The DNR is now accepting artwork entries for the 2022 Wild Turkey, Pheasant and Waterfowl Stamp design contests. Shown here is the 2021 Waterfowl Stamp winning artwork by Caleb Metrich of Lake Tomahawk. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — With temperatures looking a lot like spring, and maybe even summer, some signs of the season are making appearances in nature.
That includes an American Robin spotted Tuesday morning in Green Bay.
“Robins are here. Some robins do stay over winter, but yes, the robins are back. The Red-Winged Blackbirds are back,” said Kim Diedrich, Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary Chief Naturalist.
From the familiar fliers, to a somewhat flamboyant local favorite, Diedrich says spring has arrived.
“Sandhill cranes are back. They’re being very vocal. We’ve seen five or six here at the sanctuary. Probably about 10 days ago or so is when we first started to see them,” she said.
A few miles to the north, at a waterfront site on the Brown-Oconto County line, Brown County Assistant Naturalist Logan Lasee says spring migration in the area is about two weeks ahead of schedule
“It was a pretty mild winter. We didn’t have a lot of snow. We didn’t have a lot of deep cold. Not a lot of thick ice. So some birds have moved in a little bit early,” said Logan Lasee, Brown County Parks Department Assistant Naturalist.
Lasee says waterfowl typically arrive first, and the big white birds called tundra swans are just passing through.
“Tundra swans. They are a tundra species. So they are nesting in the way far, far north tundra. Even north of Canada. So we see them only during migration, especially in the spring time, we see a lot of them. They’ve got this high-pitched whistling sound, and they’re very loud,” he said.
Back at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, birds continue feed. Diedrich says it’s still only the second week of March.
“I don’t know if I would say that winter is truly, truly over yet. But if you see some of the other birds that are migrating back, maybe put out suet at your feeders. Put out bird seed. Just to kind of help those early birds that are coming back, if they can’t find natural food sources yet. So that’s always a help that you can do,” she said.
Experts say Northeast Wisconsin is a good place to birdwatch, with more than 250 different species identified throughout the year.
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