All Good Things Must Come to an End

Prothonotary Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 8May2014

On May 8, the parade of warblers finally began in earnest with the first big push of warblers into southern Wisconsin. Prior to that, April had ended in a lackluster fashion in which an unfavorable weather system kept the influx of spring migrants at bay. We birders kept birding, hoping, watching the weather and "birdars," feverishly awaiting the warbler waves. Then, BOOM, May 8, the onslaught of the warbler parade commenced as a remedy for our deprived senses. Seeing the delightfully colorful songsters light up the trees and shrubs was nothing short of pure gold. I enjoyed some intimate moments with an array of migrant songbirds coming down to feed on insects near the creek where I and many others flocked to witness the extravaganza. I was afforded some crushing photo opportunities where not only my lens, but soul seemed to connect with these avian delights. It's been both exhausting and exhilarating.

Each spring migration holds its own uniqueness.  This year, due to cooler temps and a late spring, migration was highlighted by low feeding warblers amidst a minimally foliaged landscape. The delayed leaf-out lended to stunning unobstructed views. In addition I engaged in more social birding as opposed to my typical solitary routine. My relationships with birder friends blossomed or re-kindled after lying dormant during winter months. Additionally, I found myself experiencing all aspects of this migration with the acute feeling that each moment could be my last...

With each passing wave I was left ravaging for more birds.

However, I have realized I could never sustain the sort of power birding and minimal sleep that inevitably envelopes my life in May.

So perhaps there is a silver lining to the fact that ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END.

At the time of this writing I find myself at the close of May with a compelling sense of loneliness. Nearly all of the migrants are long gone. And like the ephemeral wildflowers of spring, my relationships with people, also appear to be senescing. As with anything in nature, it's all so temporary...the birds move on and people do too. The parting is bittersweet. I hold on dearly in my mind's eye and heart to all that has transpired.  Here these recent memories will endure until they are replaced or fade with the gift I know as "time."

What follows are some of the cast of characters that danced with my spirit and exalted ordinary to extraordinary during the past few weeks...

The traditional first warbler of spring, the Yellow-Rumped male...

One of the early mini-warbler waves on April 22, produced several Pine Warblers along the Emma Carlin Trails in the Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest (Jefferson County)...

Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers were more than accommodating this spring. Some will stay in the area to breed.

 This Worm-eating Warbler visited Fox Park Sanctuary (Waukesha County)  for few days in late April...

Black-and-White Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy (Dane County) 3May2014...

Cape May Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 8May2014...

Blackburnian Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 9May2014...

Chestnut-sided Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 9May2014...

Tennessee Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 9May2014...

Northern Parula, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 9May2014...

Scarlet Tanager, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 9May2014...

Black-throated Blue Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy on 12May2014...

Magnolia Warbler eating a crane fly, Pheasant Branch Conservancy on 12May2014...

Black-throated Blue Warbler, female, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 14May2014

Canada Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy on 14May2014...

Chestnut-sided Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy on 14May2014...

Magnolia Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy on 14May2014...

Singing Veery, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 14May2014...

American Redstart, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 14May2014

Blackpoll Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 14May2014...

A disapproving look from a Wilson's Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 13May2014...

Black-and-White Warbler (male), Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 20May2014...

Bay-breasted Warbler, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 20May2014...

Northern Waterthrush, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 20May2014...

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, 20May2014...

I already find myself missing it...

Lake Superior, The Sea of Possibilities

...up there -- there is a sea....

Dip in to the sea, to the sea of possibilities...
~ from Horses by Patti Smith

Lake Superior, my first love, my heart.

As we always do, you and I had a good conversation on this day.

You listen to my secrets...

And tug at my heart strings... 

...to keep me by your shore forever

I have never seen you in such a state... 

and so unexpected for late May...

But that is the greatness of you, never ceasing to amaze me.

I hear you calling me home....

Rain-kissed Spring Ephemerals

As May begins to wind down, I feel exhaustion setting in as life has been moving less at the speed of a plant and more at the frenetic pace of an American Redstart or Ruby-crowned Kinglet during migration. I've resisted the urge to get adequate rest in lieu of seizing the short window of time in which not only are birds moving through southern Wisconsin, but the landscape is continually changing over in waves of spring ephemerals.

Rue Anemone

Surely this is a season of sensory overload...

Starry False Solomon's Seal

The late morning to early afternoon are typically the ideal time to take a break from birding to enjoy the ever-changing plantlife that emerges, blooms and quickly senesces during spring.

Wild Geranium

In between rain showers today, I found myself wandering in a new area in Dane County. My attention quickly turned to the ground where I became enamoured with the various wildflowers and ferns decorated with raindrops.

Starry False Solomon's Seal

Starry False Solomon's Seal

I found my favorite fern newly emerging....

