We’re in full-swing of fall seed collection, and goldfinches are in full-swing of fall seed eating. We frequently find ourselves crossing paths with them in our search for native seed, and the goldfinch often wins out.

Photo by Mick Thompson

As a crafter, a baker, and a gardener, I love a good before-and-after project… What is more satisfying than total transformation as a result of your vision and hard work? That feeling is magnified—exponentially—when we’re talking about land restoration.

Photo by Brenna Marsicek / Madison Audubon

In the harrier is a splendid symmetry with its environment. Its adaptations are remarkable, a physiology and suite of traits harnessed for the grassland and marshland habitat.

Photo via Pixabay

The song of the summer, across many summers, might be the Dickcissel. Perched on a compass plant or a conspicuous shrub, the Dickcissel belts out (and it’s always belting) its song for all to hear.

Photo by Arlene Koziol

The Henslow's sparrow is a small songbird with a dull brown body and a streaked breast. Endangered in seven states and threatened in Wisconsin, the Henslow's Sparrow would seem a banner bird for grassland conservation.

Photo by Arlene Koziol

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak seems to sing only on refreshing mornings and evenings. This bird is cool, almost always fleeting, and has the looks to back it up.

Photo by Courtney Celley/USFWS

The Cape May Warbler really has very little to do with Cape May. Found in this New Jersey town by George Ord, and later described by Alexander Wilson, the bird didn’t reappear in Cape May, New Jersey for another century.

Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren

A favorite of mine is the Black-and-white Warbler. These birds are frequent migrants, their high contrast body creating a striking appearance. Their long hind claws and heavy legs help them to nimbly maneuver through forest habitats.

Photo via Pixabay.

You can spot the Blue-winged Teal’s dabbling blue-gray head—with a distinctive white crescent in front of the eye—in wetlands this time of year, having just recently arrived.

Photo via Pixabay

Look for swampy areas, often with lots of dead trees, preferably surrounded by water on all sides. These haunted swamps are where herons build their Dr. Seuss-looking platforms, nesting near the tops of trees.

Photo via Pixabay

A liquid song echoes whole through springtime woods. At dawn, midday, or dusk the bird might sing, but its song delivers an energy and briskness in those crepuscular hours as the sun rises and sets. Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio.

Photo by Robert Groos/Audubon Photography Awards

Persistent and cheery, curious and assertive, the Tufted Titmouse forms part of a cadre of birds gracing the snow, sleet, and rain of Wisconsin winters. Generally non-migratory, they opportunistically occupy woodpecker cavities during the breeding season and line them with fur.

Photo via Pixabay

The Bufflehead, seemingly such a round and buoyant bird, will quickly vanish under the pond of its choice, leaving rings of water radiating from its dive. Watching a Bufflehead, you’ll notice they spend a lot of time foraging under water, by some reports up to 50% of the time.

Photo by Kaitlin Svabek

Journeying about as far north as you can get in summer, the Greater White-fronted Goose will make its way north over the next month. The major push of their migration occurs in the Great Plains; however, a small contingent of forms a flyway through eastern Wisconsin.

Photo by Arlene Koziol

The Brown Creeper is a delightful find, and can be seen throughout winter in Wisconsin scuttling in spirals up big old trees. When threatened, they stay incredibly still, their perfectly camouflaged plumage making a believable chunk of bark.

Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar

Whenever I see the Cooper’s Hawk it seems to be in a flash as it darts by in close quarters; or, in the apparent aftermath, perching wide-eyed and stunned, unable to comprehend how its quarry escaped.

Photo by Peter Miller

American Tree Sparrows come with the first cool breeze in October, arriving upon a bounty familiar to both sparrows and restoration practitioners—seed. The tree sparrow might get to more species than we can.

Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar/Flickr

The Great Horned Owl is an owl full of stories. One of the most common owls of the Americas, this owl might introduce itself through pellets found on the ground, or hooting through wintry nights.

Photo by USFWS Midwest

The Evening Grosbeak is a relatively uncommon bird in southern Wisconsin. In fact, I hadn’t thought about the bird as much more than a boreal species, just reaching south to take advantage of seed crops.

Photo by Mick Thompson

The Fox Sparrow is a chunky delight that makes its way through southern Wisconsin in autumn and springtime. Most of the birds we see in Wisconsin are the red ‘type’ of sparrows; which breed in brushy woods and forest edges.

Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar

You might be able to find a Nelson’s Sparrow among the smartweeds colonizing receding water levels at Faville Grove, but you’ll likely have to wait until next spring or fall.

Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren

Unique among woodpeckers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers don't need dead trees for feeding and are also the only North American woodpecker with a true migration.

Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar