2019 in 25

2019 appears to be the year I fell off the blogger precipice. I'm still dangling by one index finger, but just barely.

And so it goes with recently acquiring a "new" house and yard. I have pretty much been pouring my energy into the yard, knowing in a few years it shall mostly take care of itself and I will reap the rewards of improved numbers and diversity of birds and pollinators.

I lament not finding time to document more of 2019 among the photo essays of bloggerland. While I have not been one to fancy the whole "Year-in-Review" notion of rehashing the highlights of the year's past posts, given the paucity of my 2019 content, I present to you 2019 in 25.

January started out in usual fashion with a big day of sorts on the first of the year. Other than the usual enthusiasm of racking up first-of-the-year birds and a Chipping Sparrow that visited my yard daily the entire month, the highlight of January was this Long-eared Owl, both a 5 mile radius (MR) and 7.5MR patch year bird. We were in a deep freeze with deep snow on the day this owl was found.

Long-eared Owl, Dane Co, WI January 2019

January also marked the first time I witnessed a Blood Wolf Moon. It was a painfully cold-ass eclipse but notable for January nonetheless.

Blood Wolf Moon total eclipse 20Jan2019 

February was the lost month of few photos and even fewer excursions. Always the shortest month of the year, yet it's the one that feels the longest. I could not feel farther from the sun nor tighter in the grip of winter than in February. February you are the dark anniversary of turning blue.

March marks the return of waterfowl, bluebirds and the first signs of spring. It was one of the few months I managed to post to this blog.

April is the prelude to golden May. It is a month fraught with anticipation and hope. It is a month of impatience waiting for that first drop of warblers.

My April trip to the Lower Rio Grande Valley and King Ranch topped the list as the highlight of 2019. Ferruginous Pygmy-owl became a North American lifer for me. I also enjoyed seeing the Elf Owls again, Morelett's Seedeater and the bountiful and diverse spring butterflies of far south Texas. I shall leave the details of that trip for another post dedicated to El Valle, a place that has grown to be a 2nd home to me.

Elf Owl,  Hidalgo Co, TX 14April2019

Back in Wisconsin the bright spot for April was seeing this Laughing Gull found by Ted Keyel. It was a Dane County and 7.5MR patch lifer.

Laughing Gull, Nine Springs Natural Area, Dane Co, WI 

May. Yep the pinnacle birding month. 2019 was another gem. You can read about it here. 

June. It was difficult to pare down my photos to a select few. June 2019 was a typical June. However the insects and orchids that dominate this month make it anything but ordinary.

Early June took me to Marinette County where I ran one of my two breeding bird survey routes. I had to defer the second of my routes until later in the month due to wind. During my down time, I stopped for my annual Kirtland's Warbler experience. I easily found four of these stunning birds.

Kirtland's Warbler, Marinette Co, WI 9June2019 

I also visited Town Corner Cedars State Natural Area which yielded this Brown Elfin. I find the elfins and hairstreaks to be some of the more captivating of butterflies. In 2019 I dedicated myself to finding more Wisconsin butterflies. June rewarded me well in this regard.

Brown Elfin, Town Corner Cedars SNA, Marinette Co, WI 10June2019 

Town Corner Cedars was where I also found Heart-leaved Twayblade orchids littering the moss mats of the cedar swamp. These were life flowers. I should have seen them several years ago had I been more observant. Instead it was just last year I was alerted to these miniature (less than eighth of an inch) blooms by a fellow orchid enthusiast. My eyes were open to just how common these dainty flowers are in several of the orchid swamps I visit.

During this same trip to Marinette County, I also stopped at the Dunbar Barrens where I found a few Eastern Pine Elfins, another dandy species of butterfly!

Eastern Pine Elfin, Dunbar Barrens SNA, Marinette Co, 10June2019

The usual assortment of tiger beetles were also present, dominated by Northern Barrens Tiger Beetle. This was one of two target tiger beetles for this trip. The other, Boreal Long-lipped, was also an easy find.

