My name is Al Schirmacher, and I will be starting a pastorate in Princeton, MN on 12/1. I'm currently based in Madison, WI, and have been birding the southern & central WI area for 10 years.
Generally I bird a one hour radius of my location 100-150 times annually (many of these local walks, since Madison has four lakes & 200 parks), with scattered longer trips - including Horicon Marsh, the Milwaukee lakefront, Baxter's Hollow and Wyalusing (latter two havens for more southern birds like Kentucky, Worm-eating, Yellow-throated Warblers and related). Normally I see 245-265 species annually. What should I expect within a one hour radius or so of Princeton (located 45-50 minutes north of the Twin Cities on 169)? Are there areas I should concentrate on? What spots are worth traveling over an hour for (eg, see frequent Duluth posts)? Is there likely to be a higher concentration of winter specialties (redpolls, crossbills, grosbeaks, northern owls and the like - rarely seen here) and a lower concentration of migrating warblers (normally see 34 a season)? How are the CBC numbers (spoiled here, Madison averages 85-95 species, my last route had 42 in 2002 - 45 minutes north of Madison)? What MOU trips are not to be missed? Thanks! Al Schirmacher Madison, WI Princeton, MN
