Birding By Train

Today we took a birding trip on a train through the Tiffany Bottoms near the Chippewa River near Durand, Wisconsin which is pretty much east of Winona. The train runs on a narrow gauge track through the swamps and flood plains. We sat on open cars and luckily the weather was beautiful. Our train left at 7:30 and we got back to our cars about noon.

We stopped several times to get off the train and explore. We saw hooded mergansers, yellow rumped warblers, Mallards, Trumpeter swans, Eastern Towhee, song sparrows, field sparrows, white throated sparrows, tree swallows, rough winged swallows, Ruby crowned kinglets, spotted sandpipers, northern water thrush, pileated woodpeckers, broad winged hawks, bald eagles, turkey vultures, rubins, blue jays, black capped chickadees and a kingfisher. I heard an oven bird but did not see it.

One of the train cars had a porta potty on it. At the end of the line they served grilled brats, chips, apples, cookies and water. I started out the day wearing snow pants and quite a few layers. By the time we got off the train I had taken most of my layers off. I had an extremely relaxing morning sitting on the train, dangling my feet over the edge, looking for birds with my binoculars and just relaxing. We saw lots of wild flowers along the tracks in pretty shades of white and pink and purple and yellow. The trees have not leafed out yet so we can see pretty far into the swamp and up to the nearby bluffs. This driftless area of Wisconsin is especially beautiful. I had such a good time today getting away from the everyday hassles of life and work and home that I decided I would definitely do this again. These trains fill up so if you want to go you need to sign up well in advance.