Bird #601 – American Flamingo

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Roger

phoenicopterus (from Greek, red-winged) ruber (Latin, red)

Adams County, Wisconsin – Pentenwell Lake

Sunday, October 8, 2023 – 1:18 pm

In my last post, I reported my failed trip to Alabama to see American Flamingos that were blown there by a recent hurricane. On the very day I was striking out in Alabama, birders found three adults and two juveniles on Pentenwell Lake in central Wisconsin. The lake is man-made, part of the Wisconsin River flowage, and is very close to Necedah National Wildlife Refuge where Whooping Cranes breed. It just so happened that we were heading north to spend a week in Rhinelander. I kept watching the eBird reports to see if these birds would hang on until I got there. I really didn’t expect them to.

They almost didn’t. We arrived around 1:00 pm on a cool, cloudy day. The lake was large – about two miles across. A family from Illinois was already there looking for the flamingos. They had been told by another birder that the birds were still there. The father, Ben, pointed to the area of the lake where they had supposedly been seen. There were some white spots along the shore that Ben thought might be the birds. After exchanging phone numbers to keep each other up to date on what we were seeing, he and his family took off to try to get closer. Sally and I stayed where we were. I soon became convinced that the white spots were foam on the shore. They certainly weren’t flamingos.

I started scanning the far shore with my scope and soon found what I was convinced was a flamingo. I couldn’t see much because the distance created haze that made everything dance. Sally and I thought we could see the bird preening, but most of the time it stayed in the same place not doing much. We also thought we saw some pinkish color on the bird.

Meanwhile Ben and family returned. They had met some kayakers who had paddled along the far shore. They said there was only one flamingo in view, right where I had been looking. The other four birds had apparently taken off and, so far as I know, were not found again.

I let Ben use my scope, and of course while he was looking, the bird flapped. He said he could see black on the wings. Pretty soon it became even more evident that we were looking at a bird because it began moving through the shallows. I could make out a long-legged, long-necked wading bird with black on the sides. I could also make out flamingo-like feeding movements as it slowly worked through the shadows. There is no way I could have identified it as a flamingo if others hadn’t found it first, but since they had, I feel confident in my identification – especially since I found the photos the kayakers took of the very bird we saw at the very time we had been looking for it.

Here are my best photos. Make of them what you will.

When you compare them to the kayakers’ photos (which I post here, having “borrowed” them online), you can sort of make out what I was seeing. There is some pink on the bird, but I don’t know if we were really seeing it from two miles away or not.

Somebody else saw them from the same place we did, about two hours after we left, but nobody saw it again later on that day or on any other day. So I missed the Alabama birds by four hours after they were there a month, missed four of the five Wisconsin birds by a day after they were there about a week, and saw this one just a couple hours before it was last seen. It wasn’t a very satisfying view, but I have no doubt about what we saw.

American Flamingos are rare in south Florida – straying up occasionally from their range in the Caribbean. To see them in Wisconsin is almost unbelievable. But that’s what makes birding such a fun hobby. You just never know.

I found out later these birds were from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

Update: In late March, 2025, I took a 10-day birding trip to Georgia and Florida. Halfway through my trip, I spent part of a day at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. A flock of flamingos had been hanging out near an island in the Indian River in the refuge and had been seen by 100s (probably 1000s of birders). I guessed it might be my  luck that they would leave before I had a chance to see them, but they didn’t. I parked in the nearest lot and actually waded along the shore to get to the closest spot to the birds I could find without renting a boat. I was still a long way away, but this time, there could be no doubt about what I saw.

As for missing them, as I write this update on May 18, the birds are still there.

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Lake Michigan from the Indiana Dunes

Posted on October 7, 2023 by Roger

We spent a day with our niece and her husband in Porter County, Indiana. They live about a mile from Lake Michigan, surrounded by sections of Indiana Dunes National Park. During the day we went to the lake shore two or three times. It was windy, and the waves were crashing.

Our first visit was mid-morning, at Porter Beach. Those are Ring-billed Gulls.

My niece and I went to the Portage Lakefront mid-afternoon. We could see Chicago in the distance across the water. While we were there, a lake freighter passed in front of the skyline.

We went back to Porter Lakefront at sunset. This time I think the gulls were Herrings.

Sunset over one of the steel mills that line the lake.

The view as we were leaving.

The next morning (Sunday), we drove through Chicago on our way to Wisconsin. Shortly after I took this photo, we had to get off the Dan Ryan because the police had it blocked for reasons we never discovered. We drove about six blocks through the south side, then got back on without incident.

