20 July - 26 July 2021

Dear fellow flock of birders,

The birds in the Arboretum have not changed that much so for this report I will add a few special species seen in Dane County in general at the end of this report.

I always enjoy photos of birds sitting on the signage around the Arboretum. Barbara Houlihan sent a photo to me of a Song Sparrow perched on an Arboretum sign. Both of us felt the Song Sparrow was inviting us to the Arboretum for a nice walk as it sang its bubbly song. Barbara's photo is included.

The male American Goldfinches are bright yellow right now. When they perch on some of the tall, yellow flowered plants the yellow of both are accentuated. Included is a goldfinch perched at the top of a Cup Plant (if I remember correctly). The goldfinch just pops.

The other day as I was walking along Arboretum Drive I saw three Wild Turkeys running toward me at a good clip. I remember seeing Greater Roadrunners in the AZ and NM and thought our Wild Turkeys could easily keep up with those roadrunners. In fact I think our Wild Turkeys are better runners than they are fliers. They could be called Wisconsin Roadrunners. Included is a photo of a running Wild Turkey.

One of the new wildflowers that has just begun to blossom is the Gaura. It has small delicate flowers that hummingbirds love. Included is a photo of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird nectaring on a Gaura flower.

Last Tuesday our group was treated to a chase between two Red-tailed Hawks. When we looked closely at the tail feathers of both we saw that they were not the rusty red of adults but instead brown with black horizontal stripes of immature Red-tailed Hawks. Most likely these were the two we saw growing in and fledging from the nest in the White Pines northeast of the Visitor Center. They looked like they were having great fun playing tag. A photo of one of them is included. Note the color of the tail.

As I mentioned earlier the last four photos are of birds in Dane County but not in the Arboretum.

The first two photos are of Blue Grosbeaks. One is a photo of the male and the other is a photo of the female. The male is definitely blue with two large brown wingbars. The female is a completely different color. She is light brown or tan overall. However both sexes have large, thick beaks. It is a very rare sighting in Dane County and luckily many birders were able to see them.

The last photo is a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. Again this is a rare bird to find in Dane County and many birders were able to see it. Since it is a juvenile bird its plumage is pretty basic with dark gray/brown feather with white streaks or spots. It has a very heavy beak.

That's the bird report from the Arboretum and Dane County.

Good health to all of you and good birding too,

Chuck