Birding at Froemming Park

The past few days, I've been exploring Franklin, Wisconsin's Froemming Park. I can't seem to find any history of this 70 acre parcel of land although it appears that part of it was farmed at one point (old fencing). It's on Milwaukee's southwest side at 51st and Puetz Rd. It's claim to fame is the Milwaukee County Sports Complex plus a small baseball diamond and couple of barely used soccer fields.

What seems to be missed completely by web reviews so far, is the nice variety of wildlife present. The land is dominated by open fields separated by several strips of hardwood trees, and bordered to the west by the Root River, and on the far south by a marshy natural area.  There are a few reports of birding here on eBird to go by, but not many, so off I went in search of the unknown!

Day 1: I parked just off Puetz Road on the north end, where there is access to the paved bike path that runs through here. Just past a row of bushes, you will find a mowed grass path used mostly by dog walkers but I only saw 3 other people using this path over the two visits I made. (most are out zooming around on paved path). Right off the bat, I came across a pair of Grey Catbirds singing from the bushes. A little patience prevailed and I got some great views of them.

Over the next hour I came up with 14 species which also included a Cedar Waxwing, a Savannah Sparrow, and 3 much enjoyed Eastern Meadowlarks spotted on one of the soccer fields. Not extremely common around here, mostly seen near the big airport, but I'm not going ANYWHERE near there these days carrying around a big camera!

Nearing the south end of the trail, I spooked up a Northern Flicker from the brush. Following him with my camera, I snapped a photo of him landing on a nearby tree. Later, when I got home, I found out what I really caught  in that photo: not just the Flicker, but also a Robin on the left, and what looks like a Northern Mockingbird on the right! That would be a lifer for me, so I HAD to go back again this morning to see if I could find him.

Day 2: This morning I parked in the little parking lot off of 51st street. Arriving around 8am, before anyone else, I found a Brown Headed Cowbird amongst some Red Winged Black Birds and about 25 Barn Swallows flying about. This would prove to be nothing as later I counted 50 Barn Swallows sitting in a dead tree! I immediately headed back to where I saw that possible Mockingbird, which was just west of the 2nd Tee in the Frisbee Golf Course. Tip: the 4th hole in that course is on top of a small hill, which has a commanding view of most of the Root River Valley (small valley) and surrounding fields. Sitting up on the grass here affords views of the birds flying about which included a Red Tailed Hawk and a number of Goldfinches which looked like yellow tennis balls swooping - up - and - down - across - the - sky. Great place for binoculars here.

Now, sitting on the west end of the hill (green "X" on the map above), I think I spot him right away. THERE HE IS! Well, maybe not, but I did manage to catch a second bird in my shot again ... this time a Baltimore Oriole? Hard to tell.



I've got to get a closer view, so I slowly creep up, using some brush as a cover .... but he sees me. ZIP! GONE!
RATS! Here's a closeup of this yellow bird. I had seen one the day before down by the river, but it was just a quick glimpse.

 


Just as he left, however, my Northern Flicker friend comes back while I'm still in good position and I get a beautiful angle on him.A male (black whisker), yellow shafted (brown head and you can just see some yellow by his tail) Northern Flicker. The highlight of the day.

 So, I still need to go back and look for that Mockingbird. In addition, as I was researching the park for this blog entry, I find out that the city of Franklin, WI is planning on developing this whole plot of land for more baseball diamonds. This whole natural area will be GONE forever. So, now I'm committed to recording as much wildlife here as possible and posting my findings on these pages. Stay tuned!

Fuzzy Buck

Two weeks ago (just 2 posts ago), I crossed paths with an 8 point buck at a local park. Well, this morning our paths met again and now he's got 10 points on his majestic set of antlers! His location still kept secret and he is in a non-hunting area. In fact, I rarely see anyone milling about in this wild area of a local park, so I think he should have a safe and happy life!

Belted Kingfishers at Scout Lake Park

The dawn patrol hit Scout Lake Park this morning in Greendale, Wisconsin with hopes of catching something unusual, such as perhaps the resident beaver I have seen here before. They are quite rare in this area. Actually, this was the second stop, but the sun really hadn't cleared the trees yet at this "sunk in a hole" kind of lake, so it was still pretty dark.

The Mallards were just waking up. Many still sleeping on the banks. I counted a total of 45 including these youngest ones who were out for a swim with Mom.

I walked on the path that goes around the perimeter, stopping at the fishing pier which gives a great view of all parts of the shore line. The best find I had after 20 minutes of sitting there was a pack of fishing bobbers left by someone the day before, then suddenly I heard the Kingfisher rattle! Oh boy! There were three actually, perched on dead branches, then diving into the water for fish. Kingfishers seem to be mostly solitary, so I wonder if these were siblings?

As I watched them from across the lake, I got the notion that I should move over there to get closer. Of course, no sooner than I did that ... where did they go? Over by the pier from where I just came! 

Oh well, I was comfortable quietly sitting on my little rock on the shore, so I waited. An older man and child walked by and started fishing from the pier. Another gentleman slowly started jogging laps around the lake.

Then suddenly, I got my chance .... CLICKITY CLICKITY CLICK!!!

One flew right towards me and landed just about over my head. The light wasn't the greatest, so I've had to process them quite a bit, but I'm still very happy with the shots I did get. Well worth the effort in my book. 

