LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL (JUVENILE) - PHOTO BY ROBBYE JOHNSON
The weekend of September 22-24 was another “unofficial” Jaegerfest (since it was no longer listed as a WSO field trip), and this year brought some very unusual circumstances – due to the totally unprecedented appearance of AMERICAN FLAMINGOS at Port Washington on Friday the 22nd!
The story really starts on Thursday, Sept. 21, when many birders arrived at Wisconsin Point in Superior in preparation for this exciting annual event. Jaegerfest already started living up to its name when at least two different PARASITIC JAEGERS were spotted on multiple occasions. Both were dark-appearing adults with slightly paler bellies (“intermediate morphs”).
PARASITIC JAEGER - PHOTO BY JEFF BAUGHMAN
Other birds seen that day were AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, BONAPARTE’S GULL, CASPIAN and COMMON TERNS, MERLIN, and a nice mixture of WATERFOWL – including BLUE-WINGED and GREEN-WINGED TEAL, AMERICAN WIGEON and GREATER SCAUP. Only a few WARBLERS were present that day.
Friday morning (9/22) was cloudy and fairly foggy on Lake Superior, making it difficult to spot birds out on the water. The light winds from the day before had grown a little stronger and from the northeast, producing larger waves rolling in to the beach, and the winds increased through the day.
WISCONSIN POINT ON THE ROAD - PHOTO BY TOM SCHULTZ
As the daylight slowly increased, birders along the road near Lot #1 were starting to see more and more PASSERINES in the trees, and it was obvious that a nice migration movement was happening this morning. Dozens and dozens of WARBLERS and other birds were on the move, and birders present were finding new species every minute! Many birds were zipping into and over the trees, and we were only able to identify the small percentage that paused long enough to give us a look. Birders who were present were rapidly calling out the species they were finding.
Due to the heavy bird activity that morning, most of the group spent about 3 hours walking along the roadway, and at least 20 species of WARBLERS were identified! These included ORANGE-CROWNED, CAPE MAY, NORTHERN PARULA, BAY-BREASTED, YELLOW, BLACK-THROATED BLUE and CANADA – among many others. The most numerous were YELLOW-RUMPED and PALM WARBLERS.
Other highlights that morning included YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, a nice number of VIREOS, including PHILADELPHIA and BLUE-HEADED, and also some RED-EYED. Other birds included good numbers of RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS and some GOLDEN-CROWNED, BROWN CREEPER, WINTER WREN, GRAY CATBIRD, PINE SISKIN, AMERICAN PIPIT and ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK.
AMERICAN PIPIT - PHOTO BY TOM SCHULTZ
The adjacent marsh produced calling SORA and VIRGINIA RAIL, and several WILSON’S SNIPE, a PEREGRINE FALCON and a MERLIN passed overhead. CEDAR WAXWINGS and SWAINSON’S and HERMIT THRUSHES were also present.
The group was seeing nice numbers of DARK-EYED JUNCOS, along with a variety of other SPARROWS, including CHIPPING, WHITE-CROWNED and WHITE-THROATED, SAVANNAH, SONG, LINCOLN’S and SWAMP, but the highlight was finding a HARRIS’S SPARROW that was feeding along the edge of the roadway.
HARRIS'S SPARROW - PHOTO BY TOM SCHULTZ
Most birders headed back to the beach around 10:00 AM after the foggy conditions had improved and began scoping Lake Michigan. We learned that a PARASITIC JAEGER had recently been seen, and we soon found another one – an intermediate-morph adult. About an hour later another PARASITIC was spotted, but this one had much shorter tail projections – a juvenile – so we knew that at least two individuals were present.
A little before noon is when Jaegerfest 2023 was suddenly disrupted. A birder in the group had received the exciting message that a group of five AMERICAN FLAMINGOS had been spotted at Port Washington! A few individuals (me included) decided it was too tempting to try for them, so we soon left on the 6-hour drive. We learned later that the flamingo sighting also caused a number of other birders that had been on their way to Jaegerfest to turn around and head to Port Washington, so the total attendance on Wisconsin Point was likely affected.
Saturday (9/23) turned out to be about 63 and cloudy, with drizzle and rain showers in the afternoon. Those who were at Jaegerfest in the morning were rewarded with some noteworthy birds. A LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL (a juvenile) was spotted swimming not far offshore, providing some very nice views. Also spotted were a SABINE’S GULL, a PARASITIC JAEGER, and also a LONG-TAILED JAEGER – all of which could be seen at times within a single scope view! The downside was that these birds were flying fairly far offshore, so unfortunately everyone wasn’t able to see them.
WISCONSIN POINT ON THE BEACH - PHOTO BY TOM SCHULTZ
A HARRIS’S SPARROW was once again found, along with CLAY-COLORED and FOX and a mixture of other sparrows. A few WARBLERS were also present, including BLACK-AND-WHITE, NASHVILLE, AMERICAN REDSTART and MAGNOLIA. OSPREYS and PEREGRINE FALCONS were also observed, as well as a HORNED GREBE out on the lake.
Sunday (9/24) was cloudy and 58 degrees, with steady rain for much of the morning – so not many birders were present on Wisconsin Point. The rain stopped in the early afternoon, but only a few birders remained. No more jaegers were spotted, but an adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was found, and what was presumably the same juvenile LESSER BLACK-BACKED as yesterday’s provided good viewing opportunities on the beach. A group of SANDERLINGS also made an appearance. The last of the group left the beach about 4:00 PM.
To the best of my knowledge, the group ended up with 99 species for Jaegerfest 2023. Thanks to all who attended and contributed to the weekend’s observations!
Tom Schultz, WSO Field Trips Committee
