Common Nighthawk

I have lived at my home in Jefferson County, Wisconsin since July 2005. I can't remember a summer evening without at least one pair of Common Nighthawks peenting and booming among the din of summer sounds.

In fact in 2009, I returned home to find a Common Nighthawk roosting on a dormer of my house.

Fortunately, this summer is no exception to my trend of having an annual backyard Common Nighthawk. Although my resident Common Nighthawk seemed to have arrived later this year. It wasn't until June 6th, I was confident I was finally seeing and hearing my resident male as opposed t migrants. He had been flying low over my house doing his peenting/booming routine. His aerial displays have continued nightly.

Throughout most of June, I have only heard or seen a single bird. Common Nighthawks are regarded to be in sharp decline, so I was becoming concerned he would go unmated this year.

I have grown into the habit of never taking for granted the sight and sound of Common Nighthawks precisely because of their conservation status. The 2014 State of the Birds listed Common Nighthawk as a common species in steep decline and this year's State of North America's Birds lists Common Nighthawk at a moderate conservation concern level with a continuing population trend of being in steep decline. Of note though Common Nighthawk did not make the 2016 "Watch List." In examining the data I was actually rather stunned by the number of regularly occurring Wisconsin bird species that did!

Last night my concerns at least for this one particular backyard Common Nighthawk were allayed when I observed a pair in synchronous flight. They were peenting to softly to each other in a manner that led me to believe they were pair-bonding. The peents were shorter and of less intensity than I've observed with single birds. I am hopeful the July sky will include their offspring. 

Wisconsin Bird Species Watch List adapted from the State of North America's Birds 2016

The following is a table of Watch List Bird Species occurring in Wisconsin that I adapted from the North American Bird Conservation Initiative's (NABCI) State of North America's Birds 2016. According to the NABCI's study, species were assigned concern scores ranging from 4-20 with 20 being a score of greatest conservation concern and 4 being relatively widespread, secure species. Details on their methodology can be found here. 

The Watch List is comprised of species with concern scores of 14 or higher, or with a concern score of 13 and a steeply declining population trend. It reflects "the species most at risk of extinction without significant conservation actions to reverse declines and reduce threats." 

Specific to this adapted table, I included species I know to have been found in Wisconsin within the last 5 years. The species in bold are those that occur on a regular annual basis in Wisconsin, albeit some are rare regular (small numbers occur annually). That's 40 species seen regularly in Wisconsin at risk of extinction! 

English Name	Scientific Name	Breeding Habitat	Concern Score
Greater Prairie-Chicken	Tympanuchus cupido	Grasslands	16
Ivory Gull	Pagophila eburnea	Coasts	16
Kirtland's Warbler	Setophaga kirtlandii	E. Temp. Forest	16
Whooping Crane	Grus americana	Boreal Forest (Wet)	16
Yellow Rail	Coturnicops noveboracensis	Wetlands	16
Buff-breasted Sandpiper	Calidris subruficollis	Tundra (Wet)	15
Cerulean Warbler	Setophaga cerulea	E. Temp. Forest	15
Chestnut-collared Longspur	Calcarius ornatus	Grasslands	15
King Rail	Rallus elegans	Wetlands	15
Lewis's Woodpecker	Melanerpes lewis	W. Temp. Forest	15
Marbled Godwit	Limosa fedoa	Wetlands	15
Piping Plover	Charadrius melodus	Coasts	15
Bobolink	Dolichonyx oryzivorus	Grasslands	14
Canada Warbler	Cardellina canadensis	Boreal Forest	14
Common Eider	Somateria mollissima	Coasts	14
Eastern Whip-poor-will	Antrostomus vociferus	E. Temp. Forest	14
Henslow's Sparrow	Ammodramus henslowii	Grasslands	14
Hudsonian Godwit	Limosa haemastica	Boreal Forest (Wet)	14
Kentucky Warbler	Geothlypis formosa	E. Temp. Forest	14
Little Blue Heron	Egretta caerulea	Wetlands	14
Nelson's Sparrow	Ammodramus nelsoni	Wetlands	14
Prothonotary Warbler	Protonotaria citrea	E. Temp. Forest	14
Rufous Hummingbird	Selasphorus rufus	W. Temp. Forest	14
Semipalmated Sandpiper	Calidris pusilla	Tundra (Wet)	14
Short-billed Dowitcher	Limnodromus griseus	Boreal Forest (Wet)	14
Surf Scoter	Melanitta perspicillata	Boreal Forest (Wet)	14
Willet	Tringa semipalmata	Wetlands	14
Wood Thrush	Hylocichla mustelina	E. Temp. Forest	14
American Black Duck	Anas rubripes	Boreal Forest (Wet)	13
American Woodcock	Scolopax minor	E. Temp. Forest	13
Band-tailed Pigeon	Patagioenas fasciata	W. Temp. Forest	13
Black Scoter	Melanitta americana	Tundra (Wet)	13
Black-billed Cuckoo	Coccyzus erythropthalmus	Boreal Forest	13
Cape May Warbler	Setophaga tigrina	Boreal Forest	13
Connecticut Warbler	Oporornis agilis	Boreal Forest	13
Evening Grosbeak	Coccothraustes vespertinus	Boreal Forest	13
Harris's Sparrow	Zonotrichia querula	Tundra	13
Horned Grebe	Podiceps auritus	Wetlands	13
King Eider	Somateria spectabilis	Tundra (Wet)	13
Lesser Yellowlegs	Tringa flavipes	Boreal Forest (Wet)	13
Long-eared Owl	Asio otus	Forest Generalist	13
Olive-sided Flycatcher	Contopus cooperi	Boreal Forest	13
Pectoral Sandpiper	Calidris melanotos	Tundra (Wet)	13
Prairie Warbler	Setophaga discolor	E. Temp. Forest	13
Red-headed Woodpecker	Melanerpes erythrocephalus	E. Temp. Forest	13
Snowy Owl	Bubo scandiacus	Tundra	13
White-winged Scoter	Melanitta fusca	Boreal Forest (Wet)	13

