March 2024

Pileated Woodpecker

Lynn E. BarberLeave a comment

I know that woodpeckers eat lots of things, but their visits to our feeders are almost always at the fake or real suet blocks. Somehow I often forget that they like nuts even though I do regularly see Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers at my peanut feeders. Yesterday’s visiting Pileated Woodpecker was one of the first times that I had seen one of these lovely monsters on the peanuts. Before this male came to the feeder, he and another Pileated Woodpecker did a round-and-round-the-trunk dance on our spruce tree.

Robins?

Lynn E. BarberLeave a comment

Yes, robins. I guess the point of this post is to show that I am no longer just concerned about chasing rarities. The first bird to allow itself to be photographed after I restarted this blog was an American Robin in our yard eating seeds from a fallen seed ball. Robins mostly are absent from central Wisconsin during the winter. Any that are around and those that come early in Spring if there is snow on the ground can often be found in and under crabapple and other fruiting trees. Our neighbor’s apple tree was stripped of its bountiful harvest all in one day late last week by a flock of robins hopping on the ground to eat fallen fruit and up in the tree.

March 2024 Update

Lynn E. BarberLeave a comment

It’s been a while since I did much writing on my blog site, but I’m hoping to post much more regularly in the future. My hope is that this blog can become an informational site about Wisconsin’s birds, birding and birders. After a gap of many, many years from when I was at the UW-Madison, I am now again a Wisconsin resident and have been here for almost three years. In that time I have explored much of the state, birding all the way, and loving the variety of birds and relative ease of birding (especially as compared to my previous state, Alaska). I have also met many Wisconsin birders, especially since I became a member of the board of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, and then its VP, almost two years ago. Soon (May 17-19) the WSO will have its annual convention in Two Rivers. I expect that the spring migrant birding there will be astoundingly good, and it will also be a great time and place to meet and talk with other birders. I encourage everyone to check out the details of the convention at https://wsobirds.org/what-we-do/annual-convention, and to join the birding fun there!






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A bit about changes in my blog, beginning March 2024:

					

				Lynn E. BarberLeave a comment			

		
	


	
		

			

This site is dedicated to all things bird, especially in Wisconsin. You are invited to submit brief notes (less than 200 words) or photos to me at dalybar@aol.com (subject “LB”). I reserve the right to edit or not use submissions. The goal of this blog is to encourage Wisconsinites to be more aware of birds and bird-related groups, places, people, and events in the state, and of what is being done and what we can do to help the birds and their environment. This is a personal blog and is not intended to reflect the opinion of any other person or group, including the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology (WSO). This blog will be published periodically as suitable content and I become available.