Sweeping through the Plains

Nearing the end of September, we drove into North Dakota along the prairie pot holes where we encountered many waterfowl species and shorebirds.  We then settled into Graham's Island State Park.  A walk around the grounds produced good looks at Harris's Sparrows like this male to the right.

Our next stop was the vast wetlands at Sand Lake National Wildlife Area.  Here we witnessed the staging area filling with thousands of ducks and Franklin's Gulls.  Dozens of Western Grebes (to left), Cattle, Snowy and Great Egrets, we also had out first Snow Geese signaling the winter season is coming.  New birds added were Swainson's and Ferruginous Hawks.

We continued south into South Dakota as news of a cold front was heading our way.  We saw our fist Prairie Dogs.  We stopped at Lake Louise where we added the Spotted Towhee then at Big Bend Army Corps Campground for a night on the Missouri River.

Next morning we flushed ten Prairie Chickens as we headed into Nebraska.  This one posed on the barbed-wire fence for several photos.  Now Ring-necked Pheasants were showing up in good numbers.

This White-lined Sphinx Moth was seen actively feeding on nectar at the Calamus State Park.  We then followed the Platte River that was overflowing its banks from the Colorado floods upstream.  We visited with the staff at the Sandhill Crane Audubon Nature Center near Kearney.






After several WLA stops in Nebraska we continued into Kansas.  Our first Prairie Falcon was seen harassing 3 Mourning Doves and a flock of Killdeer.

We were most impressed with the Cheyenne Bottoms State WLA where we spent 2 days traversing the 10 miles of auto tour.  We found concentrations of hundreds of Yellow-headed Blackbirds, this group was perched on the water impoundment pump along with our first Great-tailed Grackles.

Hundreds of White-faced Ibis filled the skies and settled into the marshes,  they were accompanied by thousands of Franklin's Gulls, Blue-winged Teal, American Coot and Barn Swallows.  We had good numbers of Am. Avocets, Long-billed Dowitchers, and 8 White-fronted Geese.  We established a good repoire with the naturalists at the visitor's center and enjoyed their exhibits.

Being keenly aware of the huge snow storm in South Dakota and the tornados in Nebraska and the cold front heading our way, we journeyed southward faster than we had planned.  We camped at the Great Salt Plains State Park on the west fork of the Arkansas River in Oklahoma.  We battened down the hatches as torrential rains and 60 mph winds caught up with us.  No worse  for the ware, we felt God's protection.



With the ensuing calm, this flock of Am. White Pelicans resumed feeding in the shallows below the spillway behind our campsite.  Also in the group were Cattle, Snowy and Great Egrets, and Double-crested Cormorants.

We were surprised to see so many beautiful Scissor-tailed Flycatchers (Oklahoma's State Bird) still this far north.  Their tenacity at chasing any bird that interloped into their feeding area including hawks, kingfishers, blackbirds and each other.

With the National Wildlife Refuges being closed and large signs strictly forbidding roadway stopping we drove through the Wichita Mountains NWR.  This large free roaming Bison bull made us violate the dictates of the Federal Government by encouraging us to stop and take a quick picture.

Now it's onto Texas for the next 7 weeks.

God Bless "you all".    Ty & Ida Baumann

Autumn begins - NW Wisconsin & N. Minnesota

Having said "Good Bye" to friends in NE Wisconsin, we drove west stopping for the night in Buena Vista where evening birds heralded this beautiful sunset.  We then headed north and found a state park we had never visited before - Brunet Island near Cornell on the Chippewa River.

These Trumpeter Swans can be heard calling over the marshlands of Crex Meadows in Western Wisconsin.  Mix in the bugling of hundreds of Sandhill Cranes descending into the refuge and it made a symphony of sound.

Palm Warblers were migrating in great numbers in many of the places we stopped:  Stone Bridge, Pattison State Park, and the Gordon Wildlife Area where we also found 3 Sharp-tailed Grouse.

Our last state destination was Wisconsin Point which juts out into Lake Superior.  Over the years this has been one of our favorite birding hot spots.

Thousands of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls feed in this bay, and this is what brings in the Jaegers from the Arctic as they migrate south.

This spectacular sunrise set the stage for a week long, 10 hour day, jaeger vigil.

