Port Wing Harbor, Bayfield County, WI, US - eBird Hotspot
Habitat: Open Water, Beaches and Mudflats, Marsh, Conifer Bog, Boreal Forest, Mixed Coniferous Forest, Sedge Meadow, Willow/Alder Swamp.
Best Birds: Lake Superior and the inner harbor should be checked for Long-tailed and other ducks, scoters, and Red-throated and Common Loon. The beach east and west of the harbor, backwaters of the harbor, and Michele Wheeler Wetland Restoration (former sewage ponds) are good for shorebirds like American Golden and Black-bellied Plover, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, and all 5 species of peeps. Gulls perch on the harbor breakwalls, sometimes including Lesser and Greater Black-backed, Glaucous, Iceland (Thayer’s), Bonaparte’s, and Franklin’s, and Common Tern perch with their fledglings late July through August. Migrating American Pipit, Snow Bunting, and Lapland Longspur use the beach and coastal parking lots and lawns.
In winter Bohemian Waxwing use the fruit trees at the harbor and Port Wing Boreal Forest. Lincoln’s Sparrow and Palm Warbler are found in the bogs. A great variety of warblers have summered in the Port Wing Boreal Forest, including Northern Parula, , Blackburnian, Cape May, and Black-throated Blue. Veery is abundant, and the forests host Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Brown Creeper, Pine Siskin, White-winged Crossbill,and other northern species.
In the east unit of PWBF walk the length of Big Pete Road, check the beach at the terminus and also walk Lakeview Road west of Big Pete. In the west unit of PWBF check the forest around the access road, the beach to the northeast and the narrow boreal forest that borders a bog south of the beach. At all sites, spring landbird migration can be spectacular, especially on south winds. Look for Golden Eagle in March and April, and large numbers of Bald Eagle, Red-tailed, Sharp-shinned, and Broad-winged Hawk. Rusty Blackbird, Eastern Kingbird, Cedar Waxwing, and winter finches like Common Redpoll and Pine Siskin are a few of the species that can be seen in large numbers on some days.
Directions: 40 miles east of Superior on State Hwy 13.
Site Address & Additional Information:
Port Wing Harbor
Beach Road, Port Wing, WI
Port Wing Boreal Forest
https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Lands/naturalareas/index.asp?SNA=154
East unit
Port Wing Boreal Forest SNA--East, Bayfield County, WI, US - eBird Hotspot
Big Pete Road, Port Wing, WI
West Unit
Port Wing Boreal Forest SNA--West, Bayfield County, WI, US - eBird Hotspot
Quarry Road, Port Wing, WI
Michele Wheeler Wetland Restoration
Wheeler Drive, Port Wing, WI 54865
Scott Swengel
