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March 28, 2002
The description Eric
Johnson gives sounds very much like an Eastern Screech-Owl. In addition,
the call he describes is often immediately preceded by a sort of
descending whinny.
These owls are quite common in Madison -- in fact, Madison has for years
tallied more of them than any other location during the Audubon
Christmas Bird Counts (though that's likely due to the zeal of a few
dedicated local owl counters than to any special abundance of the birds
here). They're hole nesters, and sometimes you can see a
feathery face looking out of a hole during the daytime.
We hear them frequently from our Schiller Ct. home in the trees along
the lake and in Hudson Park. A few years ago in the spring, there
was an adult and a fluffy, downy youngster that roosted in a large red
cedar right next to the house. We could look out our upper story window
right into their faces.
As for other birds, I saw my first Common Loon on the lake a week ago,
and it seems to still be hanging around the area north of Yahara Park.
With today's southerly winds, there could well be more of them arriving
any day. ~ Tod Highsmith
March 27, 2002
Our dog, Midnight, gets 5
walks a day, and one of these is in the early evening, between 7 and 8
pm. We usually take Welch St down to the Lake, then follow Lakeland over
to Maple, follow Oak Ridge to Ludington, and then take Center Ave to
home. Our dog is 7 years old, & this particular route has become
routine.
From the mid-February to mid-March of this year, I have heard an unusual
bird call, near the lake, at the corner of Welch & Lakeland. The
call lasts for 5 to 10 seconds, and consists of a continuous series of
low notes, a cross between a cooing dove and a purring cat. Hard to
describe, wish I had a tape.
One evening recently, we happened to reach the corner when a neighbor
was unloading his truck, and I asked him what he thought the source of
the sound was, and was told that this is a screech owl.
I haven't actually seen the bird, so I can't confirm this
identification. But I've heard the call at least 20 times this winter,
always in the early evening. It seems to have stopped this week, I
haven't heard it for the past few days.
Not much else to report. We have daffodils up in the back yard, but no
blooms yet. We live at the corner of Center Ave. and Welch St in the
blue house." ~ Eric
Johnson
--------------------------------
I was wondering if anyone knows why the Yahara River was frozen all the
way across on Fri morning March 22; the temperature at the time was
about 13 degrees above zero? It was melted and running as usual by
the early afternoon. We've lived in the neighborhood over 25 years, and
the river has never before frozen all the way across, even in the very
cold winters in the late '70s when the minus 20s occurred several times
a winter. I'm guessing that for some reason the flow at the Tenney Park
dam was cut off for a while, allowing the river to slow down enough to
freeze, but have been unable to verify this.
~ Therese Strome
March 25, 2002
New list member Rita
Garczynski reports the following sightings:
A barred owl on the corner of Milwaukee St. and Marquette calling from a
spruce tree, beaver activity along Starkweather Creek with a lodge built
in the vicinity of O.B. Sherry Park and a family of screech owls for the
third year on Union St.
March 19, 2002
The neighborhood bird
checklist is now available! Click here to read
more about it!
March 14, 2002
Tod Highsmith reports:
"... there have been 4-6 Tundra Swans on Lake Monona for the past
several
days (actually, today is the first day I didn't see them)."
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