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Noel's Quad 30 Journal
Tuesday, June 22nd
Amberg, Wisconsin
It is nice to be back in WI for a couple of surveys and to do the Amberg route with a couple of good friends from Portage - Ron and Elaine. Although we messed up the 4:15 am rendezvous, they caught up with me at stop 11, and then, what a coincidence. Ron has been surveying Golden-winged Warblers for 4 years, and during the first part of the 3-minute observation period at this stop, I could hear a typical song of a golden-winged. Then, from the other side of the road came a typical Blue-winged Warbler bee-buzz song. Ron and I looked at each other with amazement. A blue-winged shouldn't be this far north in the state. He had all of his "sound" gear with him, and while I drove on to continue the survey, Ron stayed behind and was able to bring in and obtain good looks at a golden-winged and a blue-winged! Isn't it wonderful that birds don't read field guide range maps? (And a Yellow-billed Cuckoo also called from stop 11).
The survey turned out well with 70 species. I usually reach the 60-65 mark on this route. Ring-necked Duck (a pair) was added to the route's cumulative species list (along with the blue-winged). A list of 17 warblers was an excellent total, and maybe the largest total I've ever had on a BBS. Watching a soaring Osprey carrying prey along the Pestigo River was a special treat. At stop 37, we watched a hummingbird searching for blooming flowers in the roadside ditch for almost the entire 3-minute period, and a yearling black bear standing in the middle of the gravel road just ahead gave us cause to pause.
I splurged with a couple of blueberry pancakes at the Family Restaurant in Pembine, made even better by the maple syrup that Ron & Elaine provided; Ron even picked up the tab! What a day.
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