Northern Barrens Tiger Beetles getting busy, 10June2019

Later in the month between power-banding hummingbirds I visited my favorite orchid swamp in Sawyer County where I found more Heart-leaved Twayblade orchids. I dare not mention the specifics of this location. It is THAT GOOD.

Heart-leaved Twayblade, Sawyer Co, WI 16June2019

I also found the stunning Arethusa...

Arethusa bulbosa, Dragon's Mouth Orchid, Sawyer Co, 16June2019

and several other species including the state-threatened Small Round-leaved Orchid which can be viewed here.

Early in July, I traveled to the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan for a week of family, Lake Superior and boreal goodness. Our resident loons on Pike Lake were successful with producing a chick after several years (5+) of failure. Yay loons! Boo Jet-skis.

Common Loon, Pike Lake, Luce Co, 5July2019

The latter half of July was dominated by hummingbird banding, helping with wrapping up the fifth and final year of the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II and enjoying more nature forays to find insects. I found this Once-married Underwing Moth while atlasing in the western Dane County.

Once-married underwing (Catocala unijuga), New Obsevatory Woods SNA, 17July2019

Pleasant Valley Nature Conservancy is one of my top places to visit in Dane County for flowers and insects. Just about any warm season month at this natural area has some treasure to offer. I have observed countless life insects and flowers here over the years. In mid July I had the good fortune of adding to that long list of lifers with this Striped Hairstreak.

Striped Hairstreak, Pleasant Valley Nature Conservancy, 14July2019

Later in July, I searched several times for the coveted Juniper Hairstreaks along  Kahl Road in Dane County (WI). I also discovered and searched another excellent location with perfect habitat for this species. I failed in my searches settling for a consolation of other butterflies, robberflies and this cooperative jumping spider.

Jumping spider sp., Kahl Rd, Dane Co, WI 22July2019

Back at home in my yard. I was having another good year of whimsical insects. This is one of the mini robberflies found in my garden. Its perch is a bamboo stick less than a quarter inch in diameter. Thanks to Mike Reese for the ID on this one.

Cerotainia albipilosa robberfly, Bittersweet home, Dane Co, WI 29July2019

Undoubtedly the highlight for July was having the opportunity to band this adult male Rufous Hummingbird in Lincoln County, WI. An adult male with an estimated 50% green back is uncommon, especially for Wisconsin. The shape of the second tail feather being sharply notched ruled out the even rarer Allen's Hummingbird, a species yet to be recorded in the state. This particular hummingbird proved to be the only Rufous Hummingbird reported in Wisconsin for 2019. Late fall usually brings more reports. However Fall 2019 was eerily quiet.

Adult male Rufous Hummingbird, Lincoln Co, WI 26July2019

August began with me finding time to look for butterflies in the sand barrens west of Dane County. I visited Gotham Jackpine Barrens and Blue River Sand Barrens. My butterflying efforts were met with meager success. The highlight was finding blooming Clustered Poppy Mallow. This is a Wisconsin State Special Concern plant that I have seen on just one other occasion at Spring Green Prairie.

Clustered Poppy-mallow (Callirhoe triangulata), Grant Co, WI 2Aug2019

August not unlike July was dominated by travels for hummingbird banding. On a trip home from banding I took a short detour through Jackson County looking for butterflies, tiger beetles and uncommon flowers. I was successful on all fronts. A stop at a small sand blow produced my only sighting of Ghost Tiger Beetle for 2019.

Ghost Tiger Beetle, Jackson Co, WI 18Aug2019

Further on in Jackson County, near the Sandhill Wildlife Area, I found a wetland teeming with Eastern Purple Bladderwort, a life plant for me.