8 Point Buck in Velvet

As a good part of my exercise program, I like to go on nature walks. I can't stand doing laps anymore, or care about beating a time standard, but I do enjoy just going out in the fresh air for an hour or more and keeping my eyes and ears open. Yesterday, as I was stumbling out of a wooded trail, probably swatting mosquitoes in a low blood state, I quite literally almost fell over this gal just as I hit the clearing. As she was busy getting a whiff of my smelly self, I calmly reached into my pocket and pulled out my little point and shoot camera for some up close and personal portraits before she slowly wandered off to her deer framly.


This morning, in a different location. (A Milwaukee County Park), I caught glimpse of this deer. "Oh, another deer" I thought, so I pulled out my point and shoot once again and took a snap shot.  Wanting to see how close I could get, I quietly started to talk to her and when I reached the breaking point, she split.

THEN, I saw what I really had in hand! An eight point buck in full velvet! 

I had pulled out my Canon DSLR with 400mm telephoto now, but kept taking to him, slowly following his trail. I finally got to within probably 40 yards when I took this final photo before he split for good. A trophy photo suitable for framing.

Grobschmidt Park 3 - Red Neck Picnic

Yesterday I had an impromptu picnic at Grobschmidt park on the way home from the store. A cool front had just passed taking the fairly high humidity with it, so it was about 75 degrees and partly cloudy. Very few mosquitoes or ticks as well, so it was quite pleasant.

Mud Lake - Grobschmidt Park

The brush and reeds around the lake are really getting taller now, making access to the water more difficult. I have a feeling that the waterfowl are starting their early summer molt now, spending much of their time hiding in the reeds, so few ducks are to be found anyway. There was a Great Egret out on the island, but that was about it out there.

'The Pier'

The 'pier' is underwater ... simply a plank some fishmen brought out here to help gain access to the water. Other than this, the 'beach' on the other side is the only easy access to the water without getting your feet wet, and the 'beach' isn't much to talk about either. Bad for people, great for wildlife!

View from the 'pier'.

Painted Turtle

I ride my bicycle to here, but once here, I try to walk everywhere. Sometimes I ride the trail, but if I do, then I WILL miss things ... such as this midland Painted Turtle laying eggs right next to the path. I noticed a number of similar holes along here and had I not seen this turtle, I wouldn't have known what they were for. So, according to Wikipedia, come August, I'll have to start looking for little ones!

After lunch, I packed up and slowly walked up the trail towards the two marshes to see if I could find any other turtles. Down at marsh level, there is a trickle of water that crosses the path. It runs most of the year, and here's what I saw there.

Mushroom

So, when you're riding your MTB through the woods, splashing through the streams, and you think you're soaking up all this nature ... think again. You're missing more than you think!

Other sightings included a Baltimore Oriole, but few other notable birds. This cool mushroom (looks like a great place to hide in a rainstorm if you're a bug).

Speaking of bugs, here's a yellow Bumble Bee I was able to capture, and I also saw two Monarch Butterflies. First of the year for me, perhaps they just hatched? I dunno.







Lastly, here's a few more wildflowers seen along the way. If you can help identify any, post your comments below!

Protected Birds

"SLOWLY BACK AWAY FROM THE POND!" Well, I'm sure that's what they WANTED to say.

Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) - Oak Creek. Classes have been over this week, so the place is pretty quiet. I stayed 100 yds away from their buildings and their parked cars, but I 'did' walk around their frog ponds. "You didn't!" I DID! and I had two (2) security cars watch me do it. I stayed on the mowed grass, and just kept my eyes on the birds. Even with all this intimidation I saw 2 Wood Ducks, some pretty big turtles, heard some frogs, and got some shots of their highly protected Canada Geese!

THEN, you know what I did? I went to Mitchell Airport Park "Did you say AIRPORT???? Shut up!" Yup. It's labeled "park", it's ACROSS THE ROAD from the airport and it belongs to the public, and I walked across it! Despite three (3) federal security cars watching me (one unmarked and 2 marked with their lights flashing) I came out with a photo of one of their Savanah Sparrows. I did! Then when they weren't looking (they probably were) I even got a photo of their Meadowlark! As I rode my bike towards home (my big 12 mph get away), the unmarked car followed me. Hope he got good photos of me. Society has gone NUTZ! I give them credit for none of them actually stopping me and asking what I'm doing (I'm pretty sure it was obvious), but it won't be long before they will.  Really? It takes 3 security cars to watch me take photos of birds in a marked, public park, across the road from the airport? Is everyone looking for the BIG BUST? What an interesting day to say the least! 

Savanah Sparrow

Eastern Meadowlark

Little ones of Nature

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Sitting here, waiting for the rain to stop, so I thought I'd revisit some of the young critters I've encountered the past few years.

These Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were 10 feet of the walking path at Greenfield Park. I heard a faint 'peep peep' and there they were (while dozens of people listening to their iPods walked right by).

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Horicon Marsh - Auto Tour. "This gravel is the BEST!"

Canada Geese goslings Horicon Marsh

Grant Park - South Milwaukee at the old mill pond.

Canada Geese gosling Grant Park South Milwaukee

Horicon Marsh - Dike Road

Canada Geese goslings Horicon Marsh

Horicon Marsh - Auto Tour: Hooded Merganzers

Hooded Merganzers Horicon Marsh

Horicon Marsh Auto Tour
(driving through here at 25mph is too fast! Go S-L-O-W)

Robin's nest Horicon Marsh

Scout Lake - Greendale, WI

Mallard ducklings Scout Lake Greendale Wisconsin

Fox River Park - Waukesha, WI

Sandhill Cranes Fox River Park Waukesha Wisconsin

Root River Parkway - Greenfield, WI

Whitetail Deer fawn Greenfield Wisconsin

The End

Canada Goose goslings Horicon Marsh