late spring in Wisconsin
May. 16th, 2026 08:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chanter1944Means stripping the flannel sheets off the bed and swapping them for summer weight cotton ones, washing the winter coat, and counting down the days until it's overwhelmingly likely that frost overnight is no longer a danger so plants can go outside. That benchmark is generally Memorial Day around here.
New life list catches over the last two days: Tennessee warbler (heard while cycling all over the near west side, and now Merlin is IDing them all over the place, so they must be passing through the area), blue-gray gnatcatcher, Cape May warbler, and Blackburnian warbler. I'd never heard of three of those four before! The latter three were heard while chasing DX at Lake Farm Park early this morning. The radio conditions may not have been great, but the dawn chorus certainly was! We were far from the only ones out with bird watching in mind, judging by the packed parking lot and the lady who came through swatting mosquitoes, explaining how she'd been chasing after a bird and later reappeared from a swampy area, though I'm pretty sure we were the only radio ops afoot. Yesterday's adventures on bike trails and residential roads had fellow cyclists, walkers, and joggers everywhere, and both sailboats and rowing crews were taking advantage of the weather on Lake Mendota. The lilacs are making this entire neighborhood smell divine. :)
All in all, it's been a great weekend so far. :) Just nobody spoil me for Eurovision, please? I want to find a youtube upload of the jury voting and watch it unspoiled if I possibly can. Come on, Croatia...
New life list catches over the last two days: Tennessee warbler (heard while cycling all over the near west side, and now Merlin is IDing them all over the place, so they must be passing through the area), blue-gray gnatcatcher, Cape May warbler, and Blackburnian warbler. I'd never heard of three of those four before! The latter three were heard while chasing DX at Lake Farm Park early this morning. The radio conditions may not have been great, but the dawn chorus certainly was! We were far from the only ones out with bird watching in mind, judging by the packed parking lot and the lady who came through swatting mosquitoes, explaining how she'd been chasing after a bird and later reappeared from a swampy area, though I'm pretty sure we were the only radio ops afoot. Yesterday's adventures on bike trails and residential roads had fellow cyclists, walkers, and joggers everywhere, and both sailboats and rowing crews were taking advantage of the weather on Lake Mendota. The lilacs are making this entire neighborhood smell divine. :)
All in all, it's been a great weekend so far. :) Just nobody spoil me for Eurovision, please? I want to find a youtube upload of the jury voting and watch it unspoiled if I possibly can. Come on, Croatia...