Eastern Purple Bladderwort, Jackson Co, WI 18Aug2019

In September the glory of my gardening efforts peaked. Click here to view my front yard in bloom. An uptick of Ruby-throated hummingbirds in the yard was well-timed with the peak bloom. All of these birds were hatch year birds making their journey south. With my crazy schedule of power-banding a couple hundred hummingbirds each weekend behind me as of August, I turned to banding the small number of hummers migrating through my yard. I was curious about the turnover-rate in individuals and how many were stopping on their journey in the fall. I had a fairly good idea when a new batch of birds would arrive due to plumage markings, scars and a change in favored perches.

September was the last of four times in 2019 that I managed to find time to blog.

October. The bounty of insects and Ruby-throated hummingbirds continued into October. I continued banding hummingbirds until weather deterred me from doing so. Ruby-throateds are not nearly as cold hearty as Rufous or Anna's. So when the temperatures fell below 50 degrees F, I opted forego banding. Between 9/16 and 10/20/2019 I banded on five occasions capturing twelve hatch-year (HY) males and four HY females. These numbers pale in comparison to summer banding. However, it was interesting to see how fat some of the birds were compared to when I band during the breeding season. The weights in the summer usually range 2.5-3.5 grams with males being on the lower end. I caught multiple males with substantially bulging fat weighing 4-5.5 grams!

Ruby-throated Hummingbird, hatch year male, Dane Co, WI 15October2019

This particular bird (below) was banded on October 20th and remained in the yard until November 7th. He survived three snow storms and temps down to 14 degrees F. Based on his weight of 3.35 grams on October 20th, he needed the extra time in the yard to gain fat. I do hope he was successful on his migration. Conditions looked grim for him heading south. However these birds are fairly remarkable. If only he would be recaptured to complete the story of his migration.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird, HY male, Dane Co, WI 31October2019

A small number of moths and butterflies visited the yard throughout October. This mistflower I snagged from my mom's garden in the Lower Rio Grande Valley was popular for many species including multiples of this Yellow-collared Scape Moth (Cisseps fulvicollis).

Yellow-collared Scape Moth (Cisseps fulvicollis), Dane Co, 20Oct2019

Oddly I did not get a Franklin's Gull until October this year. I believe few if any birders had them in Dane County earlier in the year. Usually several Franklin's can be found in early spring. But the timing and occurrence of several migrants seemed out of whack this year. The photo below is pretty crappy, but this bird was indeed notable for my October.

Franklin's Gull, Dane Co, WI 22Oct2019

Once again, October passed with no orange sparrows for me. I made little effort to look among the busyness of life.

In early November, I completed the usual lakeshore birding trip from Milwaukee to Sheboygan with Peter and Aaron. This year we extended further north to Two Harbors where the highlight for me was this stunningly close Long-tailed Duck.

Long-tailed Duck, Two Harbors, Manitowoc Co, 3Nov2019

Given it was expected to be a poor year for winter finches we were surprised to find a Red Crossbill at Virmond Park, a fairly reliable place for this species on this particular route. I also saw my lifer Great Tit in Sheboygan where a small population of escapees has established breeding. This species is not technically countable. Unfortunately it will be soon.

In December, I headed back down to the Lower Rio Grande Valley for my annual birthday week trip. The highlight was finding several Blue Metalmarks, a life butterfly I had coveted for several years.

Blue Metalmark, Resaca De La Palma SP, Cameron Co, TX 9Dec2019

Otherwise December wrapped up in usual fashion with three Christmas Bird Counts under my belt: Madison, Waterloo and Palmyra. The Palmyra count which takes place in the Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest has historically been excellent for owls. However this year was nearly a bust. My favorite birds for the three counts were Merlin, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Carolina Wren respectively. Nothing super rare, but all are birds that are nice to find during the winter months. And let's not forget Northern Shrike. They always rock and top my list of favorite winter bird species. We found them on two of the three counts.

Other than that 2019 was FULL of craft beer and making new friends along the road to inebriation. Everything in moderation. Yeah, right.

Now for 2020! I hope to make it to the tropics this year!

Rewind to Spring 2019

I'm unearthing this post from the wasteland where it began back at the end of May. I was coming down off the highs of spring migration consumed by getting my yard planted and planning for another hummingbird banding season and never found time to complete this.

