So, I really hadn’t planned on a post covering two weeks being a recurring thing, and as recently as a couple days ago had planned on separating these two weeks despite being very late on Week Twenty-nine’s post. As recently as Monday the 28th I’d been working on a separate Week Twenty-nine post, however yesterday I decided to just lump them. I don’t have any intention of this becoming a trend and am planning on returning to weekly posts next week – especially after wrapping up typing this post, which is by a wide margin the longest post I’ve written thus far.
While my last post covered two weeks of light birding, Weeks Twenty-nine and Thirty were a return to form and contained some excellent birding, starting with my last day in Michigan on Monday the 14th. Before parting ways with my buddy Isaac Polanski we made our way to the legendary Peshekee Grade – home to Michigan’s most reliable Boreal Chickadee and Black-backed Woodpecker populations, as well as a historically reliable Canada Jay spot. Unfortunately in recent years the latter of those species has become increasingly challenging in the state, Boreal Chickadee is especially challenging in the summer, and the Black-backed Woodpeckers cover such a wide territory that they are extremely hit-or-miss – and we missed. Our morning was still a productive one, though, and we built up a 46 species list including Winter Wren, Dark-eyed Junco, Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Pine Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Brown Creeper, and Golden-crowned Kinglet – a solid list for any time of year, especially during mid-July!
After our time at Peshekee I parted ways with Isaac and I big Michigan farewell, heading on towards the other state that somehow claims to title of “mitten state” – which, I mean, come on? How can Wisconsin POSSIBLY be referred to as shaped like a mitten when Michigan is just, right there looking like 1000x more like a mitten. I digress. Upon entering Wisconsin I bee-lined it down to Milwaukee to chase my second rare gull for the month of July. For about a month now there has been a continuing Mega-rarity nesting with it’s American Herring Gull mate in a rooftop gull colony down at the Milwaukee docks, and while it took quite a bit of waiting underneath the highway overpass eventually my efforts paid off when the Kelp Gull came in off the water – Lifer #603!
After getting the gull I headed over to the nearby Schlitz Audubon Nature Center for a walk on the property’s excellent trail network, adding a smattering of birds such as Cooper’s Hawk, Hairy Woodpecker, Warbling Vireo, Baltimore Oriole, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird to my Wisconsin list. After a short break I closed out my first day in the state with a visit to the Mequon Nature Preserve for some grasslands-type birds including Field Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, and Eastern Meadowlark.
On Wednesday my birding took me back north away from Milwaukee, following the Lake Michigan coastline until I reached the town of Two Rivers, where I spent several hours birding along the beach. As I walked up-and-down the shore I spotted a wide array of birds, including Spotted Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Caspian Tern, Common Tern, American White Pelican and more – but it wasn’t until after over two hours of effort that my reason for the visit made an appearance; mixed in with a flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls floating in the water just south of the pier there was a single immature Little Gull – one of several continuing in the Two Rivers area. Throughout this year the conversation of “nemesis birds” is one that has come up frequently, and I have been relatively surprised by how many people have listed Little Gull as one of their primary nemeses. My Lifer Little Gull was back when I had only been a birder for about a week-and-a-half at the Tawas Birding Festival in 2018, and in the years since I have seen about a half-dozen or so, always thinking of them as just a “good but expected” rarity – a fair analysis in the Great Lakes area. Outside of the region, though, Little Gull are a top-tier rarity that clearly have evaded many a skilled bird, and this attempt was likely to be my only shot at the year bird.
Not long after spotting the Little Gull I received a message from Isaac, whose first love before birding is stormchasing, informing me that I had some wicked weather heading my way – tornadic supercells, heavy rain, crazy wind – the whole kit-and-caboodle. Fortunately those tornados never materialized, but my birding for the day was prematurely ended by the aforementioned rain and I spent the rest of the day finally getting the Weeks 27 and 28 post up.
On the 17th I headed back south, though this time a bit west of Milwauekee, to the Newell & Ann Meyer Nature Preserve to meet up with renowned birding content creator Derek Sallmann of Badgerland Birding. I have been a huge fan of Derek and his brother Ryan ever since my dad introduced me to their channel around the time I was getting into birding, and so getting to meet and bird with Derek was awesome!
Derek and I’s birding at the Meyer Nature Preserve was an excellent start to the day, with loads of Dickcissel being the prime attraction, though the Clay-colored Sparrow, Sedge Wren, and thirty-three other species were excellent as well. While back in the wooded portion of the property we heard what we thought was the call of a juvenile Great Horned Owl, and moments later spotted an owl fly from a nearby tree, leaving a second behind; always a great day when you get to see an owl! After finishing up at the preserve Derek asked if I was interested in heading to a couple other spots, and so we made our way first to the Highway ZZ Prairie lot of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, where we were greeted by an incredibly cooperative Henslow’s Sparrow that sat teed up and singing for us for almost fifteen minutes! Next we headed to the Ottawa Lake Recreation Area where Derek had me play a guessing game of what our target for the spot was, saying that it was a “cool bird”, and I predicted it would be a Hooded Warbler. After picking up Acadian Flycatcher, Blackburnian Warbler, Marsh Wren, American Redstart and more we finally came across the target, which was not a Hooded Warbler but instead probably my all-time favorite warbler, a Cerulean Warbler (which for me is rivalled only by the other primarily-blue warbler that serves as the logo for my blog, Black-throated Blue Warbler).
