ONALASKA'S AUTUMN STARS

     Lake Onalaska is backwater off the Mississippi River in Wisconsin.  There thousands of water-loving birds of several kinds gather on its mud flats and shallows every October and November, before the lake freezers shut, wall to wall.  And those critters can be seen 24/7 by a live camera and a computer screen.  

     Some of the more common, post-breeding species of birds on Onalaska in fall are flocks of Canada geese, tundra swans, a variety of dabbling ducks, including mallards, northern pintails, American wigeons, gadwalls, northern shovelers and green-winged teal.  All these birds rest on the flats and "tip-up" to scrape aquatic vegetation with their shovel-like beaks from the muddy bottoms of the shallows.  The longer-necked geese and swans reach deeper for plants, thus reducing competition with the ducks for that food.  

     Thousands each of post-breeding ring-billed gulls and Franklin's gulls also stage on Onalaska's flats and shallows.  Franklin's gulls are distinguished by the black heads of many of the birds.  These birds catch small fish and scavenge dead fish, including scraps left by bald eagles.  By late October, the Franklin's moved farther south to spend the winter where water is ice-free and they can dine.  The ring-bills will move farther south when Onalaska freezes shut.  

      Several kinds of sandpipers that nested farther north and west, including lesser and greater yellowlegs, least and semi-palmated sandpipers, dunlin, short-billed dowitchers and other kinds, forage for invertebrates on the flats and in the shallows.  The yellowlegs, that do have yellow legs, have light-gray feathering that blends them in with the shallow water they wade in to get invertebrates.  But the other kinds of sandpipers are brown and darker-streaked, which camouflages them on the mud, and in the shallows. Interestingly, the dowitchers poke their long beaks up and down like sewing machine needles in mud in the shallows to pull out food, something the other sandpipers don't do.  In that way, the dowitchers don't compete with their sandpiper relatives for invertebrates.  

     Several each of American coots and pied-billed grebes dive under water to get food; water plants and invertebrates for the coots and small fish for the grebes.  Wigeons and gadwalls attend coots on the water's surface.  And when the coots pop on the surface with beaks full of aquatic vegetation, those ducks steal some of it from the coots.  But the coots just keep diving and eating until full.

     But hundreds of American white pelicans that raised young around lakes in Canada and scores of sandhill cranes that nested on the tundra congregate on Onalaska flats and shallows in October until the lake freezes, sealing away their food sources.  They are the largest birds there; in size and presence, and readily seen from a distance.  

     The pelicans rest on the flats, but catch small fish by forming lines of themselves to herd the fish against flats.  Then, all at once every time, for at least a few times, the pelicans dip their large bills into the water and scoop water and fish into their pouches, squeeze out the water and swallow the fish.  They continue that procedure until the birds are full, or the fish supply runs out.  

     The wavering lines of pelicans in flight are graceful, and inspiring to see.  Each beautiful bird holds its head back over its neck when in flight.  And each pelican in those long, undulating lines, in turn, often lifts over or drops below imaginary objects in the sky, making their flights interesting.

     Each of the up to four-foot, handsome sandhill cranes has gray feathering, often with shades of rust, long legs, a lengthy neck and a bare, red patch on its forehead.  These cranes feed on grain in harvested fields, and aquatic vegetation, seeds, water invertebrates, frogs, mice and other edibles on the flats and in the shallows.  They walk about slowly, picking up food items as they go.  

     Usually by December, Lake Onalaska freezes.  Then all the above mentioned birds go farther south in search of food.  Then only bald eagles, coyotes and great horned owls are regularly seen by a live camera and computer screens.

     Lake Onalaska is a beautiful area full of interesting wildlife in October and November, which can be enjoyed by a live camera.  One can view those creatures without them knowing they are being watched.