So back to April we go...

April started off with this...

Ferruginous Pygmy-owl LIFER, King Ranch, Kennedy Co, TX 10April2019

But was mostly lots of this...

Crafts brews, Craft Beer Week and kindred beer-drinking souls and new friends gathering at my favorite local craft beer cafe continued well into May and beyond.

April was pretty damn wet, cold and dreary. Winter dealt two encores. I missed the first while visiting the Lower Rio Grande Valley but was back in Wisconsin for the second. None of the April 2019 snow was quite so devastating to the birds as last year's was.

Overall April's showing of birds was grim. By month's end, there was no customary drop of neotropical migrants. In addition the shorebirds were weak inland from the Great Lakes where I bird. It seemed as though migration would never come.

Golden-winged Warbler, UW-Arboretum, Madison, Dane Co, 6May2019

But then came May's eternal promise. The Neotrops rocked it on May 6. It was their first good showing in numbers and quality.

American Redstart, UW-Arboretum, Madison, Dane Co, WI 6May2019

I had the great fortune of being off the entire day feeling quite pleased to strike it big on the first bird lottery of spring! Though not my intention, May 6 became a mini-Big Day of sorts. I ended the day at 108 species in my 5MR birding patch with little effort and a incredible rush of enthusiasm to greet the spring migrants.

Magnolia Warbler, UW Arboretum, Madison, Dane Co, 6May2019 

I had been regularly checking Esser Pond for shorebirds in my 5MR patch. It paid off with the discovery of two American Avocets, patch lifer!

American Avocet, Esser Pond, Dane Co, WI 6May2019

Warblers provided a decent showing throughout May. Black-throated Blue warblers appeared to be more numerous and widespread than I recall in recent years.

Black-throated Blue Warbler, Dane Co, WI 13May2019

The coveted Bay-breasted warblers provided frequent crushing views, males and females alike.

Bay-breasted Warbler, Dane Co, WI 17May2019

As usual the season came with misses. The Hooded Warblers did not return to breed in the UW Arboretum and otherwise seemed hard to come by at the haunts I visited during spring.

On the other hand, having missed Cerulean last year, I was thrilled to stumble upon a singing male in the Bock Forest parcel of Pheasant Branch Conservancy.

Cerulean Warbler (doc shot), Pheasant Branch Conservancy, Dane Co, WI 17May2019 

Connecticut Warbler was another 2018 miss for me that I had the good fortune to observe on two occasions in late May, one at Hoyt Park while birding with my pal, Adrian, and another at Pheasant Branch in an unexpected location during my return hike from looking for Red-headed Woodpeckers.

I started off spring pumped to work on my 5 mile-radius (5MR)  patch list. But by the end of May my enthusiasm dwindled to a whimper. By June my urge was silenced, lost in the distraction of insects, hummingbird banding and endless gardening to foster a bird and butterfly friendly yard.

Much the same occurred in 2018 with my effort to bolster my 7.5MR patch annual total. I floundered and lost interest when June rolled around.

Currently I sit at 208 and 200 for my 7.5MR and 5MR patch totals for the year. Miraculously according to eBird I am leading in Dane county for both metrics. However I expect to be surpassed in the 7.5MR arena by ace birder, Aaron H in the coming weeks since I don't expect to finish out 2019 with a bang. But one can never know. Perhaps my mood and interests will shift. As of now I have house projects on my mind and thoughts of returning to the Lower Rio Grande Valley for my usual birthday vacation to see the 'rents, the birds and the butterflies. Stay tuned!

Hello September

Hello September! Where have I been?

