Milwaukee shorebirds & warblers - BIGBY species #105

Early yesterday I walked to Milwaukee's Bradford Beach, North Point, and Lake Park. All three areas are near Lake Michigan.

I found five new BIGBY species, bringing my Milwaukee walking BIGBY total to 105 species. I started my Milwaukee BIGBY on August 3, after moving from Bloomington, IN. As an aside, my 105 Milwaukee species is by far my highest species count ever for the month of August, BIGBY or non-BIGBY. Very cool!

Bradford Beach was a washout. A couple of people had dogs fetching stuff in the lake at the north end (dogs-allowed section) of the beach, so I didn't bother to look there.

At North Point the algae mats had shifted so that they covered a much smaller area than usual. But I had much better shorebird variety than the past several trips...five species:

* Spotted Sandpiper. Two birds.
* Semi-palmated Plover. Three birds
* Least Sandpiper. BIGBY species #101. One bird.
* Semi-palmated Sandpiper. BIGBY #102. Two birds.
* Sanderling. Several birds.

Up on the bluffs at Lake Park I encountered several waves of warblers along the length of the Locust Street Ravine Trail. Quite a few birds! I was able to identify 11 warbler species. If the lighting had been better (it was cloudy, or maybe high fog) I may have been able to ID a few other species. Here are the Lake Park highlights:

* Eastern Phoebe. BIGBY species #103. Two or more birds.
* Blue Jay. One Bird. Only the second Blue Jay I've seen so far in Milwaukee. Not a new BIGBY bird, but maybe my favorite bird of the day. :-)

The Lake Park warblers:

* Black-and-white Warbler. Maybe a half dozen. I think they are my favorite warbler. No bright flashy colors, but the vivid contrast of the bold black and white markings is striking.
* Palm Warbler.
* Magnolia Warbler.
* American Redstart. Many.
* Cape May Warbler. BIGBY #104. One bird.
* Northern Parula. BIGBY #105. One bird. Hadn't seen one since I left southern Indiana.
* Tennessee Warbler.
* Blackburnian Warbler.
* Blackpoll Warbler.
* Black-throated Green Warbler.
* Chestnut-sided Warbler.