Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Possible Mountain Bluebird in Ottawa County

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Email: July 5, 2011:
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Mr. Pedler,

Today I ran across a bird I felt worthy of a little publicity.  If you don't mind, could you post this to the Muskegon birding blog? ...

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Everybody,

Today (June 5) at 5:30 PM I saw what I believe was most likely a Mountain Bluebird in southern Ottawa County.  I did not have binoculars at the time, but am personally convinced that it was NOT an Indigo Bunting or Eastern Bluebird.  The bird was entirely blue, with a minor fork in the tail, and a slim thrush-like beak.  It appeared that the underside was lighter than the rest of the bird.  The bird was perched on a wire with the typical bluebird-style pose, not like an Indigo Bunting.  In flight, it was obvious by the flight pattern that it was a bluebird.  There was absolutely no orange or white anywhere on the bird.  I did not have a recording or binoculars at the time, and I was not able to bring it out by pishing.  I have experience with Mountain Bluebirds out west, where I have seen them very well, and I am currently quite convinced that this really was what I saw.

The precise location of the bird was at the latitude-longitude coordinates 42.815095,-86.157964.  There is a cell tower driveway which I pulled into.  The bird was on the wires above the driveway.  He flew into nearby trees and the sheep pasture across the road, which is where I believe he would be staying.  This location is about .2 miles north of James St. on 152nd Ave.

I will be able to try for the bird again on Thursday morning, and I will be sure to give notice if I confirm this sighting.  Until then, any comments or observations are welcome!

Good Birding,
Zachary DeBruine

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1 comment:

Ric said...

On Wednesday July 6 Chip Francke posted to Mich-listers: "I looked for the m. bluebird this evening that was reported in Ottawa County (see previous post) with no success. Hopefully, other nearby birders will also search over the next couple days."