Lake Superior, Vermillion, Chippewa Co, 4Sept2019

I never intended to leave this blog by the wayside for so long. But somewhere between the exhaustion of spring migration,

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Dane Co, 20May2019 

over indulgence in craft beer, 

intense gardening at my new home of now two years, 

Front garden, Bittersweet Place, 9Sept2019

Bittersweet Place pre-occupancy circa May 2017

hummingbird banding,

Rufous Hummingbird, Lincoln Co, WI 26July2019 

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Washburn Co, WI 16June2019

and my continuous quest for orchids, butterflies and other insects, 

Small Round-leaved Orchid, Sawyer Co, WI 16June2019

Arctic Skipper, Sawyer Co, 16June2019

Ghost Tiger Beetle, Jackson Co, WI 18August2019

...that is precisely what has occurred. My blog FLAT-LINED.

And then there is the fatigue of everything. I have attempted on many occasions to compose something only to lose the battle with sleep. Mostly though, my active social life involving craft beer has won out as my preferred post-twilight activity.

But I am back. Motivated by own interest in documenting year to year changes, I hope to play catch-up. Time will tell if that actually materializes.

For now I leave you with a few scenes from my recent Labor Day weekend trip to the southeastern shore of Lake Superior.

Whitefish Point, Chippewa Co, 31Aug2019 

Whitefish Point, Chippewa Co, 31Aug2019 

Aurora, Luce Co, 31Aug2019

Aurora, Pike Lake, Luce Co, 4Sept2019

Possum Spring

Be still my beating heart. Spring is upon us in the upper Midwest. It is beckoning me to forgo the impossible tasks, forsaken responsibilities posturing to bite me in the ass when the time is ripe.

Opossum, Middleton, Dane Co, WI 16Mar2019

Breathe.

Gone is the lung paralyzing bitter cold of winter. I want to gulp the cool air of this season until the thawing dog shit reminds me otherwise. E. Coli lurks in those brown puddles you think are mud.

Discipline.

Harness the urge to chase every new arriving migrant. So far, so good. All good things come to those who wait. There is plenty of time to see Wood duck, Eastern Phoebe and Eastern Bluebird. Perhaps not so for Red-shouldered Hawk, another recently arriving species in Wisconsin. They are more challenging to come by in my birding patch. My best chance to find one is increasing my time in the field with the hopes of finding one in migration. However I simply can't afford the time and energy.

Western Red-tailed Hawk, Middleton, Dane Co, WI 16Mar2019

Exercise.

I still need the time outdoors to move, gain strength, build endurance for the impending high intensity field season. I've got bog tromps, Calypso Orchid, hunts for other rare orchids and spring warblers on my mind... and a pile of data to attend to first. But spring is beckoning me to move. So I made a short venture outside this weekend along some easy paved trails. Finding a Western Red-tailed Hawk was the highlight. It doesn't count as a species for my slowly growing 2019 patch list. Nonetheless it has been several years since I've seen this subspecies. Thus I was grateful to cross its path.

Opossum.

A confiding opossum took a close second place in capturing my attention. They sure are ugly little critters. But I have to hand them props for helping to curb the awful tick populations.

And for their mastery at playing dead to foil would be predators. I can relate.

Hail to the Possum!

Not the Cactus!

Who knew joining the House Plant Hobbyist Facebook group would be so entertaining? I was cleaning up image files and came across these nuggets I saved from December:

The screen shot below barely scratches the surface of what was one of the most entertaining threads I've read on FacePalmBook in a LONG time.

I only wish I would have saved more of the comments. The post and its dozens of entertaining comments was unfortunately deleted. 

Hello 2019!

Here we are! 2019!

Governor's Island, Dane Co, WI 1Jan2019

On New Year's Day we woke to a gorgeous blanket of thick snow across the southeast Wisconsin landscape. Despite my body having become acclimated to the warmer temperatures of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, I celebrated Wisconsin's snowy New Year's scenery.

Governor's Island, Dane Co, WI 1Jan2019

In usual fashion, I birded most of New Year's Day. It is the one day of the year I can tolerate a pseudo Big Day. The pace is typically more casual than spring Big Days and it's interesting to compare results each year.

