, including the typical location at Devil's Lake State Park. Lake Michigan birders have been reporting good numbers of the arctic gulls, wintering scoters and long-tailed ducks and a Barrow's goldeneye in Sheboygan. A slaty-backed gull was again found at the landfill in Superior. This is a Siberian species that is starting to become more common in North America.
