By Noah Edelstein, Friends of Starkweather Creek

Carpenter-Ridgeway Park is nestled between a residential neighborhood, the Bridges Golf Course and Madison College on Madison’s northeast side. Starkweather Creek flows along the edge of the park on its way toward Lake Monona, creating a small riparian habitat. The Friends of Starkweather Creek have long supported improved access and restoration efforts in the Carpenter-Ridgeway Woods through trail-building projects and removal of invasive plants. It may not be well known that the Carpenter-Ridgeway woods also offer a wonderful habitat within our community to view migrating birds.

The park is easily accessible by bike path. I was lucky enough this spring to steal away for a few hours with my binoculars at the park. Anticipation grew as I heard the chorus of birds as I locked my bike. The evening before, I had taken a quick walk along the creek trail at sunset and saw a brief view of a Canada warbler. I had returned in the morning in hopes of getting a much better view; I was certainly not disappointed on this day.

Immediately I heard a magnolia warbler singing in some dense shrubs. With a bit of patience, I was able to spot this beautiful bird with its yellow tuxedo about 6 feet above the ground. Followed in short order by singing chestnut-sided warblers and American redstarts, it was a great start to my hike. Down at the creek corridor I walked north and found a Louisiana waterthrush next to the water. The startled bird flew up to an overhanging branch and sang its song. And sure enough, skulking under the leaves of some shrubs, I found the Canada warbler once again. In fact there were two Canadas flitting through the bushes. They are small birds with gray backs, white eye rings, bright yellow underplumage, and a black dotted necklace which altogether make for easy visual identification.

Further along the path, on the tilted trunk of a cottonwood tree, a scarlet tanager perched, its black wings and scarlet plumage glowing bright in the sun against the blue sky. Across the creek browsing through the trees, many birds flew in and out of view, notably Blackburnian, Nashville, Tennessee, black-and-white and yellow warblers. Down in the swampy area near the golf course, the rolling calls of common yellowthroats could be heard among cackling blue jays. Downy woodpeckers and red-bellied woodpeckers worked on the gray trunks of fallen trees.

As I continued on the hiking trail across the bike path and into the woods behind the Robin Roberts Baseball Field, it seemed like each tree contained at least three chestnut-sided warblers. Baltimore orioles tooted loud greetings from treetops, and birds literally dripped from tree branches. It was easy to pick a tree, lean back, aim binoculars at the branches and simply wait for birds to come into view. Bay-breasted warbler, golden-winged warbler, black-throated green warbler, blue-headed vireo and ovenbirds were all present.

Mosquitoes had seemingly not hatched yet, so my bird treasure hunt was completely uninterrupted. Had it not been for my tummy grumbling about needing lunch, I may have lingered all day. I went home and resolved to return for more birding in the morning. However, upon my return the next day, the woods were largely quiet. A couple of magnolia warblers were still in the woods, but most of the birds had moved on. The weather had shifted and the warm sun had been replaced by breezy overcast skies. The birds had likely continued their migratory path to their summer nesting grounds after their brief visit to our city.