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| 296 ducks over Poygan Marsh |
Sandhill crane -200
Canada goose - 100
Bald eagle - 6
Blue-wing teal - 29
Ring-neck duck - 5
Wood duck - 10 flushed 5 from the top of an oak tree
American wigeon - 16
Northern shoveler - 3
Bufflehead - 2
Tree swallow - 3 checking a hollow willow tree
Red-wing blackbird - many
Yellow-headed blackbird - 2
American Robin
Song sparrow
Cardinal -1
Blue jay -1
Red-bellied woodpecker - 1
Common flicker
Common grackel
European starling -3
Killdeer -1
Northern harrier -1
Great-blue heron - 1
Great-blue heron - 1
I also saw my first osprey of the year over Poy Sippi and a common loon at the Butte des Morts boat launch in the town of Butte des Morts
Saturday I took the family back to the Lake Poygan State Wildlife Area. Most of the ducks had moved on, but the frogs were out. Friday there were no frogs calling but on Saturday the spring peepers and western chorus frogs were calling. There were also a number emaciated northern leopard frogs in the ditches.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in Suamico, WI and now living in Oshkosh I often miss the calls of the frogs. I must follow your lead and trek to these locations to catch a sound or two.
ReplyDeleteJust yesterday as we were leaving Suamico, I had to stop, roll down the windows and make sure my daughter could hear what I was hearing. The frog calls were almost deafening they were so massive.
I grew up in Waupaca and I could here the deafening chorus every spring of peepers, chorus, and wood frogs every spring. In the summer we had a steady stream of baby frogs and toads coming up from the pond a half mile away.
ReplyDeleteI've lived at my house in Oshkosh for ten years, and in that time I saw a garter snake. One rainy evening I thought I heard frogs calling at midnight. I walked around trying to find the source of sound, but could not. I don't ever remember feeling so empty inside as I walked home. I wish I didn't have to drive so far so my kids can experience birds, frogs, and all the other nature the countryside has to offer without the roar of traffic.
There are several places where you can hear chorus frogs in Oshkosh, Jackson Street south of County Y, the ditches by Menard's to name a few, but you have to listen to the cars and other noises of the city too. Those are holdouts in relatively new developments. I'd be very surprised to hear them in another ten years.