Before Derek and I parted ways we made one last stop at the Scuppernong Hiking Trail, where this time we did, in fact, get a Hooded Warbler. Also at Scuppernong we heard a calling Sharp-shinned Hawk and spotted several Chipping Sparrows, though the bulk of the short walk was pretty quiet. Throughout our birding for the day Derek had recorded a bit of video, and it’s possible that said video may someday make it onto the Badgerland Birding YouTube channel, though regardless of whether or not I ever make an appearance I HIGHLY recommend anyone who has never watched any of Derek and Ryan’s videos to head on over there and watch some. Their channel’s content covers a wide mix of birding in general, birding specifically Wisconsin, and their travels throughout the country.
As we chatted for a bit after our birding Derek asked if I had tried for the Great Tits over in Sheboygan, which was a bird I didn’t even have on my radar as one I should try for. Great Tit are a European songbird that haven’t established a countable breeding population in the US, though apparently in the Sheboygan area they are considered “Provisional”, meaning that they have established wild population are breeding in the wild and in the process of naturalizing but are not yet fully naturalized – this is a similar case to many of the Parrots and Parakeets in Florida and California. With this information in mind I had my plans made up for Friday, but Thursday was not yet over as I made my way north to one of the nation’s top spots for birding and one Derek highly recommended: Horicon National Wildlife Refuge.
My time at Horicon was exceptional, with the nearly five hours I spent there being well worth the time investment. Among the 67 species I racked up there were “lower tier” highlights including Trumpeter Swan, Blue-winged Teal, Redhead, Hooded Merganser, Sora, Common Gallinule, American Coot, Sandhill Crane, Short-billed Dowitcher, Solitary Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Bobolink. The two biggest highlights, though, were highlights far-and-away Whooping Crane and Black Tern. While there was only one of the former and many of the latter, they both gave by far the best looks at their respective species that I have ever had.
I kicked off Friday morning at the Indian Mound Park in Sheboygan, where after almost two hours my efforts were rewarded with Lifer #604, Great Tit. Before departing Sheboygan I headed just across the street to the Henry Mueller Family Conservancy for another walk and another sighting of the European songbird that brought me to the town to begin with. The rest of the day was spent working my way south, with stops at various Kettle Moraine State Forrest spots along the way, including the Parnell Tower Trail, the Shamrock Road Wetlands, and the Scenic Drive. On Saturday I continued my journey south, stopping at the Pike Lake Unit, Scuppernong Spring Nature Trail, and Paradise Springs, before bidding farewell to Wisconsin and getting ready to get started on Illinois Sunday morning.
I started my birding in The Land of Lincoln with a walk at the Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve, after which I made a series of short stops at the Ipsen Road Conservation Area, the Flora Prairie Nature Preserve, and The Prairie at Walnut Grove before going for another walk at the Prairie Oaks Forest Preserve. This series of stops built up a solid list of the “expected” species, with the only notable highlight being Yellow-billed Cuckoo at the last of those stops. The birding began to heat up at the Russell Woods Forest Preserve, where as I cooked and ate my lunch I heard a calling Red-headed Woodpecker as well as the songs of Warbling Vireo and Carolina Wren. My short walk afterwards produced Eastern Towhee and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, plus a smattering of other common songbirds. The Burlington Prairie Forest Preserve was also excellent, with highlights including Yellow-throated Vireo, Sedge Wren, Savannah Sparrow, Henslow’s Sparrow, Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, Orchard Oriole, and Dickcissel. I’d only planned to make a quick visit at the Muirhead Springs Forest Preserve, but the birding there was so great that the stop turned into a nearly three hour one that yielded Marsh Wren, Grasshopper Sparrow, and forty-three other species!
Finally I headed east towards Lake Michigan and into the northern Chicago Metro Area to the South Unit of Illinois Beach State Park, where it only took about ten seconds to spot my target as a small flock of European Goldfinch were hanging out right in the parking lot – Lifer #605! Another European songbird that has established a population on the west side of Lake Michigan, “EGOL” differ from Great Tit in that they have progressed beyond the “Provisional” designation into “Naturalized”, meaning their population has been determined to be fully established and “countable”.
