Wisconsin Statewide Statewide Birding Report 4.22.13Warm fronts early in the week finally brought the expected push of mid-April migrants into southern and central Wisconsin, but northern Wisconsin birders are still firmly entrenched in the throes of a very late spring. Forest migrants arriving this week included sapsuckers, winter wren, hermit thrush, kinglets, fox sparrows and yellow-rumped warblers. Birders also reported our first few early warblers of the spring including yellow, parula, water thrushes, palm and pine warblers. These birds should linger in high numbers as the northern half of the state is locked in ice and snow. With recent rains there is an abundance of sheet water in farm fields and very high water levels in area wetlands. Recent migrants include American bittern, great egret, Virginia rail and swamp sparrows. Our first shorebird reports are coming in including avocets, godwits and a black-necked stilt at Horicon Marsh. High water levels and cooler temps should produce excellent shorebird viewing conditions in farm fields and lowlands across most of southern and central Wisconsin. Lakes are open now south of the tension zone bringing large numbers of loons, grebes, waterfowl, pelicans and our first Forster?s terns and Bonaparte?s gulls of the year. Large flocks of tundra swans are still feeding in flooded fields in western and northeast Wisconsin. South winds on Monday and Tuesday brought our first broad-winged hawks of the year along with a nice push of accipiters, red-tails and immature red-shouldered hawks. Grasslands are beginning to pick up with meadowlarks, field sparrows, savanna sparrows, vesper sparrows and harriers all back on territory. Look for Henslow?s sparrows and upland sandpipers to arrive on the next warm front. Canada geese, sandhill and whooping cranes, American robins and other early nesters are now sitting on eggs while great-horned owlets are starting to leave their nests in the south. Look for a large push of birds across all habitat types on the next warm front. Hopefully this will bring some hope to those birders still feeding redpolls in northern Wisconsin. As always, please report your sightings to Wisconsin eBird
www.ebird.org/WI exit DNR) so that we can better track our migratory bird populations.- Andy Paulios, wildlife biologists and Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative coordinator
