MWS Shorebird Survey, September 26

.
Carolyn Weng, Kathryn Mork, and I conducted the latest International Shorebird Survey at Muskegon Wastewater last Sunday.  Numbers continue to drop, but we did encounter eight species:

Black-bellied Plover 5

Semipalmated Plover 1

Killdeer 27

Lesser Yellowlegs 6

Sanderling 5

Semipalmated Sandpiper 1

Least Sandpiper 9

Baird's Sandpiper 4

Notable is the general lack of Pectoral Sandpipers from the surveys this summer and fall.

Other items of interest included 11 Snow Goose, 2 Horned Grebe, 1 Eared Grebe, 1 Merlin, 3 Bonaparte's Gull, 33 American Pipit, 1 Tennessee Warbler, 13 Eastern Meadowlark at the model airfield, and 3 Dark-eyed Junco (my first of the fall).

- Brian Johnson
.

Mostly Blue Jays Migrating Thursday

.
About 1,500 Blue Jays migrated over the Muskegon Channel between 9:00 and 11:00 this morning.  No visible raptors migrated during that period.  The Blue Jays tapered off between 11:00 and 1:00 (200-300 during those two hours) and a  few raptors flew by (4 Broad-winged Hawks, 3 Sharp-shinned's, 2 American Kestrels and an immature Red-tailed Hawk) with strong northwesterly winds to push them along.  (Some of the Blue Jays made it across the Channel in less than 9 seconds!)

- Ric Pedler
.

Grand Haven North Pier

.

Here are two pictures from the Grand Haven north pier today. A Bonaparte's Gull and a Semipalmated Plover.

- Charlie DeWitt
.

Hawks Flying on Wednesday!

.
Carolyn Weng at Jeff's Dune (Muskegon State Park) and I on the McLane (south Channel wall) counted 358 migrating hawks today between 11:45 and 3:00.  Most were Broad-winged Hawks gliding south high overhead; the largest kettle was 32 birds (see Hawkwatch totals elsewhere on this page). Carolyn saw an immature Red-shouldered Hawk shortly after 1:00, but it headed back north!  The next hour, however, it migrated. There wasn't time to count Blue Jays today, but at least 150 migrated over the Channel as did at least a couple dozen Monarch butterflies.

- Ric Pedler
.

MLNP banding highlights, September

.

For the fifth consecutive autumn, I have been operating the bird banding station at Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve as my schedule permits. Although I have not opened many days, and I have only used a few nets, the daily capture rate has been quite high. Currently, the seasonal total is 254 birds.

In 2008, I only captured 5 Blackpoll Warblers. None were encountered the following year. This year I have banded 12 so far.

I did very little banding in August, so I missed many warblers. However, two Blue-winged Warblers represent a seasonal high.

Warbling Vireos are similar in appearance to Philadelphia Vireos and are common late in the summer. Philadephia Vireos arrive later in the season, and after September 15 they outnumber Warbling Vireos, but they are less numerous in general. So far, this year I have banded 13 Warbling and 2 Philadelphia (including this individual).

This male Black-throated Blue Warbler is the first record from the Preserve.

Daily high records include the following:

Warbling Vireo, 11 on Sept 3

Swainson's Thrush, 9 on Sept 14

American Redstart, 9 on Sept 3

Scarlet Tanager, 2 on Sept 17

Record early fall arrivals at MLNP include the following:

Winter Wren on Sept 17

Golden-crowned Kinglet on Sept 16

Gray-cheeked Thrush on Sept 3

Orange-crowned Warbler on Sept 20

Myrtle Warbler on Sept 8

.

- Brian Johnson

.

Red-eyed Vireo

This Red-eyed Vireo was at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve on Sunday, 9/19/10.

Mike Boston

Field Trip Sora

.


Sora at Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve (see report below).
 - photo by Carol DeWitt
.

43 Species at MLNP This Morning

.
Thunderstorms and the threat of more rain prevented us from following our field trip plans to bird Muskegon State Park this morning. Instead after 8:30 Ken Sherburn led nine of us from the North Muskegon McDonald's over to the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve to see how drippy it would be.  As it turned out, not very drippy, but very birdy.  

Groups of warblers flitted around various locations all morning, particularly at the northern edge of the park between the bike path and the marsh overlook.  A very cooperative Sora foraged beneath the boardwalk for awhile.  By the end of our walk there were ten of us and the Nature Preserve people treated us to a hotdog lunch -- it was their Open House Day and because of the weather, we were about the only other people to show up!

For the benefit of those on today's trip (i.e., to prevent any disputes between Charlie and Kathryn), here's the species list pretty much in the order we found the birds:  Mourning Dove, Northern Cardinal, American Robin, Blue Jay, European Starling, American Goldfinch, American Crow, Ring-billed Gull, Northern Flicker, Rock Pigeon, Gray Catbird, Swainson's Thrush, Red-eyed Vireo, Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Brown Thrasher, Downy Woodpecker, Common Yellowthroat, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Nashville Warbler, Black-capped Chickadee, Lincoln's Sparrow, Sora, Great Egret, Mute Swan, Great Blue Heron, Red-winged Blackbird, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Double-crested Cormorant, Marsh Wren, Indigo Bunting (female), Scarlet Tanager (female), Yellow-rumped Warbler, Veery, Blackburnian Warbler, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Tennessee Warbler, Canada Goose, Cedar Waxwing and Wilson's Warbler.

No raptors, no Red-bellied Woodpecker!

- Ric Pedler
.

Franklin's Gull Sighted Again - Sept. 16

.

Yesterday around 1:45 p.m. I was able to head to the Wastewater where I was able to relocate the previously reported Franklin's Gull.  The bird was flying over the NE corner of the East Lagoon.  I also talked to Kevin Welsh on the phone around 5:00 p.m. and he had not seen the bird but he did find two Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

- Jonathan Lautenbach

.

Franklin's Gull at Wastewater

.

Franklin's Gull found at the Muskegon County Wastewater today 9-15-2010.

- Charlie DeWitt
.

Eyeing the Feeders

.


I caught this Red Fox in a deep gaze toward my feeders, licking his chops this morning while my little feathered friends had their breakfast (as if he thought he could catch one).  Then he seemed to "come back to his senses" and continued looking for frogs.

- Mike VanderStelt
.

Three Photos - Dan Lockard

.
Dan Lockard sends us this photo of a Hummingbird (Sphinx) Moth in his backyard this weekend and a Great Horned Owl and Red-tailed Hawk at the Wastewater on Sunday (Sept. 12).

.

MWS Shorebird Survey, September 11

.
Carolyn Weng and I spent a rainy day conducting the International Shorebird Survey at the Muskegon Wastewater on Saturday. We encountered nine species:

Black-bellied Plover 1
Semipalmated Plover 1
Killdeer 29
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Sanderling 7
Semipalmated Sandpiper 9
Least Sandpiper 7
Baird's Sandpiper 24

Miscellaneous sightings included 2 Horned Grebe, 1 Northern Harrier, 1 American Kestrel, 3 Merlin, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 1 Bonaparte's Gull, 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 1 American Pipit, 1 Cape May Warbler, 1 Bobolink, 2 Bank Swallow, 1 Rough-winged Swallow, and 2 Cliff Swallow. The latter three species were noted during a quick perusal of the thousands of Tree and Barn Swallows flying in the rain. A leucistic Tree Swallow was among them.

- Brian Johnson
.

Great Blue Heron

.

Just a quick shot from Wastewater today.  There wasn't much out today (exept for the VERY ripe odor) so I didn't hang around very long.

Mike VanderStelt
.

Wastewater Birds Sept 8, 2010

.

Took a ride around the Wastewater today; found the Red-necked Phalaropes and the Eared Grebes. I also found the Buff-breasted Sandpiper. It was in the small cell next to the center dike at the north end.  The Red-tailed Hawk was in the RI area.

- Charlie DeWitt
.

Hawk Count Day 1 = 2 Migrating Raptors

.
My first two hours of hawk-watching at the Channel this season netted a meager 1-migrant per hour: a low-flying Sharp-shinned Hawk and a high-flying Peregrine Falcon.  There were a few local Turkey Vultures and a couple of Bald Eagles as well, plus a few dozen migrating Monarch Butterflies.