Lake Mendota as seen from Governor's Island, WI 1Jan2019

This year Lake Mendota had an unseasonably large amount of open water, the most I recall in the four years I've been birding Dane County on January 1st. While waterbird diversity was increased from other years when water is more scarce, our overall species total came in second due to low passerine diversity. Results for the past four years are as follows:

YEAR   TOTAL      TOTAL   
           SPECIES     WATERBIRDS

2019     56                20

2018     38                4 (mainly birded UW Arb)

2017     51                 17
2016     65                18

For this year's January 1st count as well as last year's, most if not all birds observed were in my 7.5 mile radius (MR) birding patch. 7.5 miles is the metric that was established in 2014 for the Wisconsin Local Patch Challenge.

With 2018 marking my first full year living in Dane County since 2003, I made a targeted effort to focus my birding on my 7.5MR patch. My official eBird Wisconsin Local Patch Challenge 2018 total came in at 229 species. Unofficially I have 1-2 additional birds I neglected to eBird, bringing my actual total to 230 or 231. 

I believe I could have done better in my patch in 2018 with little additional effort. But when June rolled around my focus shifted to hummingbird banding. Plus the idea of chasing species where I had gaps in my year list did not appeal to me. Easy misses included Peregrine Falcon and Virginia Rail. 

Speaking of birding patches, "5MR Birding" seems to be all the rage for 2109. I'm not entirely sure of the reason for its rise in popularity this year. However recently I read something published by the American Birding Association encouraging birders to adopt this metric for birding locally this year. See #7 birding bastard Seagull Steve's fine discussion of the merits of 5MR Birding.

A few of my friends are doing 5MR Birding, so I decided to join the 2019 birding bandwagon. My 5MR patch is set in eBird. It's mostly for shits, giggles and comparatives. It should be mildly interesting to compare my 5MR versus 7.5 MR circles and see how my results stack up against others adopting 5MR Birding. However my birding focus will remain on my original 7.5 mile radius circle.

Shaded area=5MR Birding; outer yellow outline=7.5 MR Birding
Madison, WI

Adopting a 2.5 mile shrink in radius would come with significant consequences I'm not yet prepared to accept. Most importantly, 5MR excludes my favorite under-birded bird haunt, my beloved "gorge." If I were to confine myself to a single birding objective in 2019, it is to increase my birding effort at "the gorge." Therefore I'm not about to give that up for an arbitrary birding guideline! "The Gorge" is my refuge from other birders. Though I suspect the cat will be out of the bag on this place within the year as Dane County Parks is developing a new park across the street from my secret sweet spot. As it is several dog walkers have adopted the state, county and federal lands in this area as a veritable off-leash dog park. With essentially ZERO enforcement of leash ordinances in Dane County, we naturalists are pretty much fucked. AND THE ASSHAT DOG OWNERS KNOW IT. But I digress...

My beloved gorge, Dane Co, WI 

The second downside of a more compact 5MR is the loss of key shorebird spots in my 7.5 MR patch, Nine Springs and Ashton K Pond. However I still retain the Sub-Zero Pkwy Ponds (formerly known as Lacy Rd ponds) which has yielded 19 shorebird species and 4 tern species in recent years. So all is not lost with shrinkage (remember that guys when it gets cold--nyuk nyuk.) This is a compromise I could live with and am most likely to integrate into my 2019 birding habits. We shall see how my year shakes out. My intentions and choices undoubtedly will evolve as time passes. It would be unprecedented if they did not.

Cheers to the new year! I look forward to change, surprise and perhaps a greater shift toward butterflying more in Wisconsin. 

Tiger Beetles of Minnesota Wisconsin & Michigan!

A couple months ago my friend, Mathew L. Brust, told me his new book on tiger beetles would soon be published. This long-awaited book relevant to Wisconsin naturalists and tiger beetle enthusiasts has arrived! Tiger Beetles of Minnesota Wisconsin & Michigan is now available! It's hot off the presses to make your holiday wish-list! More information about content and ordering can be found by clicking here.