Thursday, March 6, 2014

Unusual Species on Muskegon River


March 5 Email:

I have been watching the birding web site.  I have been on the Muskegon River quite a bit the last few weeks and I have never seen the amount of wildlife that is on the river.  There are a lot of bird species that I have never encountered on the river, especially not as far up as Newaygo.

Today there were at least 3 Red-necked Grebes along with a White-winged Scoter, a few Long-tailed Ducks, Red-breasted and Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, and many others.  I also saw a dead Mute Swan and a dead merganser along the shore of the river.  This long winter is really taking its toll.

There is a dead cedar tree in the middle of one stretch of the river and the deer are wading out into the middle (the river is at least 150 feet wide) to eat what is left of its foliage.  I have attached a few river pics from today. 

- Kevin Feenstra

Kevin, thanks for the report and photos (Red-necked Grebes, Wild Turkey and Bald Eagle).  Be sure to see Brian Johnson's post below with more details about this phenomenon.  - Ric





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