I had my first vacation to The Bahamas at the end of October. This was not by any means a “bird” vacation, however. I actually won the trip, and it was 4 days and 3 nights, but I extended it to 7 days and 6 nights. I stayed at the Atlantis Paradise Island, which was absolutely gorgeous. I took the last two days to look for some birds and butterflies. I can’t go to a new place and NOT look for birds, right?! The resort was huge and there were plenty of places to walk and attempt to find birds and butterflies around it, which is exactly what I did on the first of the two days. On the second day, I walked from the resort all the way to the other side of the island and walked the entire Paradise Island / Ocean Club Golf Course looking for birds and butterflies. That turned out to be rather decent and provided a few good water birds, as well. On my way back to the resort, I stopped at a little sanctuary called Turtle Point. It was basically a pair of small stairs down to a deck, overlooking a small pond, that was loaded with turtles. The deck was only about 8′ x 12′. This little area was amazing though! After standing there, watching birds fly around the pond, out comes a Least Grebe family, with the parents teaching the little one how to eat fish. I stood there for almost 45 minutes watching them. For the two days I went out and looked for birds, I ended up with 54 species and 10 lifers! I was pretty happy with that, considering what it was. I was also able to get photos of 9 of the 10 lifers, with the Bahama Mockingbird as the only one that eluded me. I have the life birds listed first and then a few of the common birds after. Enjoy!
This is a huge post with a lot of photos. I have created a timeline of events for this last week of Aurora sightings. Some photos may look identical, but they are all different and at least 8-20 second exposures of the sky. I might have included 4 or more of the same scenes, just to show how the Auroras move around. It was truly amazing, and I hope you enjoy it!
Last week Thursday-Saturday (10/3-10/5) was predicted to be very good for the auroras. They never came and storm chasers were left with nothing, but funny memes about why they went missing. I even went to Wisconsin Dells on Saturday. I figured it would be a beautiful day up there and then be really good for the northern lights at night. While it was an awesome day in the Dells, it was quiet at night. I did, however, find a very cool view of a lake while scouting for some good Aurora viewing spots. It was off Hwy 12 and the lighting was just perfect.
Sunday Night 10/6, Grant Beach 7:30pm-8:20pm (G1/KP5)
On Sunday night while getting ready for the last football game of the day, I got a “yellow alert” for the Auroras. That doesn’t usually mean too much for me, due to being in Southern Wisconsin. However, 5 minutes later I got an “orange alert” for them. I knew something was going on with those two being so close together. I decided I would head down to Grant Park and check it out. Grant Park isn’t the greatest for viewing them, but it does stick out in the lake farther than the city of Milwaukee. This allows for some viewing of the north sky without city light pollution. While walking out the door, I got a “red alert” and I knew it could be rather good. When I got to Grant Beach, it was kind of busy for a Sunday night at 7:30pm. There were several cars sitting in the parking lot with lights shining onto the beach. I will never understand that, but to each their own! I set up my tripod down by the water and took a few pictures of the north sky. There was very faint color, and I wasn’t sure if it would be very good there or not. I decided to head west and try to get away from the city lights, for some better viewing.
Sunday Night 10/6, Ryan Park 8:55pm-9:05pm (G1/KP5)
I stopped by Ryan Park in Pewaukee, as I heard that was decent in prior events. The angle of viewing was off for me, so I drove further west.
Sunday Night 10/6, Treasure Island Dr, Pine Lake 9:43pm-9:53pm (G2/KP6)
I ended up on Treasure Island Dr, the entrance onto Pine Lake, in Hartland. There was a corn field on the north side and thought that might make for some cool photos. As soon as I got out of the truck and hopped up into the bed, I could already see some faint greens in the sky. Once I got setup and took a few photos, I could definitely see colors. Within 5 minutes, red pillars started forming and showing off very nicely. This only lasted for less than 20 minutes, but it was pretty awesome! I thought these photos turned out rather cool, with the red coming out of the “pot” on the Big Dipper. This little event turned out to be a G2 storm with a KP6 rating.
Sunday Night 10/6, Beaver Lake 10:30pm-11pm (G1/KP5)
I ended up staying out until 11pm or so, checking a few other spots along the way. The Auroras never really showed themselves again, staying quite faint the rest of the night.