After my great first day in Illinois I decided to move on east to Indiana, where I had previously reached 79 species back in June before heading back to Michigan to chase the Black-headed Gull. So, after a drive through Chicago on Sunday night I spent Monday birding the area around the Indiana Dunes, starting my day with a walk at Indiana Dunes State Park which added Scarlet Tanager, Prothonotary Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Bittern, and Ring-billed Gull to my list for the Hoosier State. From there I headed over to the Indiana Dunes National Park Visitor Center and then to the National Park’s Cowles Bog trail, where I picked up Orchard Oriole, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, and American Herring Gull.
On the 22nd I made my way south to Lafayette, where I started my day at the Purdue Wildlife Area, where I added White-eyed Vireo and Hairy Woodpecker before heading to the Celery Bog Nature Area and picked up Least Sandpiper. I wrapped up my birding for Tuesday at Prophetstown State Park, where a plethora of field-type birds including Henslow’s Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Ring-necked Pheasant, and Northern Bobwhite brought me to 97 species for Indiana.
Since heading north from my parents’ house to begin my UP trip my journey had gotten back into full swing and had been replete with exceptional birding – on Wednesday the 24th, though, the exceptionalism of the past two weeks came to a screeching halt. The day started okay for the most part, though I when I woke up I had a slight headache and it was starting to get hotter than I would like, but I still got out and did some birding at the DePauw Nature Park, where Summer Tanager, Prairie Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, and Louisiana Waterthrush rounded out my Indiana list at 103 total species. After my walk at DePauw I headed into Terre Haute to get working on what was supposed to be last week’s blog post, but as I first drove to the Starbucks and then pulled out my laptop the headache I’d started the day with grew worse and worse, eventually reaching the point where it was among the west headaches I have ever had. A byproduct of this headache was that trying to look at a screen in general – let alone try reading small text (like one needs to do when writing these posts) – made me feel like I had a nail being pounded into my temples.
This headache wasn’t the only issue I faced over the coming days, as Wednesday also marked the beginning of a major heatwave that made not only birding a challenge, but also made every night spent in my car be totally miserable. The rest of Wednesday and all of Thursday and Friday were then spent doing not much of anything except trying not to be miserable, and as such progress on last week’s blog post ground to a halt as the post became more and more late.
Finally on Saturday my headache mostly went away and I got back to birding, though the aforementioned heatwave put a serious damper on things. My first stop of the day was at the Ballard Nature Center, where I picked up Purple Martin, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Next up, at the Homer Lake Forest Preserve, Red-shouldered Hawk, Pileated Woodpecker, and Red-shouldered Hawk joined my Illinois list. My third stop of the day at the Moorman Swine Research Unit produced Blue Grosbeak, Least Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, and Spotted Sandpiper.
I called Saturday early as the heat became unbearable, though I made one last stop that paid off massively before calling it a day. Within minutes of pulling up to the Heyworth Quarry Ponds I’d added Double-crested Cormorant, Forster’s Tern, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, and American Golden-Plover. Bank Swallow soon joined the fray, and not long after I spotted a Lark Sparrow and a Eurasian Tree Sparrow.
On Sunday I concluded my time in Illinois with a day of birding as great as my first in the state, starting with my visit to Powerton Lake where Bald Eagle was my only new bird. At the Spring Lake SFWA I added Mute Swan and then at the nearby Spring Lake Bottoms I heard calling Yellow-breasted Chat and Bell’s Vireo. The highlight of the day was the Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, where the 61 species list I tallied propelled me beyond the Century Mark for Illinois thanks to Baltimore Oriole, Northern Harrier, American White Pelican, Snowy Egret, Black-crowned Night Heron, Pied-billed Grebe, Black Tern, Caspian Tern, Stilt Sandpiper, Black-necked Stilt, American Coot, Common Gallinule, Sora, Ruddy Duck, Hooded Merganser, and Blue-winged Teal. Once I’d finished at the refuge I prepared to move on towards Iowa, though before bidding Illinois farewell I made two more stops at the Double T State Fish and Wildlife Area and the Foster Road Pastures, between which I added Northern Bobwhite, Northern Mockingbird, and Horned Lark – bringing my total to the state to 117.
Next week will see me go through Iowa and into Minnesota, and thankfully the heatwave will finally come to a close as my birding picks up. My apologies for skipping last week’s post, and again I don’t currently plan on that becoming a regular occurrence.
Happy Birding!
First and foremost - thank you to anyone who chooses to support me in this insane adventure of mine. When I initially had this idea and began planning I didn't even consider the possibility that others would want to support me, but I am extremely grateful to those who have reached out to do so. For those who are interested in supporting me, I have set up a Patreon, which can be accessed by clicking the logo to the left (or you can send me a message via the contact page). Again, thank you for your incredibly generous support!
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Follow me on my journey to see 100 species in every Lower-48 State during 2025, experience some of the incredible places and events in American birding, and meet and bird with as many local birders as possible along the way.
Posts will be made every Wednesday (I will try to have them out by 5pm, but situationally they might be a bit later) and will cover the previous Monday through Sunday. Additional posts will be made periodically with no set schedule.
