Mack Wildlife Area is about three miles east of Shiocton, almost halfway between Shiocton and Black Creek on Wisconsin State Highway 54.  The area I regularly visit consist of marsh land and small ponds formed by dikes.  There is another section of Mack that is more wooded but access is limited.

The area I frequent is on Van Patten Drive.  There are a few ponds and a newly remodeled observation deck.  In spring there are several flooded farm fields that provide a resting spot for a number of ducks and other birds that like being near water.

Van Patten Drive basically runs north.  This makes for some nice morning light opportunities on the west side of the road.  In spring the ditches often have geese and a variety of ducks.  From your vehicle you can see over some of the dike walls and a variety of ducks, some geese, and other birds like Great Egrets, Coots, and Great Blue Herons can also be seen.

In the afternoon I tend to plant myself on or near the observation deck.  The afternoon lighting at Mack is often beautiful.  To the right of the observation deck there is a channel that often has a variety of ducks and on occasion ducks and other birds will fly up the channel right toward you for some nice flight shots.

Some of the birds I've seen at Mack:

• Sandhill Crane
  
• Black Crowned Night Heron
• Great Egret
• Great Blue Heron
• White Faced Ibis
• American Bittern
• Least Bittern
• American White Pelican
  
• Northern Harrier
• Eastern Phoebe
• Yellow Headed Blackbird
• Red Winged Blackbird
• Canada Goose
• Mallard
• Blue Winged Teal
• Redhead
• Bufflehead
• Ruddy Duck
• Ring Necked Duck
• Greater Scaup
• Lessor Scaup
  
• American Wigeon
  
• Horned Grebe
• Pied Billed Grebe
  
• American Goldfinch

It is likely I may have missed a few species.  These are the ones that come to mind at this time.

As far as camera gear goes, I would recommend the following for overall shooting and flight shots:

• Digital SLR - giving you continuous focusing options, high shutters, and assortment of lens options
• Lenses - focal lengths from 200mm to 400mm will do great in most cases.  More zoom power never hurts.  :-)
• Tripod - both using and not using a tripod works.  Some birds you will be waiting a long time so its nice not to have to hold the camera the whole time

I will conclude this post with an assortment of images I have taken at Mack Wildlife Area.

Seeing as though I live in Green Bay, Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary (BBWS) is not just close to where I live, it is also home to a mecca of resident and migratory birds.  This makes BBWS one of my favorite locations to shoot and spend countless hours in the open air waiting for the keeper shot.

During spring migration BBWS is easily a favorite location for ducks.  BBWS is not far from the bay of Green Bay.  The ponds and overall habitat attracts many species of ducks.  Some may spend a few days as a lay-over location.  Others will spend only a few hours and be on their way.

Species of Ducks Photographed at BBWS:

• Blue Winged Teal
• Bufflehead
• Canvasback
• Common Goldeneye
• Green Winged Teal
• Mallards
• Common Mergansers
• Hooded Mergansers
• Red Breasted Mergansers
• Northern Pintail
• Red Heads
• Ring Neckd
• Greater Scaup
• Lessor Scaup
• Northern Shoveler
• Wood Ducks

BBWS is located on Green Bay's east side of town.  The property consist of approximately 700 acres of ponds, marshy areas, and hardwoods.  In addition to the many species of ducks I have also photographed many other species of birds - spring, summer, fall, & winter.

Other Bird Species Photographed at BBWS:

• Double Crested Cormorant
• Sandhilll Crane
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Great Blue Heron
• Green Heron
• Black Crowned Night Heron
• Bald Eagle
• Canada Goose
• Pied Billed Grebe
• Belted Kingfisher
• American White Pelican
• Herring Gull
• Ring Billed Gull
• Caspian Tern
• Wild Turkey
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Downy Woodpecker
• Red Bellied Woodpecker
• Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
• Blue Jay
• Northern Cardinal
• Black Capped Chickadee
• Brown Headed Cowbird
• Brown Creeper
• American Goldfinch
• House Finch
• Rose Breasted Grosbeak
• Dark Eyed Junco
• Eastern Kingbird
• Ruby Crowned Kinglet
• Golden Crowned Kinglet
• Purple Martin
• White Breasted Nuthatch
• Red Breasted Nuthatch
• Baltimore Oriole
• American Robin
• House Sparrow
• American Tree Sparrow
• Chipping Sparrow
• Lincoln's Sparrow
• White Throated Sparrow
• Barn Swallow
• Tree Swallow
• Yellow Warbler
• Common Yellowthroat
• Yellow Rumped Warbler
• Cedar Waxwing
• House Wren
• Carolina Wren
• Red Tailed Hawk
• Coopers Hawk

There is a good chance I probably still missed a few.  This place is a birding hotspot!!

In addition to BBWS there are a number of other birding hotspots I visit and will write about.  I picked BBWS as my first write-up, not just because it is my favorite, it is a place you might want to plan to visit and spend a few days taking photos.

As far as camera gear goes, I would recommend the following for overall shooting and flight shots:

• Digital SLR - giving you continuous focusing options, high shutters, and assortment of lens options
• Lenses - focal lengths from 200mm to 400mm will do great in most cases.  More zoom power never hurts.  :-)
• Tripod - both using and not using a tripod works.  Some birds you will be waiting a long time so its nice not to have to hold the camera the whole time
  

I will conclude this post with an assortment 20 of my favorite images taken at BBWS.