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Casey, Illinois — World’s Largest Attempt to Make a Small Town Interesting

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Roger

We headed north for vacation with the objective of visiting the north woods of Wisconsin during peak fall color season. On the way, we visited our niece and her husband in their new house very close to the south shore of Lake Michigan. To get there, we wound our way through central Illinois to hit some counties I’d never been in.

That’s why we were driving east on I-70 one lovely Friday morning. We had no plans to stop along the way, but suddenly I saw a sign along the highway advertising that World’s Largest stuff could be seen off the next exit. We’re suckers for tourist traps, so we hopped off the Interstate and found ourselves in Casey. It’s a town of only 2,400 people, and I’m not sure I’d ever heard of it. I know I’d never heard of their claim to fame as the home of the world’s largest Wind chime, golf tee, pitchfork, rocking chair, wooden shoes, mailbox, gavel, truck key, barbershop pole, teeter-totter, golf driver, and swizzle spoon. They also have other large things around the town — you can hardly walk a block without running into something or other.

In this view from the world’s largest mailbox, you can see the world’s largest barber pole and rocking chair, as well as a large pencil and piggy bank.

We strolled around and found many of the items. It began to feel like overload after a while, so we didn’t bother chasing down several items that weren’t right downtown. All of the sculptures have Scripture verses on them. We were in a store and overheard a woman asking the clerk about that. The clerk said that the family who created all the items “were very religious.” Most of the items were surrounded by impressive, well-kept gardens.

I’ve long had an issue with “world’s largest”claims. A statue is a statue, therefore, the world’s largest buffalo isn’t really the world’s largest buffalo, although it might be the world’s largest buffalo statue. Understand?

World’s Largest Wind Chime. We were told that a wind of 8 mph could ring it, which would have to get annoying for anyone living or working nearby. Sally hauled on a rope and made it chime a few times. This does chime in the wind, so this would officially qualify in my book.

World’s Largest Barber Pole. It sits outside a barber shop, so again, I’ll give them this one.

World’s Largest Mailbox. This was so much larger than I expected that I looked right past it and actually asked a couple of local ladies where it was when we were right across the street. They were nice about my stupidity. We climbed steps into the inside. You can actually mail letters from there, so it really is a mailbox. Sorta.

World’s Largest Wooden Shoes. These were inside a candy store. I hesitate on this one. They can’t be worn, so are they really shoes? but they could theoretically be worn if someone large enough came along, so I’ll allow it.

World’s Largest Truck Key. See, this is what I mean. Can you actually use this key to start a truck? No. So it’s not really a key, is it? It’s just the world’s largest sculpture shaped like a key. It was also one of the more boring items in town.

World’s Largest Golf Driver. I suppose, if you got a large group of coordinated people, they could swing this and hit a golf ball off a tee. I’ll allow it.

World’s Largest Rocking Chair. This is the second or third world’s largest rocking chair I’ve seen, so I don’t know if this is really the champion chair or not. Nor do I know if it really rocks. But one could sit in it, so it is a chair. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

World’s Largest Teeter-Totter. It wasn’t teeter-tottering this day. I walked to the top of it and … nothing. But apparently you can ride it on Saturdays during the summer.

Here are a few of the other large things in town.

Like I said, we wandered around until we decided we’d had enough. But it was fun, and we both thought that if we absolutely HAD to live in Illinois, Casey wouldn’t be a bad place to live.

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Brices Cross Roads and Tupelo National Battlefields (such as they were)

Posted on September 30, 2023 by Roger

A hurricane three weeks ago blew a bunch of American Flamingos far north into the eastern United States where they’d never been seen before. The closest ones to me were in central Alabama, seven hours away. After debating with myself for a couple weeks, I decided to go for it. I left home at 7:00, arrived at the farm pond where they’d been hanging out every single day since they were first seen on September 2, and apparently missed them by no more than four hours. The very nice and apologetic couple who owned the pond, the McKemies, let me drive onto their property and even drove around to the other side of the pond in their golf course “in case the flamingos are hidden in the grass.”

I’ve made long drives and missed birds before, but not this long. Not nearly this long. I was discouraged. Janet McKemie took my number and offered to call me if the birds showed up the next morning, but I had a sense that I’d missed my window. I decided to head toward home, chopping three hours off Tuesday’s trip by staying in Tupelo. It turned out the be the right decision — the flamingos weren’t seen in the area again.

I settled into my hotel in Tupelo — a Comfort Suites I settled on by coaxing the clerk to find me all the discounts she could (which amounted to about $30 — down to $117). Soon I was feeling a bit more chipper and decided to spend the next morning seeing what there was to see in the area before driving the four hours home.