Monday Night 10/7/24 – peak activity was G3/KP7
Monday Night 10/7, 7:45-9:18pm (G1/KP5)
After Sunday nights little event, I saw that there was potential for the Auroras on Monday night as well. I opened up Google maps and turned on satellite view, to look for places out that west that could be a good area to view the Auroras. I have a light pollution map that I use and compare to Google maps. I saw an open field on Hwy B, just east of the Hwy F exit, on the west side of Oconomowoc. I got out there just before sunset. The area was wide open like I thought, and even had a tree in the foreground to give my future photos some depth. So, I setup my camera and tripod and waited. While driving out there, I had received a red alert, meaning the Auroras were going to be active. I had a feeling it would be pretty decent as soon as it got dark. Once the sun set, I started taking a few 13 second exposure photos. I could see a green arc across the entire northern sky, real low to the horizon. This is the first time I had ever seen anything like that. I decided to move around to a few other places, while waiting for the Auroras to do something. I was trying to find some other “cool” viewing points.
Monday Night 10/7, 9:18pm-9:34pm (G3/KP7)
While driving to my last spot, I noticed the green lights were getting brighter. As soon as I parked, I got out and saw the red pillars starting to form. I was moving as fast as I could to get camera set up. As soon as I got set up, the green arc blew up with green and red pillars! The photos below show the progression of it. The way it happened and how fast it happened, was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was truly incredible! The colors were so spectacular and bright, even to the naked eye.
Monday Night 9:53pm – 11:43pm (G2/KP6)
After the that green arc blew up into a full Aurora display and then calmed down, I decided to move around again, in hopes of finding a couple of other spots. I found a bridge that was somewhat east to west and sat there for a while. There was slight fog over the river, and it was a cool view, but there were 2 light sources in the distance that I didn’t like. I decided to head back to my original spot, and just hang out. In the first several photos, you can see the green lights just moving around. They were mostly coming and going, sometimes trying to burst up into a pillar, but not quite. Of course, seeing the greens of the Auroras is amazing in itself, but when you know all the other colors are ready to shine through at any time, it gets exciting to see them. In the last several photos, the Auroras formed a green arc again. This happened around 11pm. It started out faintly forming and then it was a very obvious arc from NE to NW just over the horizon. It turned very green and was so bright and dense you could barely see the stars behind it.
Monday Night 11:43pm-11:53pm (G3/KP7)
At 11:50pm, the green arc blew up, again! It started with a few faint, red pillars, and then turned into an all-out green and red pillar show! It was even better than the event from a couple hours earlier! You could see everything with the naked eye, so bright and vivid. The reds in the sky were so amazing! It was spread over the entire northern horizon from NE to NW. The photos below will show the progression of the event.
The Auroras were on full display for almost 40 minutes. There were pillars coming and going, the lights were “dancing” and there were waves underneath the arc. To me, this display was better than the May 11th mega geomagnetic storm (G5/KP9), due to it being concentrated on just the northern sky. Words can’t even explain what I witnessed this night, and hopefully, the photos below will show just that.
This was truly an epic night with such amazing views of the Auroras, one I will not forget! I hope you enjoyed the timeline breakdown for the two nights of amazing Auroras!
Thursday Night 10/10/24 – peak activity was G4/KP8-9
I already saw the Auroras twice this week and then heard that Thursday could be another epic night of them. The X-Flare the sun shot off, was large and had very strong CMEs with it. This X-Flare was fast moving and actually hit Earth at 10:24am CST Thursday Morning. It was predicted to be in the afternoon, so I was a little worried that we wouldn’t see much. Within an hour of it hitting Earth, it was already a G4/KP8 mega storm for Europe! Now, the only question was, would it last? I went back out to my spot on the west side of Oconomowoc. I was there just before sunset, and I could already see slight colors as it was going down.
Thursday Night (10/10) 7:15pm-8:52pm (G3/KP7)
Just past 7pm, it was pretty dark already and the reds and pinks were showing faintly in the northern sky. By 7:15pm the red and pink pillars were quite visible and by 7:25pm the greens were really moving in. New to me in this event were the green lights shooting out vs shooting up! Also, there was something eerie with the sky, almost like a haze or maybe wildfire smoke. The Moon was at 50% illumination that night, but it wasn’t super bright, that it would be affecting the Auroras, that much. The stars weren’t even really bright and crisp either. It’s certainly possible that it was just the strength of the Auroras creating that effect. Since this was a huge event, they weren’t just concentrated to the northern sky. By 7:50pm, the Auroras were pretty much lighting up the entire northern sky from east to west and almost straight up overhead. Around 8:45pm the sky really started showing colors and pillars.
