Great Egret at MLNP

I saw this Great Egret at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve on Sunday, 4/27/14.  I never saw a Great Egret in Muskegon County during all of 2013.

- Mike Boston

Must Be Spring

April 25 Email:

It must be spring at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve.  - Dave Holmberg

Nesting Flicker and Gnatcatcher at MLNP

April 23 Email:

I watched this Red-bellied Woodpecker make her nesting hole at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve on April 22.  I also saw this Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at MLNP while waiting for our first class of students to arrive.  I only had a small lens on this guy, and he was hard to catch.  - Carol Cooper

Wednesday at White Lake

I went to White Lake looking for the Common Loons that Mike Boston had reported and found this one giving a ride to a ladybug.  The Belted Kingfisher was looking for breakfast and the Red Fox was near the White River Light Station.  (The fox was being camera shy.)  - Don Neumann

Sunday Bird Photos

April 21 Email:

Sightings from Muskegon on Sunday: Hooded Merganser, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, a little bird and two Great Horned Owl pictures.

Dan Lockard

Thanks, Dan. The little bird looks like an Eastern Phoebe. - Ric

Birding Grand Haven Monday

I birded Flahive Park (East Grand River Park) and Harbor Island this morning finding 28 and 34 species respectively.

Highlights at Flahive included Purple Martin, Brown Creeper, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Swamp Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird, and Northern Flickers at their nest hole.

At Harbor Island I spotted Common and Red-breasted Merganser, Peregrine Falcon (on the nest box from 9:00-9:30), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Tree Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, and Chip Francke.

- Ric

Upland Sandpiper at the Wastewater

At the Muskegon County Wastewater today Carol spotted two Upland Sandpipers 100 yards west of Swanson on White Road.  I am still not able to hold my camera so Carol took the picture.

- Charlie DeWitt

Common Loons at White Lake

There were lots of Common Loons on White Lake today, 4/20/14, and this one in the White Lake Channel.

- Mike Boston

While the Power Was Out

On Saturday morning I led ten people from Nik Kalejs' DNR field trip around the Wastewater properties.  On Saturday afternoon my power went out until Sunday night.  In the meantime Dan Lockard emailed two sets of photos from the Wastewater and Muskegon State Game Area.

For the field trip we recorded 32 species in two hours including three "Eastern's" (Bluebird, Meadowlark and Phoebe), Canvasback, Redhead, American Wigeon, Bufflehead, Bonaparte's Gull, Horned Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, Tree Swallow, Red-tailed Hawk, Belted Kingfisher and Field Sparrow.

- Ric

Dan's Saturday sightings: Great Horned Owl, Pied-billed Grebe and Redhead.

Dan's Sunday sightings: Great Horned Owl, Muskrat and Turtles.

Harlequin Duck at White Lake Sunday

I saw this male Harlequin Duck at the extreme southeastern end of White Lake on Sunday morning, 4/13/14.

Mike Boston

Four Reports About Birds This Week

April 9 Email Reports:

Jack Blanshine sends two photos of Bonaparte's Gulls from the twenty off Whitehall Marina Wednesday afternoon.

Mike Boston sends a photo of three swans (presumably Tundra Swans) flying over the fields northwest of the Musketawa Trail and Swanson Road intersection.

David Janetski saw a Short-eared Owl at the Wastewater well before dark on Monday, April 7.  We tried for it last night with no success.  - Ken Sapkowski

I saw what I believe were two Great Egrets at McGraft Park today.  No camera with me but they were on the far side of the pond across from the park.  - Rick Hamlin

Ruddy Ducks on Little Black Lake

At the bridge on Wood Road there were 6 Ruddy Ducks plus Common Loon, Canvasback, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead and Mallard.  Little Black Lake is ice free, so the west side of the lake would be a better place to scope the whole lake.

- Charlie DeWitt

Name That Goose

April 7 Email:

Ric, I went to the bike path and Swanson this afternoon.  I saw all but the Great White Fronted and this strange goose.  Sibley's new second edition has it as a Domestic Graylag & Swan Goose hybrid. Anybody have any other ideas?

Phil Willemstein

Phil, "Farmus Domesticus" is always a good guess.  We'll see what others say. - Ric

Waterfowl West of Ravenna

They were too far away for any decent photos, but the partially flooded fields west of Swanson Road at the Musketawa Trail were hosting Tundra Swans, Greater White-fronted Geese, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon and Green-winged Teal, as well as thousands of Canada Geese today.

- Mike Boston

Cackling Geese and Snowy Owl

April 4 Email:

Ric, I don't know if you want to post these pictures because they are a little old.  I will not be taking any more pictures for six to eight weeks because of my shoulder surgery.  The Cackling Geese look like hutchinsii in the Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America, page 12. 

Charlie DeWitt

Charlie, I hope your rotator cuff heals properly and you can get back out in the field soon.  Why don't you send other photos like these occasionally and we'll post them even if they're not "recent".  Posting your Snowy Owl also gives me the opportunity to lift the moratorium on posting that species here.  It seemed that there were far fewer of them on the Wastewater properties this season than the year of the mis-behaving bird-chasers.  By now most should be heading back to their breeding grounds (the owls, not the chasers).  - Ric

Horned Grebes at MCNC Today

April 1 Email:

This morning Carol Cooper emails this photo of two Horned Grebes in the Muskegon River at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve.