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Birding News and Features

ID Tip: Medium-sized Terns

May 09, 2012

The three medium-sized terns that arrive in Wisconsin during spring present identification challenges for even experienced birders. Terns are slender and buoyant and often seen flying at a distance or in tightly packed groups on a beach or sandbar. Common, Forster’s and Arctic Terns are distinctively different and can be identified with careful observation. It is important when identifying terns not to rely on any one particular field mark but rather to consider a suite of traits when making your identification.

Hotspot of the Month -- Elroy-Sparta State Trail

April 30, 2012

This month, Monroe County was randomly selected to feature in our "hotspot of the month" series. Paul Schilke, who has done an extensive amount of field work in the area, wrote up the following summary of the Elroy-Sparta State Trail. Monroe county is unique because of it's location in the driftless area and on the tension zone and is certainly worth exploring if you find yourself in central Wisconsin.

March 2012: Record warmth= Record early arrivals

April 09, 2012

On the heels of a very mild winter, this past March was the warmest on record for most of the Midwest, including the entire state of Wisconsin. As old record highs fell day after day during the middle of the month, avian life responded with a surge of record early and near record early arrivals into the state during this month and the beginning of April. Almost all common migrants were early to some extent, not just the species that set new record early dates.

Fill in the gaps--bird the road less traveled (April 2012)

April 06, 2012

eBirders often email us and ask where they should go birding in order to make the biggest impact in regions with little data. It's perhaps little surprise that eBird checklist submissions are most dense in areas with large human populations, so getting away from those areas is a good first step for filling in the data gaps in eBird. But seeing these gaps can be really astonishing, and with the help of map wizards Paul Hurtado and Tom Auer, we've come up with a few neat ways to visualize eBird data density at the county level. These static and interactive maps are a visualization of the total number of eBird checklists submitted in each US county in the month of March across all years. These static and interactive maps show the total number of checklists per square mile of county area--a better way to see data density in states with large counties. So find a county that has sparse data, and then go do as many eBird checklists as you can there this April!

Hotspot of the Month-- Dike 17 SWA-- Jackson County

March 31, 2012

Jackson County in west-central Wisconsin was our randomly chosen county to feature in March. Dike 17 State Wildlife Area in the Black River State Forest features open marsh, flowages, woods, and extensive shrubs, making it appeal to quite a variety of birds throughout the year. Read below to learn where the site is, what birds have been seen, and what times of year are best to visit.

ID Tip: Broad-winged vs. Red-shouldered Hawks

March 23, 2012

Broad-winged Hawks are a common migrant and breeder in Wisconsin. Caution should be used, however, when identifying birds in late winter and early spring due to their resemblance to Red-shouldered Hawks.