Orioles, hummingbirds and Indigo Buntings - Oh, my!!

Well - it's time to get those oriole and hummingbird feeders all ready to go. Wautoma reported a hummingbird and orioles have been sighted in various locations in southern Wisconsin. I put my feeders out this morning. It may be a bit before I get any takers but I don't want to miss out on any of the show this spring. It's been a long, long winter!

Grosbeaks have been sighted at numerous feeding stations around Wausau and the first Indigo Bunting has been sighted this morning at a feeding station in Walworth County. Won't be long before we have these beauties at our feeders!

We have a pond on our property that we dug when we built the house seven years ago. We don't use chemicals to manage nor do we fertilize our lawn so that we don't affect the natural balance of the pond life and fauna. Spring is my favorite time to watch for migrants coming through and of course the resident mallards love to visit each morning. So far this year we had a pair of Common Mergansers, a Bufflehead, a pair of Wood ducks and this morning we had three pair of Blue-winged Teal!! They landed around 5:00 this morning before I could see them but that familiar peeping sound tipped me off. I checked at first light and sure enough!!

It was really cool to see the mallard next to them as it really highlights the size difference. Alone, the teals look mallard sized but put them next to the mallard and boy do they shrink!

If you would like to see what they look like, click here.

Happy birding everyone and let me know what you're seeing!!

Vote for REGI!

REGI was recently nominated for an Office Technology Make over put on by EO Johnson and WSAW Channel 7 news.

Go to this link to vote! Voting is from April 23 to May 5th. http://www.eojohnson.com/meet_finalists_and_vote

How to Vote:
You must create a one day user name with EO Johnson to vote. This allows only 1 vote per email address. Once you create this log in to your email and cast your vote.

Why Vote?
This is an amazing opportunity for REGI! As you know everything we do is for the birds. This often puts other business necessities like office equipment at the bottom of the list. This makeover would allow REGI to receive a professional copy machine, printer, electronic filing system, and much more. A top of the line office printer would allow REGI to turn our annual newsletter into a quarterly newsletter! Plus cutting cost of having all of our printing done in house. The electronic filing system would allow all the medical information we collect on our birds to be organized data. Imagine with a click of a button being able to see what the top 3 injuries of all Bald Eagles emitted to REGI in the last 10 years is. We have all this important medical information on paper, in boxes but to to have that data in a computer system will make it more meaningful and easier to access. These are just a few example of how this makeover would help REGI. Please take the time to vote!

Yesterday we received a report that Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have been seen near Kohler Andrae State Park in Sheboygan. Rest assured we'll be seeing them soon!!

The grosbeak's song is like that of the robin, only as sung by an opera singer! It's song has also been described as a robin on steriods. There's no mistaking this beautiful bird at your feeders.

You can offer them Premium Black Oil sunflower seeds in hopper or tray type feeders. They also love fruit!! You can offer them strawberries, apples, oranges, blueberries and grapes!!

Good luck and let me know if you see one!

BEWARE: If you come into the store, you might catch it!!

It's been going around for a few weeks now. People come in and I've actually watched them pass it to unsuspecting customers that were just casually shopping! I don't know the scientific name for it, but I call it hummingbird fever.

I'm afraid I have it too, so beware when you come into the store.

Hummingbirds are affectionately referred to as Nature’s Jewels because of their iridescent qualities and beauty. The Jewel Box Window Hummingbird Feeder allows you to bring these beautiful birds up close for viewing. The bright red cover will attract hummingbirds. Once there, the HighView™ perch invites them to rest comfortably as they drink from any of three feeding ports while also offering an unobstructed view of the birds. You can use this feeder with or without the ant moat to block crawling insects. Features a generous 8 oz. capacity, sturdy polycarbonate construction, a suction cup mounted bracket, a lifetime guarantee and is made in the U.S.A!!

The only known cure for hummingbird fever is to be able to sit back and watch these captivating and charismatic creatures that have such an incredible drive.
Let me know when you site the first hummingbird in your area!

My Bluebirds Are Back

Well - after a brief visit by a male Eastern Bluebird a couple of Saturday's ago, a pair have now been checking out the nest boxes for the last three days. I have three foods out for them. Mealworms (their favorites), Bark Butter and Egg Essentials suet pellets. They are rewarding me with their happy warbles every morning.

I was out standing on my deck at about 5:00 this morning and what a chorus so early in the morning! Robins were sounding warning calls already (I think she's already built a nest in our woodshed as she did last year), Woodcock was buzzing. Amazing that they are so active so early!

On the way to pick up my son from work, I saw 30 turkeys out in a farmer's pasture and 4 tom's putting on quite a show! Tails all spread out and doing their "look at how handsome I am" dance.

Mr and Mrs Mallard were in the pond again - 4th day in a row. With no-one home during the day and no dogs to pester them, I'm sure they are finding our pond a welcome home albeit temporary.

What are you seeing??

Yellow-rumped Warblers on the Way and Tundra Swans at Lake Wausau

A Yellow-rumped Warbler, or butter butt as they are affectionately known as has been sighted in Dane County. Can't wait till those little birds make their grand return to Wausau. I had a large flock polishing off cake after cake of suet last spring so I'm stocking up on Bark Butter, suet and suet pellets!

Dan Belter, president of the Wausau Bird Club went out birding yesterday and here is what he reports seeing:
From 6:45 to 7:00 p.m. this evening I was at Radtke Point Park on Lake
Wausau. Present were 85 Tundra Swans and my first of the year COMMON
LOON. Also present were several species of diver ducks.

85 Tundra Swans!! It sure is worth packing up your binocs and taking a drive over to Radtke.