Hawks and Kestrels.

On the way to Madison today I observed the following species and numbers:

8 Kestrels
a dozen or so Bald Eagles
6 Red-tailed Hawks

Also stopped at Olbrich Gardens in Madison since I had a concert there today.
They currently have a G scale train exhibit going on. It was less than I expected it to be but some of the small houses in the background were interesting.
















The conservatory has some interesting bird species living in it. Canaries, Waxbills. Diamond Doves and Ground Quail to name a few. All were raised captive though.






Their collection of Orchids was also interesting.














Happy Birding!

US-193 area this evening.

Sharon Swiggum, Carol Troxel and I spent about an hour and a half down by 193 in Southern Richland County today. We started at about ten to 4 pm and came back around 5:30pm.

Out on Town hall Rd, we found:
many mourning doves
a flock of about 30 Snow Buntings
1 Lapland Longspur
1 horned Lark
Crows
1 Rough-legged Hawk
1 Red-tailed Hawk
Juncos
Am Tree Sparrows
Cardinal

Off of Town hall Rd towards County E, we saw:
1 Owl Species
I think it may have been a Barred (possibly the same one that has been hanging around in that area) but it could also have been a Great Horned. The lighting was not good enough to tell for sure.

(Srry I didn't take any pics this time)

The Longspur and Lark were new birds for the winter season for me.
The Snow Buntings were a lifer for Sharon.

Next time we go birding (we don't know when yet) we will check the pine groves in the SE part of the county for any nuthatches, Redpolls, Crossbills or other winter birds.

moree snow and sketching.

It snowed again today. We have recieved around 2" as of now but we're due to recieve more. Up to 6" by late tomorrow morning.
So with nothing to do but watch it snow, I decided to test out my art skills. I'm not the world's best artist but I think these are fairly decent. Especially since I spent only about 45 min on each.








Anybody know this one?

Mom and I checked out the SE part of the county today. down where the pine groves are by lone rock We were looking for Redpolls or crossbills but found neither after checking all the little back roads in the groves.
We did find some cool birds though. Among the more interesting ones were:
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bald Eagle
Am Tree Sparrow
Snow Buntings
Barred Owl

We then headed down ST 60 along the WI river.
This Bald Eagle was found out on the ice on the River. There were about a dozen or so along the stretch between 14 and 80



Then we headed up 80 to 193 to check the Balmoral dam. as we drove along, I spotted a bird flying toward us out of the corner of my eye. something about it said Owl. I immediately yelled "stop!". we turned around and there on the fence post sat this beautiful Barred Owl:










He sat still the entire time we were there. He was still sitting on the post when we moved on.
That was the most cooperative owl I've ever seen.

We then checked the Balmoral dam. It was taken down in early Sept after all the heavy rain we had. They dropped it about 9 feet.



Then we headed down Town line Rd in search of Buntings and Longspurs.
We came across a flock of about 50 Snow buntings



We then called it quits and headed home. but not before I captured this beautful winter sunset to end the day.

birds over the last few days and snow today

I found this Barred Owl while on the way to school one day. He posed for his picture just long enough to get this shot.



A snowstorm passed through yesterday dumping about 4-6 inches of snow on us.
This is how it looked this morning:


I went for a walk today to look for any birds that were out hunting after the storm.
Here's how it looked up on the ridge:




I came across a flock of Tree Sparrows. this one posed long enough for a quick shot





Not much else today. 5 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Grey Ghost (adult male N Harrier), 4 E Bluebirds, and a whole array of winter species. Nothing really unusual though.