Wisconsin Statewide Birding Report 12.14.12 Last weekend?s winter storm and subsequent cold has waterfowl and water birds on the move! Canada geese, many species of ducks and tundra swans have largely left their fall haunts and have moved in to southern Wisconsin or have left for traditional wintering areas. With the forecast for warmer temps up until Christmas, birders in southern Wisconsin should see higher than normal diversity and numbers of waterfowl in larger bodies of open water. Madison birders have reported all three species of scoter and long-tailed ducks in the past two weeks. Sandhill cranes have largely departed for Indiana staging areas, but some cranes do remain in southern and central Wisconsin. This fall saw higher than normal numbers of rufous hummingbirds in Wisconsin. A couple of these hummers are still lingering at feeders in La Crosse. This season continues to be very good for many of the irruptive boreal finches. Pine siskins, redpolls, pine grosbeaks and both crossbills have been reported in higher than normal numbers. It appears to be an average bohemian waxwing year and the early push of evening grosbeaks now appears to have ended. Snowy owls were being reported in good numbers in Great Lakes harbors and a few open ag/grassland landscapes. Check the break walls of most Great Lakes harbors for birds during the day. A northern hawk owl has set up a winter territory near Egg Harbor in Door County. This boreal owl is an occasional visitor to Wisconsin. Finally, it appears that the artic gull species are now moving into Wisconsin. Birders at large gull concentrations are reporting glaucous, thayer?s, and Iceland gulls in good numbers. As always, check Wisconsin eBird (
www.ebird.org/WI) for more information on the latest sightings AND to report your own sightings so that we can track our migratory bird populations. - Andy Paulios, wildlife biologists and Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative coordinator
