May 25, 2024 - Portage Co Birdathon Report
My friend Collin and I were on the road at 2:45AM, arriving at our first stop in Buena Vista Grassland just after 3. Temps were in the low 40’s and it was breezy - the latter ultimately became the biggest challenging factor of the day. We noticed there wasn’t much for overhead flight calls during the dark hours and it became evident that our efforts would rely on picking up as many summer residents as possible. In spite of the wind, we gave the east to west nocturnal effort in the grassland our best. Our first bird of the day was the only owl we would observe in the grassland: EASTERN SCREECH-OWL. Despite things being relatively owl-less, species began to add up - SEDGE WREN, SWAMP SPARROW, and HORNED LARK were all singing as the next, dark, breezy hour transpired. As the sky began to paint itself with the impending, morning sun, we arrived on Tower Rd for the remaining pre-dawn chorus. The area west of Co F is an eclectic mix of grassland, pine-oak scrub, and wet meadow. Th...