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

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

At first glance, a Eurasian Collared-Dove may appear to be a very large Mourning Dove before you notice the dark collar mark or squared off tail that differs from the Mourning Dove’s pointed one. Locally, we find them in and around Arlington and at farmsteads that have conifer trees. 

Photo via Pixabay

Although Mourning Doves are the most hunted migratory game birds in North America, they continue to be one of the most common birds with an estimated continental population of 350 million. So, what makes these gentle birds so resilient?

Photo by Kaitlin Svabek

Songbird box monitors know it is the duty of every good Tree Swallow parent to defend their young. Nine volunteers monitored 116 boxes at Goose Pond and Erstad Prairie in 2022, and reported 485 successfully fledged Tree Swallows.

Photo by Lesley Haven

The 51st Poynette Christmas Bird Count, coordinated by Susan Foote-Martin and Mark Martin, was held on New Year’s Eve 2022. Ten feeder counters, plus three dozen field counters—who walked 19 miles and drove 488 miles—found 68 species and 10,183 birds.

Photo by Mick Thompson

Neil Paprocki, PhD candidate at the University of Idaho and part of the Rough-legged Hawk Project, returned to Wisconsin again in 2022 to attach transmitters sponsored by Sue Kaehler, Kelly Centofanti, and Madison Audubon to more hawks.

Photo by Neil Paprocki

On Monday December 5, I was called to break up a fight. But this wasn’t an ordinary argument—it was between two Bald Eagles that had become entangled so completely that they were stuck together on the ground in front of UW Farms, about half a mile south of Goose Pond.

Madison Audubon photo

In late October, Goose Pond seed collector Aidan Karlsson and I saw a large bird with crisply pointed-wings and tight black and white stripes fly over us. Immediately I thought it was a Peregrine Falcon, but I wondered: is it likely to see a Peregrine Falcon at Goose Pond at this time of year?

Photo by Arlene Koziol

Goose Pond is a prairie pothole freshwater marsh, a rarity among wetland types in Wisconsin. There are 64 million acres of prairie potholes in the U.S. with most located in Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa and the Canadian Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

Photo by Arlene Koziol