Pileated woodpeckers at Otsego Marsh, photo by Mark Martin
Midway through the five-year Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II, we have had many memorable sightings including:
- frequent observations of a raven and later locating a nest,
- three active ospreys nests at Baraboo River Waterfowl Production Area and an osprey nest on the lights at the Pardeeville High School football field,
- a landowner with 160 nesting pairs of purple martins,
- 30 Amish families with purple martins,
- three families of red-headed woodpeckers and observing the parents catching flies,
- a calling northern saw-whet owl,
- nesting chimney swifts, and
- frequent observations of a pair of trumpeter swans.
Observations this week included seeing a belted kingfisher carrying a fish to a nesting hole, hearing a food begging great horned owl, hearing a Virginia rail, and seeing and hearing a black-crowned night heron at Goose Pond Sanctuary.
Brood of Ruddy ducks, photo by Mark Martin
The first atlas was conducted from 1995–2000 by over 1,600 (mostly) volunteer observers, and the information they collected proved to be a landmark tool guiding species management and conservation activities by federal, state, and private natural resource groups. The second, five-year atlas will document changes the last two decades. Major partners leading the atlas project are the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology (WSO), the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory.
Kim Kreitinger, WSO President, said, “The second Atlas project will provide a new snapshot of Wisconsin’s bird community, which will help us address important bird conservation issues in the state. Because the Atlas requires such a massive volunteer effort, it will also help us to elevate public awareness of nature and directly connect Wisconsin’s citizens to conservation.”
Over 1,300 volunteers in Wisconsin have submitted almost 72,000 checklists and confirmed 219 species. In Columbia County 101 volunteers have submitted almost 1,500 checklists and confirmed 117 species.
In Columbia County, we are finding increases and decreases in some bird populations. Bald eagle and ospreys are increasing while other birds like the ruffed grouse and ring-necked pheasant are decreasing. We added common ravens to the list of nesting birds in Columbia County while finding that gray partridge no longer live in Columbia County.
Osprey nest at Pardeeville High School, photo by Mark Martin
The atlas work is done by birders that adopt a block and others that submit random observations. There are 18 priority blocks in Columbia County and an additional 67 blocks. Each block is 3 by 3 square miles.
We are looking for the common birds as well as uncommon birds to atlas. In Columbia County some birds of interest include: northern bobwhite quail; great blue heron rookeries; green herons; turkey vultures; ospreys; Cooper’s hawks; bald eagles; red-tailed hawks; American woodcock; eastern screech-owls, great horned , barred and northern saw-whet owls; eastern whip-poor-wills; chimney swifts; belted kingfishers (nesting cavities); red-headed woodpeckers; purple martins; brown thrashers; scarlet tanagers; dickcissels; bobolinks; eastern meadowlarks; and orchard orioles.
Mourning dove nest on a purple martin box, photo by Mark Martin
Overall we are doing very well, however we need more volunteers to cover priority blocks and report incidental observations. All the county coordinators can use additional help. The more eyes and ears we can get out there, the better our Atlas results are going to be.
You don’t have to be an expert birder to be part of the atlas! All you need is to be a careful observer, learn the data collection and reporting procedures, and then go out and watch birds. Those wanting to learn more or want to sign up to help should visit the project’s website, www.wsobirds.org/atlas and http://ebird.org/content/atlaswi/
In Columbia County you can contact us at 608-333-9645 or goosep@madisonaudubon.org. We are having people meet at Goose Pond for “atlas searches”, divide up into teams, and atlas priority blocks. We also welcome incidental sighting and can report incidental sightings for you. Hopefully you will have many memorable atlas sightings and contribute to the largest citizen science project in Wisconsin.
By Mark and Sue Foote-Martin, Resident Managers, Goose Pond Sanctuary and Atlas Coordinators for Columbia County
