Goose Pond Sanctuary’s
Friday Feathered Features
This blog series focuses on a bird species, project, or event that is timely, interesting, and fun! The weekly write-ups alternate between sanctuary teams. Below are some of the most recent articles written by Goose Pond Sanctuary’s team. You can read all of the Goose Pond FFF posts here, access a PDF of all Goose Pond FFF posts by topic here, and enjoy all Friday Feathered Features here.
Goose Pond Sanctuary’s Most Recent features
Monarch tagging is really the perfect activity. It allows us to pursue major goals at Goose Pond Sanctuary and aligns nicely with the mission of Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance.
Photo by Mark Martin
Earlier this year, 11 nest box volunteers monitored a whopping 156 boxes at Goose Pond, Erstad Prairie, and Otsego Marsh.
Photo by Arlene Koziol
We asked our three full-time interns what observations or experiences stuck out to them from their summer on the prairie.
Photo by Emma Raasch/SoWBA
We enjoy hearing and (rarely) seeing Virginia Rails. In late July at our Wildland property near Rio, we had an extended look at this secretive bird.
Photo by Arlene Koziol
Unlike their relative, the House Sparrow, the Eurasian Tree Sparrow is not a bird of cities, instead using farms and lightly wooded residential areas.
Photo via Pixabay
Cuckoos are secretive, so spotting them and making an identification only by their bill color is difficult. Both can be found in the same habitats which adds some complication to ID, but there are a couple other good ways to tell them apart.
Photo by Andy Reago and Chrissy McClarren
This is the Reckless Wrens’ 12th year participating in the Great Wisconsin Birdathon. Our team visited 21 locations, submitted 28 eBird checklists, and detected a total of 143 species!
Photo by Carolyn Chee
Many bird watchers look forward to the annual crane count coordinated by the International Crane Foundation. This year, it was held on April 13.
Photo by Gary Shackelford
Ring-necked Ducks (Aythya collaris) are named for a chestnut ring encircling the necks of the drakes, but it is faint and can only be seen at close range or with a bird in hand.
Photo by Gary Shackelford
The Gray Partridge (Perdix perdix) is a game bird in the pheasant family. Perdix is Latin for partridge. They were introduced into North America in the early 1900s from Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
Photo via Pixabay
We’ve been observing the changing winter residents at Goose Pond Sanctuary and Mark and Sue’s cabin in Rio (Wildland LLC) for 23 years. We can expect to find a few familiar faces each year; however, the numbers of those expected winter residents may change, and we also may get a few surprises.
Photo by Eric Begin
Ring-necked Pheasants are a nonnative species brought to Wisconsin in 1916 as a game bird. Management at Goose Pond has primarily focused on the restoration of native habitat to support native species, though pheasants also benefit from these practices.
Photo by Ralph Russo
From mugs to sweaters and holiday cards, the striking red of the male Northern Cardinal can be spotted more times in my grandma’s living room than at my bird feeders.
Photo by Arlene Koziol
The Goose Pond Sanctuary team shares an update on Jeffrey and Dorothy, two Rough-legged Hawks that staff helped capture and attach transmitters to as part of the Rough-legged Hawk Project.
Photo by Arlene Koziol
This was our 12th year of tagging monarch butterflies and together with partners, staff and volunteers, we have reached a major milestone: tagging 10,445 monarchs since 2012!
Photo by Arlene Koziol
Despite their difficult-to-describe song, White-crowned Sparrows are one of easier sparrows to identify by sight. As their name suggests, these sparrows sport crisp white stripes on the crowns of their heads.
Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
Black-bellied and Fulvous Whistling-ducks are found in the southern United States. Both species were formerly known as “tree ducks” since they often roost in trees.
Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
These small, olive-colored birds, unlike many bird species, are born already knowing their calls. They can be distinguished by the males’ distinct fitz-bew call used to defend their territories.
Photo by Arlene Koziol
2023 was another record-breaking year for Madison Audubon’s Kestrel Nest Box Monitoring Program. With 228 boxes spread over 12 counties, these small, but fierce, falcons had plenty of cavities to choose from.
Photo by Madison Audubon
The Swallow-tailed Kite is one of our favorite birds to see when we visit Florida. In July, Mark was surprised to see one flying about five miles north of Goose Pond Sanctuary. . . the first record for Columbia County!
Photo by Arlene Koziol
Around the beginning of July, I look forward to a call from Dick Nickolai, Wisconsin’s Purple Martin Biologist. Over the past six years, Madison Audubon has assisted him with banding 3,476 martins!
Photo by Madison Audubon
Despite their relative commonness, Green Herons can be difficult to observe on account of their secretive nature and distaste for human encounters.
Photo by Arlene Koziol
I’m at Goose Pond Sanctuary, and I hear a buzzing noise. Is it a bumblebee? No! Is it an insect? No! It’s the Clay-colored Sparrow calling! Their call is drawn-out and repetitive, sounding similar to a buzzy insect.
Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar
Madison Audubon’s Reckless Wrens team participated in our 11th Great Wisconsin Birdathon. Our 12 birders set two records: 146 species observed and $2,843 raised to date!
Photo by Laura Wentz
Islands like Maui and Guam are gorgeous places to visit, but from a conservation standpoint, the situation is grim.
Photo by USFWS Pacific Region
Two common visiting shorebirds can leave even the most experienced birders stumped: the Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. These birds have more in common than the color of their legs.
Photo by USFWS Midwest
We enjoy seeing Common Ravens when visiting national parks in the west, fishing in Minnesota, and vacationing in northern Wisconsin. In those areas, ravens are very common, very vocal, and range over a large area.
Photo by Mick Thompson
Markus Duhme, a seventh-grader from Vancouver worked on a Snowy Owl research project for his school’s Wonder Expo. This young researcher used data on Columbia, a female Snowy Owl tagged and released at Goose Pond Sanctuary in January 2020.
Photo by Arlene Koziol
Redheads spend their winters in large mixed flocks on the Gulf Coast and sometimes in the Great Lakes. These gregarious, social ducks can be found huddled with other ducks and waterfowl in flocks up to 60,000 on large bodies of water during winter.
Photo by Martin Knippel/Audubon Photography Awards
Banner photo: Browne Prairie in autumn by Madison Audubon
Harris’s Sparrows are large, chunky birds with long tails and pink bills. When they become adults, they develop a black bib, face, and crown.
Photo by Courtney Celley/USFWS