Thursday Night (10/10) 8:53pm-9:49pm (G4/KP8-9)
At 8:53pm the Aurora really started to explode, and there were lights all around me! This was stronger than Monday night’s show (G3/KP7), and it was absolutely incredible!!! I was nearly surrounded by the Auroras and could even see them when taking pictures of the southern sky! This event lasted for almost an hour. It was so much fun watching them, especially since several friends had joined me out there. Everyone was so amazed at what was happening!
Thursday Night (10/10) 11:10pm-12:35pm (G4/KP8-9)
The moon was close to setting just after 11pm and another flare up was getting ready. Around 11:10pm the pillars started forming and the lights were dancing! They got really awesome again and this time lasted until 12:35am. The cool thing about this one was the nonstop dancing, which continued the entire time, and it was like watching waves of light go from the ground all the way straight up. It was so awesome! I could see the lights everywhere I looked, with my bare eyes. I just stood there and spun around watching. After this second event was winding down, I thought I’d try my luck at a different location. I stayed out until about 1:45 or so and then called it a night. There wasn’t much going on and I did not feel like waiting for the next event. Plus, I was already over 500 photos for the night!
I really hope you enjoyed the timeline I created for this epic week of Auroras. I thought it would add to the story, to show the progression of the events rather than just putting up a gallery. I had so many photos from the three nights and wanted to break them up as well. This week was one that I’ll never forget! In southern Wisconsin, you are lucky to see the Auroras ever and I’ve seen them 6 times already this year and three times this week alone! I really hope people were able to get out and see them. I put out as much information as I could, on multiple platforms, urging others to go out look for them. This activity should continue through next year, as we are reaching the suns peak solar activity. If you missed them, you should still have plenty of chances to see them. If you would like to follow on your own, check out this website and download the app for your phone, which is only available on the website. Be sure to allow your location to be shared, in order to get alerts. You can also follow along on the NOAA website. I will include the link for that as well. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I would love to help you see the Northern Lights!
On Sunday night, the Northern Lights were easily visible. I just went down to Grant Park Beach, as I wasn’t planning on staying out late. Of course, I’m still standing on the beach at 1am watching them! I should have just gone out west to get away from the city lights. The solar storm ended up being a G4 and seen as far south as Texas. I was watching them out over the lake, where the city lights were not affecting them as much. Most of the photos are 20 second exposures. Photos below are from 1030pm-1am, in various places on the beach. Enjoy!
I had an awesome experience with a pair of Barred Owls a couple of weekends ago, in Wautoma. It was near 6pm while walking my brother’s property in Wautoma, when I heard a Barred Owl call, closely to the east. I grabbed my camera out of the truck and waited in the drive, hoping it would come into the yard. Thankfully I had my smaller zoom lens attached from photographing butterflies earlier in the day, because it flew right over my head and landed in the tree overhanging the house. Then out of nowhere, a second one flies in and lands next to it! They started calling back and forth. Several American Crows were close by and heard them calling. They came flying in and were really loud. How they can find the owls so fast is just amazing! One of the owls then flew towards the back of the property and the other flew to the other side of it. The crows surprisingly left them alone in a short time and they met back up in the same tree, above the house. They sat up there for at least 30 minutes or so, before flying off to the Southwest. It was still light enough out, that I was able to manage a few flight shots of them going back and forth. I have never seen that before and it was incredible! Photos below are from 7/19/24. Enjoy!
A Piping Plover showed up at McKinley Beach on Tuesday. It stuck around into the next day, but moved on by midday, presumably south. I was down there very late in the evening, with little light. For the most part it hung out in the corner, feeding and walking around. It called a few times, but I think that was because the gulls were getting too close. With about 30 minutes of light left, it moved a little further down the beach and about 20′ from the water’s edge to lay down for the night. It blends right into the sand and even when looking for it, it was nearly impossible to see. A friend sent the band info to the site www.greatlakespipingplover.org for data recording. This is the info he got back, “Thanks for sharing this sighting and photo! This is a 2-year-old female that hatched at Sleeping Bear Dunes. We call her PoNY for her pink, brown and yellow band combo. She had a nest on North Manitou Island at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore this year. Unfortunately, she lost her mate to a Merlin, when her 3 chicks were still very young. The chicks survived for a week and a half but then disappeared. Hopefully she will have better luck next year! It appears she is head south for a rest and vacation for the non-breeding season.” That explains the mid-summer sighting in Milwaukee. While it’s always nice to see these birds in county, it’s too bad this sighting had to be at that expense. Photos below are from 7/2. Enjoy!