I’ve long been aware of the two Civil War Battlefields in the area, and that neither one was worth a concentrated effort. But since I was right there … Samuel Johnson once wrote about a famous scenic area in Scotland that “it was worth seeing, but it wasn’t worth going to see.” I’d put Brices Cross Roads into that category. Tupelo wasn’t even worth driving past.

I drove 14 miles north of town to Brices Cross Roads first.

In June 1964, while Sherman was attempting to take Atlanta, Nathan Forrest and his cavalry were causing chaos on his supply lines. Sherman ordered Samuel Sturgis to take a force into Mississippi and defeat Forrest. They met at Brices Cross Roads on June 10. Forrest, with a smaller force, attacked Sturgis, whose army was strung out and not prepared. After an all-day fight, Forrest had managed to crumple the Union lines and drive Sturgis’ army back, capturing his supply train in the process. Sturgis fled in defeat, but the action did keep Forrest out of Sherman’s hair.

The National Park area was behind me as I took this photo. Forrest’s troops advanced across this field towards where I stood. This part of the battlefield is preserved by a local association and isn’t interpreted in any way apart from this sign.

The National Park Service only has one acre of the battlefield preserved, although a local association has been formed which has purchased another 1,390 acres, which is nice. Development is creeping into the area, but the immediate land around the cross roads still looks rural. I spent three minutes in the National Park area and another 30 or so wandering around the rest of the battlefield — mostly looking for birds.

The cemetery next to the battlefield belongs to the Bethany Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. The church was at the cross roads at the time of the battle, but the current building isn’t the original one. The cemetery was established in 1853 and contains many Confederate graves.

Later in the morning, after touring Elvis’ birthplace and eating lunch, I drove to the Tupelo National Battlefield. There is so little here that it’s rather a farce to even bother preserving it. All that’s left is a lot in the middle of town with a sign, a interpretive board, and a duplicate of the Brice Cross Roads monument. I stayed about four minutes.

I drove to the visitor center on the Natchez Trace Parkway to see if they had more info on the battles, but there was very little to see. I headed for home. Every truck in North America was traveling from Memphis to Little Rock on I-40 this afternoon, and they were all taking turns passing each other. One truck-caused jam lasted for at least 30 miles. I made it home somehow, but it wasn’t a rewarding trip.

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Elvis Presley Birthplace

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Roger

Elvis was born in Tupelo on January 8, 1935 in the front room a 300-square-foot, two-room house built by his father. When he got rich, he bought the house, restored it, and it opened for tours while he was still alive. It’s still on its original location, although the surrounding buildings have disappeared.

I arrived on Tuesday morning shortly after the park opened, and there weren’t very many visitors. I paid $15 for the whole experience. I first went to the house. A guide inside pointed out the three things that are original — the fireplace in the front room, the stove in the kitchen, and the icebox, which the family took to Memphis with them.

The church Elvis attended with his family, and where he first sang in front of people, has been moved to the site. It was a Pentecostal Assembly of God church.

After a woman gave a talk, screens lowered and a 15-minute presentation of a typical church service with snippets of songs and a short section of a message. A young boy (as Elvis) came forward and sang “Jesus Loves Me.” The songs were ones I knew from my childhood, and the sermon included the gospel message. The woman talked about the healing and tongues that went on there, but they weren’t included in the video.

Elvis insisted that a chapel be built on the grounds. It’s near the church and included a stained-glass window.

Elvis recorded more gospel songs than any other genre, and his three Grammy’s were all for gospel songs. Insiders say that when he jammed in private with his friends, he frequently played gospel songs. You can’t really learn much about the man without hearing about his faith. My RA at Moody went to the church in Memphis where Elvis went when in town. My RA’s pastor knew Elvis and said he had no doubt that Elvis was saved. It could be. Obviously he was flawed. But seeing where he came from — the poverty, his father imprisoned for check fraud, the family losing even this tiny house to foreclosure — and then thinking about how suddenly he became immensely wealthy and popular, it’s easy to understand how he would have trouble. What he needed, and never had, was somebody to tell him no.

I walked around the grounds and saw the statues and other features.  It was all over-the-top, of course, but interesting. Again, worth seeing but not worth going to see.

This statue is supposed to symbolize Elvis as a lad (life-size) and as a man (larger-than-life).

The guide in the church mentioned other Elvis-related places around town. I chose not to see them except for Johnnie’s Drive-in, opened in 1945, where Elvis supposedly ate. They even have an Elvis booth. It was unoccupied when I arrived, but while I was ordering, some old guy came and sat at it. It was no different from the other booths except for a small cardboard sign.

The ambiance was great. The burger and fries were mediocre.

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