Warbler Walks at Lake Park
Saturdays 7:30 to 9:30 am
Spring:  Saturdays from 3rd week April to 4th week May
Fall: Saturdays from 2nd week Sept. to 2nd week Oct.
Fall 2006:        Sept  9     Sept 16   Sept 23   Sept 30    Oct  7    Oct 14

MAP

Leaders: Jym Mooney, Robin Squier, Judith Huf, Roxanne Shrank, Paul Hunter

POTENTIAL Leaders: Jym Mooney, Robin Squier (not 9/9), Judith Huf, Roxanne Shrank, Paul Hunter
Mike Goodman, Marlyn Winter, Dennis Casper, Bill Rumpf, Kimberly Fein, 
Maria Terres, Marilyn Bontly, Cathy Dermody, Ron Gutschow

 

  These free, informal walks are open to the general public of all ages. Recreational birders familiar with Lake Park volunteer to lead people of all skill levels to the best birding spots in the park.  Beginning birders are especially welcome.  Camaraderie and discussion of diverse environmental issues are encouraged.

From bridges over ravines birders can look down on thrushes, sparrows, and warblers.  Red-headed Woodpeckers and Eastern Bluebirds occasionally visit the woodland edges.  Sandpipers, gulls and ducks migrate along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Meet on the WEST side of the Warming House near the tennis courts on the north end of the park.
See also this MapQuest map: http://tinyurl.com/csub9

Cancelled if weather forecast calls for

Bird Walks FORMAT

Cancelled if weather forecast calls for winds of 15 - 20 mph or higher or thunderstorms.

 

Meeting Place:  West side (away from parking lot) of the Warming House (Lake Park Friends Office) map

Enter the parking lot from the north off of Lincoln Memorial Drive just east of the corner of Lake Drive and Kenwood Ave.

Leaders:  The group by consensus should follow the leadership of a willing, more advanced birder.  That leader should ask for suggestions from birders who may be more familiar with the geography of the Park.  Large groups should split up into multiple parties.

Checklists:   Please assign one birder to leave a list of birds seen at the office of Lake Park Friends at the Warming House and / or email that list to Paul Hunter at phunter1@wi.rr.com  and / or post the list on WisBirdNet

Expect climbing up and down the equivalent of a two-story building.  The best birding sometimes is on Lake Michigan at the bottom of the bluff.

Dress appropriately.  It's usually "cooler by the Lake".  The ravines can be muddy and slippery.

Equipment:   More advanced birders, please bring extra labeled binoculars and field guides to share with beginning and casual birders.  Please also bring scopes to view waterfowl on the lake.

Paul Hunter's Advice to Hike Leaders (March, 2006):

My first priority when I lead is to make sure that beginning birders get a chance to see every species seen by the group.

My next priority is to review basic identification principles, especially if birding is slow.  The following link is similar to what  I try to discuss, especially size and shape (silhouettes in Peterson's  guide).  See Wayne Rohde's Birding 101 essays on Bill Mueller's website:
http://home.earthlink.net/%7Eiltlawas/id9.html

My third priority is to promote upcoming birding events at Lake Park and Urban Ecology.  I like to give the chairs of the Nature Committee of Lake Park Friends, Dolores Knopfelmacher and Gil Walter, the spotlight to discuss projects they and the county parks dept are working on.

Assign someone besides the co-leaders to keep count of individuals of each species.  Write a brief description of your the most interesting species seen, your route, group and topics discussed.  Email both of these to me if I am not one of the co-leaders, so I can post a report. I can do the data entry in eBird, but would appreciate someone else doing it on the days I am not co-leading.

Don't be in a rush to get started at 7:30.  I have learned to curb my enthusiasm and chit-chat till 7:45 outside the Warming House to give people time to gather and get comfortable.  Now, if there is a large group, or a subset of enthusiastic people itching to get going, by all means, split off one of the co-leaders and start a longer route early.

Generally, I walk slowly and focus on Locust Ravine just south of the Warming House.  For a really sedate walk, I go north and west of the tennis courts to the North Ravine and follow the inside edge of the ravine clockwise around to end back up at the warming house.  Usually time would allow extending that sedate walk south to the footbridge over Ravine Road just north of the Pavilion (restaurant).

For a more vigorous walk, I push through Locust Ravine, cross the Ravine Rd bridge and walk down the Grand Staircase east of the Pavilion.  If winds are from the west, migrants will cluster on the bluff below the Pavilion and west of the running track, out of the wind.  I like to teach the difference between Ring-billed and Herring Gulls at the lakeshore, but CROSS LINCOLN MEMORIAL DRIVE VERY CAREFULLY!!  Then I like to walk up Girl Scout Ravine, entering at the south end of the running track and exiting at the south end of the Pavilion's parking lot. Then I take a quick look at the lawn bowling greens on the way back to the Ravine Rd bridge and the Warming House. Usually I end 20-30 minutes late with this route.

Other places to consider:  the thicket behind Dr Wolcott's statue for winter wren and sparrows, the western edge of the golf course for waxwings and flycatchers, Bradford Beach in early AM for sandpipers.   I haven't found much in North and South Lighthouse Ravines, except a Great Horned Owl once.

 

Table of Species seen in 2003, 2004, and 2005

Chatty Reports of Warbler Walks:

2003:                                       May 24       Sept  6      Sept 20     Oct 4 
  2004:       April 24     May 15     May 22       Sept 11      Oct 2        Oct 9 
2005:       April 23     May 14     May 28       Sept 10      Sept 24     Oct 1

Spring 2006:       April 22   April 29   May  6   May 13   May 20   May 27

 

 

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