by We spent a week or so around Madison, Wisconsin, parked up for much of that time at a campground in William G. Lunney Lake Farm County Park. The meadows and marshes in the park had some great birding. We also visited the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum, which was fine, but nothing spectacular. Finally, we did a little birding at Picnic Point.
Our most exciting adventure, however, was unexpectedly catching sight of some Sandhill Cranes! We heard them while we were birding at the Arboretum, but could not track them down. Then, one afternoon at the campground, we heard their distinctive call again, and both sat upright, wide-eyed. We barely missed a beat before grabbing our stuff and taking off in search of the birds, only to be foiled again. It sounded like they were right there, but we just could not find them.
Later that evening we finally saw a pair flying, so that was something, but still, we wanted a good look. When we were driving to Picnic Point near the University of Wisconsin campus, we came to a stop sign, and there was one digging up a meal right across the intersection! We were so excited! We quickly parked and got a great look.
We know they are a dime-a-dozen to people who live in the area, but they were new to us and we were thrilled to catch an up-close view. Even better, since we didn’t have them on our radar of something we might see, it was a real treat.