Maiden Hair Fern

Most of the hairy vines hugging the trees appeared to be Virginia Creeper, but Poison Ivy was also lurking around the forest floor often mixed in with the creeper. This sinister plant, while being a great food resource for birds, often hides in the shadows of other plants waiting to deliver an allergic rash to some unsuspecting human.  At least for today, it won't be me!

Virginia Creeper

Bloody Butcher

That's correct. One common name for this species of trillium is "Bloody Butcher." I rather like the connotation of this sensuously vulvular looking flower taking on the dichotomously opposing pathological persona of a slaughtering maniac.  It seems poetically aligned 

with the Black Widow phenomenon. 

By another name, 

most would call this spring ephemeral 

Trillium recurvatum or "Red Trillium." 

This particular patch of trillium recurvatum is currently blooming at Prince's Point State Wildlife Area in Jefferson County. I have been watching this and some others in Dane County for a couple weeks and was delighted to find these perfectly in bloom.

 On a chilly day, this flower is mother-fucking HOT!

Promises of Spring?

The pasque flowers atop the prairie drumlin, aka Frederick's Hill, at Pheasant Branch Conservancy emerged last week from the drab brown and gray landscape of seasons past. Often these are some of the first spring ephemerals to bloom here in Wisconsin. They surely are a delightful promise of more color and warmth on its way. However with snow falling across the state earlier this week and freezing temperatures overnight, it's beginning to feel like spring is moving farther and farther away as we rewind back to winter.

On April 11th I made a late morning climb up the prairie drumlin to see these beauties. While the midday lighting wasn't the best, it was still an exquisite time to visit the prairie being it was one of the few sunny days this month with temperatures in the high 60s.

After reaching the crest, I was warm enough to doff my jacket and capture a few images. Slightly fatigued from an early morning of birding combined with the hike uphill, I settled on a bench to rest after taking a few photos. Looking west over the prairie below, the warming sun, light breeze and two Field Sparrows dueling in song nearby, mesmerized me into a fleeting state where my mind felt empty yet filled with calm, free from the race the normally ensues. There I sat, so close to a city, yet seemingly so far away. The landscape was nearly void of people and cars, and only the din of birds and a warm breeze filled my auditory chambers.

The prairie drumlin is a place that beckons one to return. Therefore earlier this week I once again found myself at the top of drumlin attempting to capture more pasque flower images in the favorable early evening light. Unfortunately the blooms that had been open a few days before were found to be wilted after Mother Nature put the brakes on spring with snow and daytime temps in the high 30s.

However, hope was alive as newly emerging plants were sending up vigorous buds on the cusp of blooming.

The early evening light painted warm hues on the creek valley below to the south. The burr oaks of the savanna were still bare of any sign of leaves.

View of Pheasant Branch Creek, looking south from Frederick's Hill

As usual I marveled at the patterns of the bare oak branches against the sky. These burr oaks of the north and the live oaks of the south are among my favorite trees. I was once told by a friend, who was also enamoured with the oak tree, that the branches reminded him of his mother's hands. I often think of this story when my eyes are tracing the intricacies of the branches. Although I don't make that personal association, the thought feels poignant and comforting just the same...to imagine the caring arthritic hands of an aging mother. So while I yearn for more trees and plants to spring forth with a lively palate of glorious greens and splashes of brilliant reds, yellows, blues and purple, I can take pleasure in enjoying these oaks which stand at their greatest beauty when barren. They will delight me until spring brings on its next act.

Not to Need

Winter Wren

Most birders who list, whether it be for a particular patch, county or state, can often be heard saying "I need that for the year" in reference to a particular species. I can certainly relate to this mindset. I sure "needed" a helluva a lot of birds last year when I was doing a Wisconsin Big Year as well as trying to be top eBirder in my home county.  However the exaggerated joy-sorrow dichotomy attached to the "need" for any living creature be it a bird, human being, pet or other animal is enough to make this birder come unglued.  I find it highly unbalanced and about as far away from Zen-birding as one could get...to need a bird, A BIRD!

For me, as 2014 seeps in, I sense a swelling sea change in my birding style.  The "bigness" of 2013 exhausted me.  Furthermore, I ushered in 2014 by spending an embarrassing amount of time and gas on chasing what would have been a Wisconsin and ABA lifer Gyrfalcon. After five attempts, I dipped. I believe it was then I was cured of ever "needing" another bird.

I was contemplating this notion of need-based birding as I strolled the creek corridor at Pheasant Branch Conservancy late morning today, I wondered if I would see my first-of-the-year Yellow-rumped Warbler, but felt at peace with the knowledge I did not need one. I am working on letting go of expectations, to accept what birds may come my way, to ignore the numbers, to ignore others numbers and to recognize the beauty before me.

