Golden Eagle & Ross's Geese at Wastewater

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I birded the Wastewater on Sunday (Nov. 28) from 2:00 to 5:00. Highlights: 1 Golden Eagle in the field east of the rocket launch site and 2 Ross's-type Geese in the west lagoon with 13 Snow Geese.  The two geese looked like pure Ross's to me, but I'm wondering if anyone else got a good look at them to add some more credibility to my observation.

- Jon Vande Kopple
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Gyrfalcon and Cackling Goose - Friday

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Originally Posted to U of M Birders Listserve:

Subject: Gyrfalcon Muskegon Co 11/26
From: David Pavlik
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2010 14:58:32 -0500

Birders,

My dad and I braved the wicked weather hoping for a Kittiwake at Pere Marquette in Muskegon County today. No Kittiwake to be seen (we didn't try too hard) but after getting back to the car, we noticed a large falcon flying south along the beach. Initial looks were less than par, but enough to warrant us to follow it down the beach. We caught up just as it was soaring above us and were treated to nice looks at a Gyrfalcon (juvenile dark morph, I think? ... and life bird for my dad!). I managed some crummy pictures. The bird kept heading south and despite a minor bit of searching, we found nothing. Could still be around, but I think we just got lucky.

Only other bird of note, I guess, was a Cackling Goose at Muskegon Wastewater.

Good Birding,

Jeff and David Pavlik

Posted by Caleb Putnam
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Purple Sandpiper at the Breakwater

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To Mich-listers:

Surrounded by nearly waterfowl-less waters on Saturday afternoon (11/20), our small group of birders found a single Purple Sandpiper on the breakwater rocks at Pere Marquette Park. Good birding!

Jim McGrath

Williamston, MI.

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Hooded Mergies, Fox Sparrow, Etc.

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lAmong the 32 bird species tallied by 17 club members on our monthly field trip yesterday morning (Nov. 20) along the north side of Muskegon Lake were a pair of Hooded Mergansers and a Fox Sparrow at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve.  Click for Trip Report.
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Rough-legged Hawk

I saw this Rough-legged Hawk on Sullivan Rd just a few yards into Ottawa county today (11/20). They seem to have shown up earlier this year than last.

Mike Boston

Oh where, oh where have my suet cakes gone?

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AH HA!! This was the third time my feeder pole was bent down almost to the ground, so I borrowed the golf course's game camera and got this little thief (if you recognize the feeder, he/she ain't none too little, as the feeder is over 2 feet long.)  Anyway, I thought you might like to see this "caught on camera" shot --- BUSTED! :)

- Mike VanderStelt
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Golden Eagle at Channel and Snug Harbor

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At noon today (Nov. 11) a sub-adult Golden Eagle flew over the west end of Muskegon Lake just east of the Muskegon Channel north over Snug Harbor and beyond.  I hawk-watched another hour in hopes it would return "to be counted", but it did not.  The bird is easily recognizable from any Bald Eagle: all dark body and wing feathers with no white visible to me on the upper or lower wings, bright white feathers on upper tail, broad dark band at base of tail.  Maybe it will find the Wastewater?

- Ric
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MLNP banding update, early November

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Although the vast majority of landbird migrants have already proceeded south, I am still running the banding station at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve on a limited basis in order to better track late-season movements and phenomena. To illustrate: Just in the past couple days, the captures of American Tree Sparrows and American Goldfinches, both still moving thru the station in good numbers, have shifted from adults to immatures. While the more incursive species of finches have yet to appear, others have been common.

House Finches are present all year in Michigan, but many birders do not realize that the species is actually quite migratory. Rather large numbers regularly migrate over the lakeshore dunes each spring and fall. One of my autumn-banded birds was recovered the next spring south of South Bend, Indiana.

Purple Finches are fairly common visitors to the preseve from late September onward. While they may share feeder space with House Finches, I have never noticed the two species flocking together.

Like pipits, longspurs, larks, and Snow Buntings, Pine Siskins can be regularly heard calling overhead each autumn, but they do not typically land at the preserve. This individual (an immature female) was the first-ever capture for the station.

Early in the season, I am likely to recapture a few local breeding birds that were originally banded during a previous year. The rate of such returns declines as migration picks up, but then it increases again as migration slows late in the season. This is further motivation for November banding. This fall, I have captured 18 returns from previous years. A notable record is a male Black-capped Chickadee that I banded on August 28 (opening day) in 2007. Despite making an additional appearance that fall, he was absent in 2008. However, he was recaptured repeatedly in 2009. So far this season, I have captured 98 Black-capped Chickadees, but only two from previous years had returned - until he belatedly showed on November 10.

Because of work duties and time spent at the station, I have put little effort into owl banding this fall, but one nice guest was this male Saw-whet Owl. Like most raptors, males are distinctly smaller than females. Although healthy and spry, this bird weighed only 75.5 grams (about the same as a Brown Thrasher). By contrast, my heaviest female weighed 113.6 grams (roughly equal to a Common Grackle) - this was the same individual that reappeared on the other side of Lake Michigan a few days later.

- Brian Johnson

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Wastewater Birds - Tuesday

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Nothing extraordinary at the Wastewater today (Nov. 9) but I did see one Bonaparte's Gull, 10 Snow Geese, 120 or so Snow Buntings, and two American Pipits.

- Bob Tarte

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A few from this morning at W.W.

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Got this Rough-legged Hawk by the model rocket launch area.  The Wild Turkeys I found by the police dispatch tower on the west side of the ponds (I liked it better as a black-and-white shot) and I wasn't the ONLY one bird-watching apparently (cat near the dump pile).

- Mike VanderStelt

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Pine Siskin

I just saw my first Pine Siskin of the year on my thistle sock, guess we're being invaded.

Mike Boston

The Other Day at Wastewater

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An (possibly) American Pipit? If not, scold and correct me promptly, and I will disavow my membership. The second two photos are just different angles of a Red-Tailed Hawk, not very clean as it was pretty high up, but with the luck I've had out there the last three times, heck, this is pretty spectacular! :)

- Mike Vanderstelt

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Pine Siskins Yesterday and Today

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October 31 Email:

I saw two Pine Siskins on my thistle seed sock today. I rushed for my list with great glee only to find I saw one in the UP in June.

- Kathryn Mork

Kathryn was hoping those were #227 for her league-leading year list.  Just prior to reading her message this morning (Nov. 1), I had been called to our back window by Carol to see a dozen Pine Siskins in our backyard.  Maybe this is another invasion year?

- Ric
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