myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Jeff Myers) (02/27/85)
First off, I second the motion for discussion on behaivior as well as sighting lists. Earlier this winter I had an interesting day skiing...saw only two birds, but I'd never seen either of them in the wild before. The first was a Golden Crowned Kinglet. He was not much bigger than a hummingbird, and just about as active. My housemate and I were about 10 feet from him for several minutes; our presence and moving about didn't seem to matter. He was flitting about rapidly from branch to branch, acting alot like a warbler. Apparently they eat hibernating insects out of the bark! Amazing. The second bird we spotted was a Bald Eagle, which are quite common over the Wisconsin River in winter. A few weeks ago I made the rounds of a small deciduous woods adjoining a local golf course and thence to the arboretum on Lake Wingra. Sightings included: Downy Woodpecker (m&f) Hairy Woodpecker(m) Black Capped Chickadee White Breasted Nuthatch Your Basic Crow Pack of Mallards American Goldfinch Cedar Waxwing Slate Junco Oregon Junco (definite this time) House Sparrow Cardinal (best winter singers) Looking forward to spring warblers, jeff m