The less I expect, the more I come to realize that in nature what might be considered common place or redundant can surprise the senses. As I reflect on the whole concept of "need" I acknowledge I am a work in progress as I experience this world. I believe what I am learning in nature can apply to the greater context of my life.  How grand would it be to abandon all need other than basics required to sustain life? I have been fighting the gravity of need all my life and will continue to do so.

But let's get back to the birds and where I birded today...

I had my camera in tow as the birds in the creek corridor are often quite obliging for photography. While most of the birds I encountered are ones I've been seeing or hearing for the past week, the treasure is in discovering which species will delight me with outstanding looks on any given day. It's always changing.

Birding alone afforded me greater stealth in my observations.  As such I had the experience of birds coming within close range of me as I quietly meandered the paths. Golden-crowned and Ruby-Crowned Kinglets were foraging at my feet.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

 A Winter Wren that alluded me with but a snippet of its call the other day, perched, foraged and sang around me for a good 20 minutes today.

Winter Wren

A resident Downy Woodpecker spent the entire hour or so I was in the corridor excavating its presumed nesting hole, oblivious to my intrusion near its home.  The Carolina Wren's song carried exuberantly along the corridor, though on this day I did not visually locate this resonating songster. The American Crows, as they often are, were displeased with a Red-tailed Hawk flying low in the area.

Red-tailed Hawk and American Crow

Brown Creepers, my favorite among the usual suspects, scaled the trees picking out tiny nutritional nuggets in the crevices of the bark.

Brown Creeper

Sometimes I divert my gaze away from the birds and simply tilt my head back to peer up at the trees.  I enjoy studying the arthritic patterns of the tree branches against the blue sky.

While looking up today, I discovered leaf buds are beginning to emerge from some of the trees.  Soon many of the places I bird will be foliated in various shades of green. As this transformation unfolds, it will obscure the warblers during peak migration and we will all be bitching about "warbler-neck."

In some ways my outing today was subdued by my mood of over-mentating the trials of my life.  However the birds are often quite gifted in rescuing me from myself by "distracting" me toward simply experiencing the joy in what is before me in the moment.  Today it was the kinglets, wrens, creepers and hawk that pulled me into mindfulness in the now, not in the "need" for the future or the disappointment of the past. I shall not "need" anything when it comes to birding. However on this day I did "get" the Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Spring Migration Trickles In...

Earlier this week we had a brief burst of spring-like weather with south winds and temps nearly rising to 60° F. With that came the first appreciable spring migrants as well as an increase in the courtship activity of some of our year-round southern Wisconsin birds.

Palmyra Environmental Learning Center
S. Kettle Moraine State Forest

However, Mother Nature quickly pissed on spring, pulling the rug out from beneath the season in true Wisconsin style. Despite her continuing to punish us with arctic air and threats of snow, there continues to be enough novelty in my birding excursions to maintain a low level of excitement for the trickling start to spring migration.

Brown Creeper, 31Mar2014
Pheasant Branch Conservancy

Sweet melodious songs of Brown Creepers and migrating Fox Sparrows project above the din of the barren leafless woods, where patches of snow remain in the shade, and the browns of fall persist.

Fox Sparrow
Jefferson Co, 30Mar2014

Brilliant Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers puncture the muted colors of the barely waking landscape with their crimson red and pale yellow plumage.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Palmyra Camp, 1Apr2014

Ducks continue to find temporary reprieve on ponds, flooded fields, rivers and lakes.

On April 1st, strong west-southwest winds blew a few Franklin's Gulls into the state. Seeing reports of this species in Dane county, I ventured out in my home county of Jefferson. A quick check on one of my "gull fields" northwest of Palmyra yielded a single bird in nice breeding plumage.

Franklin's Gull, Palmyra, 1Apr2014

A few scattered observations of shorebirds were reported in southern Wisconsin this week including record early Baird's Sandpiper in three separate locations on April 2nd. What the hell got into those birds?

Besides seeing several first of the year (FOY) birds this week including Franklin's Gull, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Towhee, Eastern Phoebe and Tree Swallow, the highlight was finding a singing Carolina Wren at the Palmyra Educational Center in the Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest.

Eastern Phoebe, Palmyra Camp, 1Apr2014

Carolina Wren, Palmyra Camp, 1Apr2014

While the trees remain devoid of warblers, Golden-crowned Kinglets are keeping me company on my walks.

Golden-crowned Kinglet, Fort Atkinson 2Apr2014

And the American Robins are looking rather dashing....

American Robin, Palmyra Camp, 1Apr2014

Before you know it the sensory overload of spring will arrive...