My Summer in the Marshes

Starting in April for the Crane Count, I began making semi-regular trips to a local Marsh (so long as I could tolerate the bugs). In May, I used the same site to participate in the Bird-a-thon for the International Crane Foundation.

Sandhill Crane

The marsh itself isn't terribly large, and a bike path which was once a railroad runs through it. My birding is often interrupted by cyclists and runners, who from what I can tell rarely realize that they zipping by many interesting natural wonders. I must admit to being guilty of this myself when I used this same trail 7 or so years ago to train for a half marathon.

On occasion someone will stop and ask me if I've seen anything interesting. I'm never sure how to answer them because of course I have, but it isn't necessarily something which they will find interesting. One passerby even stopped to ask me about bluebird behavior, not that I had seen any Bluebirds.

I see regulars when I am out there. Some on bikes and others in the grasses (like Red Wing Blackbirds or a family of Sandhill Cranes). Some people recognize me as the bird guy and say "Hello", I don't know if my feathered friends recognize as me such the Blue Jays still call out in alarm as I amble through the Oak stand at the edge of the marsh.

That's the really great part about this particular wetland. Part of it quite wet, here I encounter, Cranes, Herons, Woodcocks, Rails, Ducks, and Geese. Part of the area is a stand of Oak and Birch where I find Chickadees, Nuthatches, Grosbeaks, and Orioles. And the far end is more dry with lots of a Big Blue Stem, Sedge Wrens, Song Sparrows, Goldfinches, and Blackbirds.

Common Yellowthroat

This is the only place where I've been able to routinely successfully encounter Warblers, Yellow and Common Yellowthroats. Each time out, I find a variety of Flycatchers, Kingbirds, Wood Peewees, Least, and Willow. And there are a host of Swallows, even Cliff Swallows who nest in a viaduct.

As summer winds down, I'm amazed how many birds I've encountered which weren't in my Birds of Wisconsin field guide, and I am struck by how the locals are unaware of this natural resource. Birding is a big deal in Wisconsin with programs like the Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail and the Bird City program. This wetland has the potential to bring unrealized benefit to my city, and the exercisers on the trail, but for now it remains my little secret.

Cliff Swallow Nest