Bufflehead Duck Bird – Swimmers – 1/3/2012

This male Bufflehead Duck was photographed at Lake Park on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

This female Bufflehead Duck was also photographed in Lake Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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The male Bufflehead Duck is a small duck with mostly white and a black back, and a puffy black head with a large bonnet-like white patch. It has a gray bill. The female Bufflehead Duck has a dark brown head with white cheek spot, and a dark brown back with white wing patch, and a small gray bill. The breast and lower body is light brown. It has a range of Alaska, Canada, Northwestern United States, and winters to Mexico and the Gulf Coast. They have a habitat in lakes, ponds, rivers, and salt bays, a usually are seen in a small group. It is less sociable than most ducks, almost never seen in large flocks, and takes wing easily from the water with rapid wing beats. This makes more difficult to photograph. A diminutive diver and very energetic in its feeding. It feeds on plant material, aquatic insects, and crustaceans and mollusks.

 

 

Red Throated Loon Bird – Swimmers – 2/23/2014

The Red-Throated Loon in winter plumage was photographed from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Pierhead Light at the Kinnickinnic River opening to Lake Michigan.

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The Red Throated Loon in winter plumage has a dark gray back, pale gray head with white throat and breast, and a sharp thin bill that is turned up. It is the smallest of the Loons and has a snakier appearance with a short neck. It has a range of the Arctic, circumpolar, and is rarely seen in the winter on the Great Lakes. It has a range of tundra lakes, bays, estuaries, and the ocean. It dives or submerges from the water surface to feed on small fish, crustaceans, and other aquatic life.

 

Snow Bunting Bird – Passerines – 11/13/2012

The Snow Bunting was photographed on the soccer field at Lake Park on Lake Michigan at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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In the winter the Snow Bunting is almost all white except for a black back and tail, but in summer it is a brownish color with white. They have a range of arctic, circumpolar to Canada and the central United States. They have a habitat of prairies, fields, dunes, shores, and tundra. They can be seen flocking together in low grass fields and swirling through the air from place to place. The diet is mostly seeds and insects, and they forage in flocks while walking and running on the ground. They are very skittish, and are usually remote from effects of human activity.

 

Whimbrel Bird – Small Waders – 9/3/2014

The Whimbrel was photographed at Lakeshore State Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Lake Michigan

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The Whimbrel is a large gray-brown wader with a long decurved bill, striped head, and gray legs. It has a range of the Arctic circumpolar and can be found on the United States coasts in the winter. It has a habitat of shores, mud flats, marshes, prairies, and tundra. Its diet includes insects, crustaceans, and berries. It feeds more by picking, less by probing.

 

Willet Bird – Small Waders – 5/2/2012

The Willet was photographed on the beach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin north of Bradford Beach on Lake Michigan

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The Willet is a gray-brown bird with a black sturdy bill, and bluish-gray legs. In flight a striking black and white band pattern can be seen. It has a range of central southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and along the United States seashores. It has a habitat of marshes, wet meadows, mudflats, and beaches. It is often seen singly on beaches. Its diet consists of insects, crustaceans, marine worms, and small fish.

 

Redhead Duck Bird – Swimmers – 3/3/2013

The Redhead Duck was photographed on Lake Michigan at the Bayview Park in Bayview, Wisconsin

The female Redhead Duck photographed with other ducks while feeding in a small patch of water not frozen

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The male Redhead Duck is gray with a black chest, a round rufous head, and a bluish bill with black tip. The female Redhead Duck is brownish with a bluish bill with a black tip, and a suffused light patch near the bill. It has a range from west Canada, and west and north central of the United States, and the Great Lakes. It has a habitat around fresh marshes, lakes, and saltwater bays. The diet is mainly leaves, stems, seeds, and roots of aquatic plants.

 

 

American Black Duck -Swimmers – 3/16/2012

The American Black Duck was photographed behind the Calatrava Art Museum on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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The American Black Duck is very dark with white wing linings. It has a dark head, grayish throat, and a green-yellow (male) or olive bill (fem). It has a range of the Northeastern North America to the Gulf Coast. It has habitats in marshes, bays, estuaries, ponds, rivers, and lakes. The diet consists of plant material, seeds, leaves, roots, berries, mussels, clams, snails, and insects. It dabbles for food, but rarely dives.

 

Ruddy Duck Bird – Swimmers – 1/14/2013

The male Ruddy Duck in a winter coat was photographed behind the Calatrava Milwaukee Art Museum in Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The female Ruddy Duck with a dark line across the cheek.

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The male Ruddy Duck is a small chubby white cheek with dark cap and a gray color in the winter coat. The summer coat is a rusty red and the bill is dull blue. The female Rusty Duck is similar to the winter, male but with the cheek crossed with a dark line. They often cock the tail vertically and cannot walk on the land. It has a range from southern Canada to northern South America, and occasionally seen around the Great Lakes and eastern US. It has a habitat at fresh marshes, ponds, lakes, and in winter salt bays. It has a diet of mostly seeds, roots, and insects. It forages by diving and swimming underwater, propelled by its feet, and using the bill to strain food items from the mud.

 

Glaucous Gull Bird – Aerialists – 1/12/2013

This lone Glaucous Gull was photographed north of Bradford Beach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Lake Michigan.

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The Glaucous Gull is a chalky white gull with a gray mantle, frosty white wing tips, flesh colored legs, and large yellow bill. Adults have a pale gray mantle. It has a range of the Arctic; circumpolar, and comes to the Great Lakes and the northeast US coast. Also Alaska, western Canada coast, and northwestern US coast. It is the only large Gull common to the High Artic. It has a coastal habitat and seldom comes inland. The diet is highly variable, includes fish, mollusks, crustaceans, worms, sea urchins, insects, birds, eggs, berries, seaweed, and carrion (dead animals).

 

Snowy Owl Bird – Birds of Prey – 1/6/2012

This male Snowy Owl was photographed on 1/6/2012 at the South Shore Yacht Club breakwater in Bayview, Wisconsin

This female Snowy Owl was photographed on 12/12/2012 at the South Shore Yacht Club pier

This female Snowy owl was photographed at the Coast Guard Impoundment on Lake Michigan in Bayview, Wisconsin

This female Snowy Owl was photographed on 12/14/2012 at the South Shore Yacht Club pier

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The male Snowy Owl is a large white owl with a large round head yellow eyes, and a flecked or barred appearance. The female Snowy Owl has a darker appearance than the male. It is one of the few owls that can be seen during the daytime, however its distance is usually from afar. The range is the Arctic; circumpolar. In the winter it comes southward to Canada and the northern United States. It has a habitat of prairies, fields, marshes, beaches, dunes, breakwaters, and shorelines. It feeds on a variety of mammal prey such as lemmings, voles, squirrels, and birds.