Guess what?! Studied a group of Pelicans south of Goose Island and above Stoddard and saw several swans scattered among them. So look closely! More on Swans coming soon! Or search greatriver.com for past features.
Please report in comments, below as you see them!
I am just back from a beautiful three weeks cruising with the American Queen between St. Paul and St. Louis. Fall color should be here for the October 18th week in all its glory. Lots of Sunshine predicted, so plan to hit America’s Great River Road! Click here for CURRENT COLOR REPORTS.
Out on the Mississippi River, we noticed an increasing abundance of American Bald Eagles each week of the Sept/October cruise. While my favorite stretches are from Lansing, IA to Red Wing, MN, truly we saw eagles all the way to Alton, Illinois. Noticeably more ADULTS than Juveniles. Not sure why that was. Has anyone else noticed that? Please comment below! Are the sheer number of adult prompting younger birds to be searching further afield? Have the juveniles already started south?
Go on out and see the birds!!
Today is a big migration day in the La Crosse area. I birded at Goose Island County Park for about 1/2 hour before work and along the bike trail in northern Onalaska during my lunch hour. Between these two locations, I have seen 20 species of warblers, Blue-headed, Yellow-throated and Warbling Vireos, Great-crested Flycatchers, Indigo Buntings, Grey-cheeked Thrush, and more. There are relatively few Yellow-rumped Warblers so the warbler watching has been pretty spectacular.
Enjoy the birds,
Dan Jackson, President
Coulee Region Audubon Society
La Crosse, Wisconsin
During my lunch hour, I found a Harris’ Sparrow and other good birds along Fishermen’s road (on the east side of the La Crosse Airport). Other birds seen by me or Scott included: White-throated, White-crowned, Lincoln’s, Lark, Savannah, Song, Swamp, and Chipping Sparrows, Cliff, Barn, Bank, Tree, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Purple Martins, Spotted Sandpipers, Orange-crowned, Palm, and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Brown Thrashers, and more.
The flood gates are opening in terms of spring migrants!!
Good birding,
Dan Jackson, President
Coulee Region Audubon Society
La Crosse, Wisconsin
I’m sure this Sandhill Crane is wondering what’s up! I imagine the other partner was sitting on a nest not far away! Fresh snow fall at the beginning of the week, high 60s this weekend! 
Broad swathes of water opened up Monday and migrating waterfowl are abundant along Hwy 35 in Wisconsin. Pelicans are in!
Other observations from Dan Jackson and the La Crosse Audubon group:
On Saturday, March 29th, a nice sized group met at Goose Island to look for waterfowl and other spring migrants. We saw 47 species of birds which included most of the species of ducks that are typically seen on the river during the early part of the spring migration (missed Green-winged Teal, Black Ducks, Redheads, Greater Scaup, and Red-breasted Mergansers.
The highlights were probably a female Great Horned Owl on a nest, a pair of Trumpeter Swans, and a soaring Red-shouldered Hawk.
On Sunday, the geese were really on the move. I had 10-15 flocks go over my house in the morning while I was boiling sap. These included mostly Canadas with a few Cackling Geese. The last flock of the morning was a flock of Greater White-fronted Geese that included a single Snow Goose. A nice distraction from tending the fire and gathering sap!
The first weekend in April join the Audubon group at the Genoa Fish Hatchery at 10:00 a.m. The Genoa Fish Hatchery will be giving the Coulee Region Audubon Society a tour. It will last about an hour.
Hurrah, though it’s been cold as the dickens again, the calls of the SANDHILL CRANES and Canada Geese are filling the valley again. It could be in the high 40s tomorrow, so WELCOME friends!
The river is opening up in places so some of our Eagles are moving north. Saw a group of 12 American Bald Eagles, all ADULTS, lazing overhead the other day. They were low enough that I could hear them “chittering” sociably among themselves. That was a FIRST for me!
Our summer Eagles are on their nests, and I have been enjoying watching the Decorah Eagles again on USTREAM. Check this link… http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles
We are out doing our “last time” winter activities… from ice fishing (river ice was still 20-30″ deep out of Stoddard), to snowshoeing and x-country skiing. Most precious is still hand-feeding the birds on Goose Island!
We’ve seen a few beautiful migrating hooded mergansers and Canada geese, but not Sandhill Cranes or Pelicans yet. Those of you down river can keep us posted!!
With bitter December cold, the river is frozen and ice fishermen setting up their shanty towns on the river. Water remains open below Dams and the warm water discharges of the power plants.
This is where the Eagles are gathered now, so bring binoculars, a warm blanket, a thermos and enjoy eagle watching! Now that leaves have fallen, the numerous eagle nests along the river will be easy to spot. They may occasionally still have an adult eagle sitting atop the nest. No eggs, just taking advantage of the view!
Search both this blog and www.greatriver.com for more info on our winter eagle populations.
Dan Jackson, President of the La Crosse Audubon Club has sent us a detailed report on his observations over the past weekend. This IS THE TIME to get out on the river!! Thanks so much, Dan!
A few observations:
This morning, Monday, 11/11, Ruth and I were able to get a fairly good ground count on the number of swans using the Wisconsin Islands Closed Area. The number was 22,000+ with main concentration areas in Raft Channel West, below Horseshoe and Boomerang Islands, and on the sand flats below/between seed islands along Raft Channel. Yesterday, in the Shady Maple portion of the Goose Island No Hunting Zone, I counted about 2,000 tundra swans with what appeared to be new arrivals late in the day, 500-600 Canada geese, 300-400 pelicans, and 10,0000+ ducks (gadwall, pintails, wigeon, and mallards). The Beiers Lake portion of the no hunting zone was also loaded with birds, but there is limited visibility from the overlook, hence an incomplete count.
People are learning about the large concentrations of birds visible from the overlooks and the fact we are staffing the overlooks on weekends, and responding accordingly. To that end, we had nearly 1,200 visitors this past weekend at the overlooks.
Visitors are asking how long the swans will be here. For those asking the question and mean how long will they be on the Refuge, the answer is there will be swans here until the river freezes. For those who mean how long will they be here in the numbers seen this past weekend and near the overlooks, that is a bit more complicated. A few swans may leave with this brief cold snap, but be replaced by others moving in from other staging areas on the river or elsewhere.
We are going to begin seeing swans move around the closed areas in response to the need for thermal cover, i.e., this morning’s conditions, and as their food resources are depleted, i.e., the large bed of arrowhead plants in front of the Brownsville Overlook.. Some of the latter is already occurring. On Sunday morning, one group of hunters mentioned that the area they hunted in the morning was full of swans. The swans likely fed all night and moved back to the closed area when disturbed by the hunters. This is a common occurrence, but seems to be early this year.
Tubers the swans are eating.
Further, this morning, we saw groups of swans, and ducks, tucked into more “out of the way” areas where small patches of arrowhead are present. On calm days, the swans will likely move to open water water areas away from the islands in search of winter buds of wild celery. It also amazing to watch swans feed in the middle of the large wild rice beds.
With the forecast for warming beginning about mid-week and continuing through next weekend, we should have excellent conditions for viewing next weekend. Another large turnout of visitors is likely.
There are a number of bus tours, or other groups, scheduled to be at the overlooks this week.
Long-time river observers are saying they have never seen, or it has been a long time, since they have seen the number of waterfowl now present in lower Pool 8!