Trilliums are blooming in Door County with their carpet of white, making the woods a magical place. Bloodroot, spring beauties, marsh marigolds, trout lilies and bellwort are flowering.
Scarlet tanagers, indigo buntings, Baltimore orioles, rose-breasted grosbeaks, ruby-throated hummingbirds, and American goldfinches have been providing a bonanza of color even casual bird lovers can get excited about.
People heading out to state trails for the holiday weekend should check current conditions on the DNR website because while a lot of progress has been made repairing damage from last summer's storms and flooding, some trail sections are still closed as repairs continue to be made.
Trilliums are blooming. Photo credit: DNR
For many Wisconsin birdwatchers. Warbler watching and backyard feeder activity have been fantastic in all but the far north, largely due to stagnant migration conditions holding birds in place and cool weather reducing availability of natural, insect-based food sources. Scarlet tanagers are showing especially well at suet, orange halves, and jelly dishes, as are indigo buntings at seed feeders. Combined with good numbers of Baltimore and orchard orioles, rose-breasted grosbeaks, ruby-throated hummingbirds, and American goldfinches, it's a bonanza of color even the most casual bird lover can get excited about! Backyard oriole and hummer feeders also continue to attract an unusually good selection of warblers such as Cape May, Nashville, black-throated blue, prothonotary, and even a yellow-breasted chat in Milwaukee.
Beyond the backyard, peak warbler activity was noted throughout southern and central Wisconsin. That peak will shift northward over the week ahead so get ready north woods birders. Southern birders are already noting those later migrants like Connecticut warbler, Philadelphia and red-eyed vireos, yellow-bellied flycatcher, black-billed and yellow-billed cuckoos, and common nighthawks. Shorebirds are noteworthy for being late May migrants and this week proved no exception. Ruddy turnstones, least and semipalmated sandpipers, short-billed dowitchers, black-bellied and semipalmated plovers, and dunlin were a few of the species reported as they stopover on their way to breeding areas in the arctic tundra of Canada. A few notable reports were flocks of 18 and 45 marbled godwits in Calumet and Eau Claire counties, respectively, Hudsonian godwits in several locations, and 95 whimbrel in Manitowoc. Also on Lake Michigan, large numbers of northbound red-breasted mergansers and common terns were reported.