- Ric Pedler
.

Wastewater Birds - to Mich-Chat

.
On Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 3:09 PM, Joseph Lautenbach wrote:

Hello All,
Today at the Muskegon Wastewater my brother Jonathan, Kevin Welsh, and I had 43 Red-necked Phalaropes. The birds were all concentrated near the SW corner of the East Lagoon. We felt that this was a very high count for Michigan. Also present were 7 Eared Grebes and 2 hen Bufflehead, again all in the SW corner of the East lagoon. A Buff-breasted Sandpiper was present in the center fast filtration cell.

Also present:

Baird's Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Semipalmated Plover
Lesser Yellowlegs
Sanderling

Good numbers of Shoveler and Blue-winged Teal are beginning to build

Good Birding,

- Joseph Lautenbach
. 

Shorebird Survey - Sunday Sept. 5

.
I did a shorebird survey late Sunday afternoon.  Numbers were considerably down on the previous weekend's count except for Phalaropes. There was a flock of 32 juvenile Red-necked Phalaropes in the East Lagoon with a few individuals feeding close in to shore. The only other species observed were 6 Baird's Sandpipers, 2 Spotted Sandpipers, and 6 Killdeer.

Other species of interest were 3 Eared Grebes in the East Lagoon, a Great Egret fishing successfully at the Clay Pond south of Apple and a couple of Cliff Swallows among the thousands of Tree Swallows working the lagoons.

- Carolyn Weng
.

Robin and Cuckoo

.

I stopped as I entered my driveway yesterday and shot this American Robin.  Then the Yellow-billed Cuckoo landed in the grass about 100 feet away, so I got him too.  Apparently it was a "bad day" to be a caterpillar.  Then I had to load it on the P/C to see it better, but couldn't remember the yellow ring around the eyes, and his beak looked a "little flat" to me. When in doubt, send the shot to Ric.  He gave me a "positive I.D" and the rest is history.

P.S.  If anyone else is having trouble loading shots (no response clicking image button) try clearing your internet cache -- it worked for me.

- Mike VanderStelt
.

Red-necked Phalaropes at W.W. Sunday

.
Email to Ric:

Birded MWW today, Sunday 9/5 and wanted to report 6 Juvenile Red-necked Phalaropes in the SW corner of the east lagoon.  They were close knit and very close, didn't even have to set up the scope.  It was great!  Watched them for about a half hour.  Also of note were 2 Wilson's Warblers and a Peregrine Falcon on the south side of Apple Ave.  Warblers in the trees on the left just across the creek and Peregrine flying over field just south of the trees.  Shorebirds were very scarce.  The big wind must have sent them south!
.
Stop, Look, and Listen!
.
- Barb Gay

.

A Few from Wastewater Yesterday Afternoon

.

Got these pictures (Red Tailed Hawk, Sandhill Crane, Painted Turtle, and Hooded Merganser?) yesterday afternoon.  The hawk (see feet) was dining as I approached, and if you look at a large version of the turtle, you'll see a blood spot below its head -- that's where the leech was attached that I found after picking him up to move him off the road. Using my highly skilled talent as a surgeon, I made a deal with the turtle -- if I remove it, I get a picture! He agreed, though as you can see, he was a little camera-shy (and you thought Mike Moran was the ONLY one who "talked to the animals").   :)

- Mike VanderStelt
.

2010-2011 Fieldtrips Posted on Homepage

.
The 2010-2011 Fieldtrip Schedule is now posted on our homepage.  Details about the Sept. 18 trip will soon be posted there.
.

215 ish

.

.
I just happened to be on the Grand Haven north pier when Katheryn spotted the Ruddy Turnstones. (See Aug. 31 post below.)  She said that this should bring her up to 215 "or a little more". My number is 204.  Not to worry, I have til Dec. 31!  She is looking at two Ruddy Turnstones and a Sanderling.

- Charlie DeWitt

Eagle and Peregrines at Wastewater

.
Wastewater birds from this week: 1 Bald Eagle and a pair of Peregrine Falcons goofing off.

- Dan Lockard
.