This Parasitic Jaeger (one of seven) is exhibiting it's notorious behavior of intimidating the gulls into regurgitating their full crops of food providing a stolen meal.  Another rare treat was three Long-tailed Jaegers that made fly-bys several times.

Every day birders came to the Point to see the fantastic show.  Over 100 people joined the Wisconsin Society of Ornithology's field trip dubbed "Jaegerfest".  It was a fun time seeing both birds and birders.

This Bald Eagle also became part of the bird pageantry stirring up hundreds of gulls from the lake.  Our "Point" list was well over 100 species - the best being: Sabine's, Franklin's, and Lesser Black-backed Gulls; Black & Surf Scoters; Western, Red-necked and Horned Grebes; Common & Red-throated Loons; Merlins and 17 species of warblers.

We crossed the St. Louis River to Duluth and made a stop at Hawk Ridge.  The weather was "too beautiful" for hawk migration but we enjoyed the view from high above.

We drove north to Sax-Zim Bog and spent the night on a deserted road where early morning mist enveloped this handsome bull moose.

On the way northwest to our next Boreal destination, we found a pair of Black-billed Magpies.

Happily we also added Boreal Chickadees, Gray Jays, a Black-backed Woodpecker, Spruce Grouse and Rusty Blackbirds at Pine Island State Forest.

We drove to Red Lake State Recreation Area and Campground where we walked the trails and Ty climbed the 100+ foot fire tower.  On his way down he came eye to eye with this Red-breasted Nuthatch.

This area is part of the 1.3 million acre Big Bog where we walked the 1 mile boardwalk into the Tamarack and Black Spruce habitat with it's complement of unique bog plants.

We concluded our N. Minnesota adventure with a stop at the Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge north of Thief River Falls.  Here we found a wonderful variety of waterfowl, adding several to our year list which now stands at 357.


As we left the refuge, the sunbeams rained through the clouds like a waterfall.  It reminded us that God's light always shines through the darkness.

God's blessing to all,
Ty & Ida Baumann

Enjoying Green Bay

Heading north from our week in Madison, we had a spotted salamander obstacle course east of Goose Pond.  We zig-zagged down the road avoiding all but having to move a couple to the side.

We stopped in Montello to see Ida's mother Betty and sister Ella, who was celebrating her birthday.

After a couple birding stops we reached Green Bay and spent some time on Joan Grant's patio watching the last orioles come to the grape jelly feeder before migrating south.  We joined her for two pre-season Packer games out of the heat in her living room.

Here is one of the five new wolf pups enjoying celebrity status at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary.  It was 1996 when the first pups were born at the sanctuary and they lived a good, long life there.

We joined the Bay Area Bird Club for five bird walks along the Wildlife Sanctuary trails.  It was fun to see everyone again.

This Green Heron entertained the group for several minutes trying to have this frog for breakfast.

In between visiting with friends, we contributed some work time on the grounds of Celebration Church.  They allowed us to park each night while we were in Green Bay.

This Gray Tree Frog was looking a little green around the gills nestled in a barberry bush which received needed pruning.

Sanctuary trails produced 23 warbler species during our 2 1/2 week visit.  This Black-throated Blue Warbler in one of our favorites.  We marked off 100 species of birds at the WLS on those walks.

In between appointments, we spent some time along the bay watching the American White Pelicans, cormorants, Caspian & Forester's Terns fishing.

While the RV was getting it's 60,000 mile checkup, we took a loaner car to Navarino State Wildlife Area.  This small Hog-nose Snake had snuck into the lower level of the beautiful new Nature Center.  We helped get it back out in the wild which I'm sure he was thankful for.

Fall is in the air and the leaves are starting to turn colors.  We are headed north to Superior for a week of watching northern migrants come out of Canada.  The Wisconsin Society of Ornithology will be holding their "Jaegerfest" at that time.

It was so good to see so many friends, if we missed you, we'll try again next September.
God Bless You!
Ty & Ida

Traveling Wisconsin - Here and back again

Heavy thunderstorms pelted the RV at Kohler-Andrae  State Park.  Thankfully not the tornadoes and wind damage we observed on our way to Green Bay.   We stopped to see Ty's Aunt Carol & Uncle Jack in Howard's Grove and enjoyed their beautiful, wildlife friendly landscaped yard.

