Europe's rarest songbird is also the randiest!

"The Aquatic Warbler is the rarest songbird in mainland Europe. Its numbers declined by 95 percent during the 20th century. But this is not for lack of effort on the warbler's part. Over the last fifteen years, researchers investigating the sex life of this small, retiring brown bird have uncovered a pattern of promiscuous behaviour, with male birds "continuously ready to mate and testing every female for her willingness to copulate". Almost two-thirds of all broods of young Aquatic Warblers have more than one father."

Link: Full story from BirdLife International

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Yesterday before work I checked Pheasant Branch Conservancy for more fall migrants. I wasn't surprised at all to find a couple of my birding friends, Aaron Stutz and Steve Theissen with the same plan. Aaron and I got really nice close-up looks at a still brilliantly plumaged CANADA WARBLER.

After Aaron left for work, Steve found a female BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER (one of my favorite birds) that we admired. Not as many individual birds as there were on Saturday, but birding reports from the north indicate that much more is yet to come through.

I've only managed to obtain one photograph of a male Black-throated Blue Warbler, but it makes a better quiz photo than pretty portraiture! So, here's a nice shot of a male at a nest from USF&WS.

Black-throated Blue Warblers nest in Wisconsin, but only in the northernmost part. Here's a map from the Wisconsin Bird Breeding Atlas indicating their nesting activity.

Link: All about the Black-throated Blue Warbler from Cornell Labs

Black-throated Blue Warbler image courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife Service

Monitoring Bird Migration via NEXRAD

It's 5:00AM and I've just checked NEXRAD to see how much bird migration has occurred through the night. The image above shows NEXRAD Base Reflectivity from the La Crosse station from just a few minutes ago. Once again there is moderate migration so I'll probably check Governor Nelson State Park or Pheasant Branch Conservancy later this morning to see what has come in.

To use this NEXRAD website, select the "0.5d reflectivity" under product and then select a NEXRAD station from the US map. Under "Loop duration" you can animate the progression of migration throughout the night, or over several hours. When looking at the National NEXRAD map you can view the extent of migration throughout the entire country.

For a great primer on how bird migration and NEXRAD work, check out John Idzikowski's "Bird Migration and Movements on NEXRAD Doppler Radar From Wisconsin and the Western Great Lakes" website.

Link: Using Doppler Radar to Save Songbirds

MAS Field Trip to Pheasant Branch - Results!

(click on image for larger version)

About 20 participants enjoyed the gorgeous weather and great birding during this morning's Madison Audubon field trip into Pheasant Branch Conservancy. Some of the birds were difficult to spot through the leaves but we still tallied nearly a dozen warbler species, including GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER and CANADA WARBLER. Other uncommon gems included an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER and a YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER. When I woke up this morning and checked NexRad I figured the birds would be plentiful. Thanks to everyone who came and made the field trip a success!

Here's the complete species list...

Pheasant Branch Conservancy (Middleton) - August 27th, 2005:

Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Canada Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher image © 2005 Michael Allen McDowell

Mark Pretti Nature tours

Mark Pretti, professional nature guide, recently sent me an email with a few positive comments on my blog, so I thought I would return the compliment and give him a little personal endorsement!

If you ever plan a birding trip to Southeast Arizona, consider employing Mark's services as a nature guide. When I went to the Southwest Wings Birding Festival back in 2003, I went on one of Mark's field trips into Ramsey Canyon and it was one of the finest birding experiences I've ever had. We tallied 77 species in just a few hours with birds like Hepatic Tanager, Canyon Wren, Arizona Woodpecker, Acorn Woodpecker, Band-tailed Pigeon, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Lucifer Hummingbird and more.

Mark's intimate knowledge of nature encompasses the entire flora and fauna of the area and isn't limited to birds, as he'll point out plants, insects, mammals and reptiles along the way. I think it's also great that he offers environmental education programs to students and children of all age groups. For a complete list of Mark's programs, tours and field trips you can visit his website.

Ramsey Canyon image © 2005 Michael Allen McDowell