May's Many Faces: May 20th

As usual I've been out and about amassing photos and getting behind on doing much of anything with processing or sharing them. I'm struggling this spring to capture sharp photos. It first began with faulty repairs to my Canon 100-400 mm zoom lens resulting in some misalignment and blurry images. Canon supposedly corrected this issue, but now I'm struggling to achieve sharp results with my fool proof 100mm macro lens. I'm left wondering if the image stabilization works on either lens or am I just failing miserably at keeping a steady hand when capturing images. I'm feeling rather frustrated by my results especially my recent efforts with tiger beetle photography. I thought I nailed it being face to face with a few specimens the other day, only to discover the sharpness of my images considerably lacking.

Oblique-lined Tiger Beetle, Sauk Prairie Recreation Area, Sauk Co 3June2016
Despite feeling braced and steady during capture, I had to process with shake reduction due to shitty results.

Adding to my photography struggles, the end of May left me down approximately $300 worth of gear with the loss of my Blue Mikey Condenser Microphone ($100) on May 20th at Quincy Bluff State Natural Area and the loss of my 430 ii Canon Speedlite flash at Spring Green Preserve four days later ($200). I'm having one helluva spring!

Quincy Bluff SNA, July 2015

 Anyway, back to May 20th as I play catch up. I ventured to Quincy Bluff and Wetlands State Natural Area in Adams county for my first effort at tiger-beetling this year. I discovered this site late in the season last year when I looking for areas to find lifer tiger beetles.

Quincy Bluff SNA, July 2015

The birds, rock formations and insects were intriguing enough to inspire my return. In fact with Adams County being quite sandy, I want to focus more of my tiger-beetling efforts here this year. I feel I have a greater chance of adding a new species to my list from this more northern county versus Sauk or Jefferson Counties where I have focused my past efforts. Plus with the rise in popularity of Spring Green Preserve, a favorite haunt of mine for herps, insects and plants, I feel it's time to explore elsewhere. Though admittedly, the lure of that place keeps calling me.

Adams County Sand Blow

Adams County Sand Blow

I was hoping for the Northern Barrens Tiger Beetle which the Wisconsin DNR reports are found here. This state natural area is quite expansive. I may be looking in the wrong area or at the wrong time as I have yet to find this species. In fact Festive Tiger Beetle was the only species I found. From my visit last year, I know Punctured and Big Sand occur here as well.

Festive Tiger Beetle digging

Lyre-leaved Rock-cress, Lupine, Bird's Foot Violet and Puccoon were all in bloom. So I had plenty to keep me busy with trying to capture the various butterflies using these plants.

Lupine

Juvenile's Duskywing

Rock-cress is a primary host plant for Olympia Marbles, so it's no wonder a fair number of these were flying in the area.

Lyre-leaved Rock Cress

They were much easier to capture toward dark when they were found roosting on the as opposed to frenetically nectaring and in near constant flight.

Olympia Marble

Where I had found the roadsides covered with more Prairie Fame-flower than I've ever seen before last summer, I now discovered roadsides covered with more Birds-foot Violet than I've seen.

Prairie Fame-flower, Quincy Bluff and Wetlands, July 2015

Bird's foot Violet, Quincy Bluff and Wetlands, 20May2016

I was tipped off to the uncommon Ringed Boghaunter occurring at this location. I am not much of an odonatologist and struggle with dragonfly identification, but this species was fairly easy to pick out.

Ringed Boghaunter

I found a few other dragonflies which I claim no accuray on identity.

Since I arrived in the heat of the afternoon, bird activity was not remarkable. However I did observe copulating Red-headed Woodpeckers, found a nesting Hairy Woodpecker and found one of our later migrating warblers, a male Blackpoll.

Despite my trials with lost equipment, camera and lens woes, and self-doubt about my ability to capture sharp images, it's been a good spring with many more cool observations to share!