1923] STODDARD, LOCAL BIRD NOTES 125 



Indiana Dune region at the south end of the lake and also to the Wau- 

 kegan (lUinois) "flats"; both regions famous for their bird hfe. 



Since returning to Milwaukee three years ago, trips have been 

 made to many points on the lake shore, the most satisfactory for gen- 

 eral collecting and observation being to the vicinity of Cedar Grove, 

 twelve miles south of vSheboygan. This is a beautiful region of wide 

 sand beaches and attractive back country, with a flora quite similar 

 in spots to that of the Indiana Dunes. 



Here (figure 76) at the mouth of Bar Creek, protected from the 

 chilly lake winds by a low sand ridge and a small clump of sapling 

 poplars, the camp fires of over twenty trips have been built. S. Paul 

 Jones and Clarence Jung, local bird enthusiasts, and Owen Gromme, 

 Ernest Meinecke and the writer from the Museum, frequent this spot, 

 using it as a convenient half-way camp when traveling these beaches. 

 Bar Creek itself being perhaps the most interesting spot on this shore. 

 Strange as it may seem, the pollution of the waters of this creek by a 

 cheese factory near its source, is mainly responsible for its attraction 

 to shorebirds. Its waters are stagnant, except during times of heavy 

 rainfall, when the surplus flows into the lake over the sand bar that 

 normally closes its outlet. This foul-smelling liquid fairly swarms 

 with minute insect and other animal life. 



At the height of their southward migration in late July, August and 

 early September, many species of shorebirds are represented in the 

 little gatherings about the creek's mouth, where they wax fat and 

 lazy on the abundant and easily obtained food. Manj^ desirable 

 specimens have been obtained here during the past three years for 

 the Museum collections, including some of the rarer varieties such as 

 Red and Northern Phalaropes, Baird and Stilt Sandpipers, Dowitches 

 (Jung) and others. Kildeer, Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plover, 

 Sanderlings, Least, Semipalmated and Spotted Sandpipers, Ruddy 

 Turnstones, Greater and Lesser Yellow-legs and other waders occur 

 from time to time. Clarence Jung and the writer have found this 

 spot ideal for a shorebird banding station^\ The sand ridge on the 

 land side of the creek offers perfect concealment, allowing one to study 

 or photograph the birds without their suspecting in the least that they 

 are under observation. 



Using this ideal spot as a central camping place, the beach is worked 

 for many miles in both directions. A fine Hudsonian Curlew was 

 collected on the beach five miles to the south, in Ozaukee County, a 

 short distance over the line on September 23rd, 1922, and Mr. Grom- 



"2iBird Banding in Milwaukee and Vicinity," pp. 117 — 123, this vol. 