We surprised everyone as we crashed the Friend's of the Wildlife Sanctuary Picnic.  It was great to get reconnected with "Friends", volunteers and WLS staff.  We walked the waterfalls area and the prairie plantings and new lighting looked great.

Also joined the "Swift Night Out" with the bird club, counting at city chimneys then meeting at Titletown restaurant.

We'll be back in Green Bay soon but we had to leave for Madison stopping at Horicon for more birds.  We again found the Hudsonian Godwit (on left), much closer than our earlier trip.  We added Red-necked Phalaropes and Buff-breasted Sandpiper - making 20 species of shorebirds seen at Horicon this month.

We traveled west and stayed at Little Bluff Campground near Poynette for a couple days.  Ty called in this Great Horned Owl while actually looking for warblers.

We spent a few hours at the MacKensie Environmental Center walking through the live wildlife exhibits, museum and visiting with Smokey the Bear.

We are now at Madison staying at Lake Farm Park, walking the extensive hiking and biking trails that were surrounded by prairie flowers.

We walked to Nine Springs impoundment ponds and followed the dikes looking for ducks and shorebirds.  It was pretty quiet but has great potential.  but we did find this leopard frog.

Best of all in Madison was a nice visit with our son Troy and his wife Carmen.  We went to some great adventure movies and good eating establishments.


Fall is in the air with these Jack O' Lantern mushrooms leading the way.

We'll soon be saying good-bye to the state capital and journeying northeast back to Green Bay for fall migration, visits with old friends and watching the Packers.


God Bless!
Ty & Ida Baumann

Eastern Wisconsin

Horicon Marsh is the largest fresh water marsh in North American and draws a myriad of migrating waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds and songbirds to the area.

This Wilson's Snipe was one of nine that ventured unto the Main Dike Road during a heavy rain.

This highly endangered species - the Whooping Crane - was observed several times from the Marsh Road Dike.

We spent three days camping at Ledge County Park overlooking the marsh.  We found 110 species during this visit.

Next birding area calling us was North Point in Sheboygan, we stayed for three days at Kohler-Andrae State Park.  There was a great commotion at our campsite and it turned out to be a family of Cooper's Hawks.  Adults were carrying food to fledged young that were food begging all day long.

At North Point we found this mallard family among the thousands of Ring-billed, Herring, and both Black-backed Gull species.

We traveled north along the lake stopping at harbors and beaches.  We found this Canvasback at Manitowoc and an adult Franklin's Gull at Two Rivers.

We enjoyed some quality time visiting with the Stukenberg family near Algoma. Our friendship started 20 years ago on a missions trip to Guatemala where they hosted the church's youth group.  We joined them for church on Sunday.

No Wisconsin birding trip is complete without a trip to Door County.  We stayed a night a Potawatomi  State Park where we found this family of Wild Turkeys.

We drove north along the Lake to the tip of Gills Rock and south along the Bay and camped 2 days at Peninsula State Park where fawns were plentiful (yes, another photo - hard to resist - they're so cute).

We finally found a Little Gull, with 7 Boneparte's Gulls in the Ephraim Harbor.

Heard the word that birds were really good at Horicon, so we headed back south.  We stopped at Red River Park north of Dykesville and found 6 Am. Avocets;  Hwy. 29 pond yielded at White-rumped Sandpiper; and back at Horicon we found the Hudsonian Godwit and this Wilson's Phalarope.

Each morning we found a large mixed flock of egrets, herons, Am. Pelicans and cormorants feeding in this channel along Hwy. 49.  We also had hundreds of shorebirds, Trumpeter Swans, Sandhill Cranes, and ducks.

We spent time on the auto tour where we found this young Least Bittern (note the fuzzy down on head and back),  one of the half dozen encountered.






On the way back to camp each day, we ventured out the Main Dike.  This Virginia Rail family took it's good time crossing the dike.  These chicks looked like they were fresh out of the egg, a late nesting.  (Photo below)

Needing to stop at Horn's RV Center for our annual motorhome check-up, we camped at Kohler Andrae State Park.

This active Marsh Wren was caught in the act of preening on the Black River Marsh boardwalk near the campground.


Enjoying familiar biring area in Wisconsin!
Ty & Ida Baumann