While looking for Dickcissels on Friday May 31st, I also found 2 singing Indigo Buntings. These little songbirds are absolutely beautiful! When the sun hits them, their blue color is a stunning! These colorful songbirds can be found in any open field with small shrubs for nesting. The 2 that I saw were on County Line Rd, singing along the fence line. At one point, one of the Dickcissels was chasing one of the buntings around. It must’ve been too close to his territory, although the Indigo Bunting would have been there first. I also had one fly down to the roadside and pick through the gravel. I’m not sure if it was finding seedings, insects, or just gritting. While they are common, they are a sight to see every time. Photos below are Friday afternoon. Enjoy!
Dickcissels are late arriving spring migrants, typically showing up the last few days of May. One of my favorite places to find them is at the Franklin Landfill. On Friday May 31st, I saw at least 12 of them along the South side and Southeast corner of the hill. I went after work, in the late afternoon. They sing along the fence line and move around a bit, feeding in between. I had one pop out of the grasses near the edge of the road, eating a cricket. Luckily, I was able to capture that moment! These birds usually sing from the top of a perch and lean back to belt out their loud song, a buzzy “dick-dick-see-see-see.” I only saw males, so I’m not sure if the females are even back yet. They are down in the grasses most of the time, and hard to see anyway. Photos below are from Friday afternoon. Enjoy!
A Black-tailed Gull was found Wednesday at Waukegan Municipal Beach, but not IDed until very early Thursday morning. Thankfully, it was relocated in the morning and stuck around the entire day, providing some excellent views to those who came. It was hanging out with a large group of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls. I was able to get down there in the late afternoon, after work. Just as I was driving down the beach road, I saw a Discord message come through saying it had just flown south. So, I parked, got my gear together and made my way out to a group of people on the beach. After a few minutes, I saw a gull land and thought I saw black on the tail. I said to everyone, “I think it just flew in behind us.” Sure enough, that was it! The next hour or so, it sat on the beach, sleeping, preening and moving around slightly. At one point, a parent let their child run through the flock of gulls, but they only moved a short distance and did not take flight, thankfully. Heat distortion was atrocious! I took just over 1600 photos in that short time, because I knew most would not turn out. I wanted to stay until sunset, but I had to get back home to take care of the puppy. I figured the cool air coming off the lake would ease the heat distortion later, plus the lighting would have been perfect. When I started looking at the photos later, I threw away the first 850 of them, which is exactly what I thought would happen. I did manage to get several decent ones and even a few in flight, that show the beautiful black band on the tail. I don’t usually get too excited for gulls, but as soon as I saw photos on the original eBird checklist of it, I thought the bill was so cool and knew I wanted to see it! Photos below are from Thursday afternoon. Enjoy!
A Cerulean Warbler was singing his little heart out on the morning of May 12th. He was in the treetops, NE of the parking lot. He was moving constantly and chasing other warblers out of the tree he was in. This bird was quite crazy and covering about a 100-yard radius. Cerulean Warblers have nested in this area before and he was acting like he might stick around. However, I stopped by a couple of days later and he was gone. No singing and no sign of him. At any rate, the day he was singing, I had several nice looks even though he was quite high up. Photos below are from the early morning 5/12. Enjoy!
A Nelson’s Sparrow was found along the lakefront on May 17th. It was seen in the tall grasses near a fallen tree, along the rocks. When I arrived, there were a couple of people looking at one and as I walked up, I flushed another. After that, I think I flushed another one! There were at least 2 of them and quite possibly 3. The grassy area was already so tall, and those birds move extremely fast through it, it’s tough to find them. The one bird kept circling back to the fallen tree and I just waited around for it to show itself a few times. I never got an unobstructed view, as is usually the case with these birds, but plenty of decent looks. Photos below are from 5/17 in the late afternoon. Enjoy!
Unfortunately, for those of you who look forward to my spring migration photos each year, this is one of my last posts. My new puppy yanked my laptop off the table and smashed my external hard drive. The 40,000 photos I took the during my 3-week vacation are all gone! I did manage to get out a few days this week for some lingering birds, but nothing close to what I had. Hopefully the fall migration will make up for it.
