The Muskegon Big Day Bird Count,
traditionally held on the third Saturday in May, has been an annual
tradition dating back decades. While immensely enjoyable and
interesting, the chase has yielded little scientific data since birds
are generally not counted and only a few areas are birded. Plus, the
lack of an archival mechanism has limited its historical value.
In
1992, the North American Migration Count (NAMC) was established in
Michigan. Operating much like the Christmas Bird Count, but with an
entire county as a geographic base, the program sought to rectify
such omissions by counting every species encountered on a single day -- always the second Saturday in May.
During the 2002 and 2004 Big
Days, with help from Lena and Ric, I counted every individual
recorded by the group as a whole. Essentially, these were practice
runs for future involvement with the NAMC; and this was realized when
we officially joined the program in 2006. Over the next 11 years, the Muskegon County Nature Club generated the following results.
Of the 46 volunteers that assisted
during that span, those present for the most years were Dayle
Vandwier (10), Ric Pedler (9), Kathryn Mork (8), Jill Henemyer (7),
John Will (7), John Walhout (7), Carolyn Weng (6), Feller DeWitt (6),
Jim Ponshair (5), and myself (11).
From a personal standpoint, the NAMC
was my biggest birding day of the year. This is no small statement
since whether for work, for a volunteer project, or simply for fun,
there are few days in a year that I do not bird. Even when working
out of state, I would still make the trip to attend the Muskegon
NAMC.
From 2006 thru 2012, my route basically
involved a few discrete areas at the Muskegon State Game Area. I
birded several miles at Lanes Landing thru the morning, the DNR
Headquarters loop immediately thereafter, Little Cedar Creek in the
afternoon, and I would revisit Lanes Landing in the evening. In the
2012-2013 season, I worked on collaborative study at nine local parks along
the Lake Michigan shore and dunes. Besides being the most enjoyable
field job I have had, the parks study imparted a major influence on
my birding. Thus, when Carolyn Weng's departure created a vacancy at
Muskegon State Park for the NAMC, I eagerly grabbed that slot. Not
only was I working there anyway, but I desperately wanted a lakeshore
component in my personal coverage. My new itinerary included a long
hike at Muskegon State Park thru the morning, a short lake watch
along Lake Michigan, Little Cedar Creek in the afternoon, then the
DNR Headquarters, and finally Lanes Landing in the evening.
As indicated by the following table,
the species gain was apparent but small.
After the 2016 count, the NAMC was
officially discontinued. In fact, as a national program, the NAMC had
been defunct for many years. However, the Michigan NAMC had persisted
as the Spring Migration Count with results published in
Michigan
Birds and Natural History. To some degree, the creation of eBird's
Global Big Day (GBC) has supplanted the NAMC -- promoting greater
participation at the cost of scientific rigor.
Because the loss of the NAMC has been
bemoaned by many, a few of us decided to continue the NAMC tradition
while simultaneously being involved with the GBC (a pattern
duplicated by several other counties in Michigan). Moreover, from a
personal standpoint, I was particularly excited with this development
as it offered yet another opportunity to alter my daily approach and
potentially increase my output.
Meanwhile, since 2005, I have
contributed to the Muskegon Wastewater International Shorebird Survey
(ISS), and since 2013, I have done each session solely. It occurred
to me that I could schedule an ISS for the evening during the GBC.
These are conducted once every ten days, and I usually squeeze them
in a couple hours before sunset. By following a similar route as
2013-2016, but capping the day at the Wastewater, I would be birding the
most popular birding sites Muskegon County has to offer. Essentially,
I would be turning this into a personal Big Day. As some of you know,
while I really enjoy bird monitoring and study, I have almost no
inclination to simply list or chase birds, so I have never before
attempted anything like a big day.
I set the following four objectives:
1.) See as many species as possible. 2.) Obtain accurate,
representative counts. 3.) Maintain some consistency with past
NAMC's. 4) Frame the day in relation to my wider spring 2017
itinerary. The problem, of course, is that each of these goals is
rather exclusive. In terms of priority, I pushed #4 then 2 then 1
then 3. Although maximizing my daily species count was a lower
concern, it still was a major factor in the day's planning (but under
no circumstances was I going to compromise counting just to get a
bigger species list).
As for the day:
I had planned to start with a lakewatch
at Muskegon State Park. Unfortunately, it had been a tough week, and
I only got a couple hours of sleep before the count. I needed to
begin this count no later than sunrise. But I was late, and I did not
want to fall behind at Snug Harbor, so instead I proceeded directly
with my hike. I also did not expect the wind to increase so
drastically.
This was my only misstep of the day.
The early afternoon lakewatch only gave me 5 species (4 new for the
day). That is less than half of what is critical. In other words, you
cannot have a successful Big Day without a Lake Michigan component,
and starting a watch in the afternoon, in windy conditions, is not
the way to go.
Moreover, there were LOTS of boats on
Muskegon Lake, so counts of all waterbirds were lousy. I even missed
Mute Swan for the entire day. So not only did I miss several Lake
Michigan specialists, but I fared poorly on waterfowl in general.
On the other hand, the songbird volume
at Muskegon State Park was incredible. In fact, I simply had too many
birds. All the counting really slowed me down. I hiked 8.2 miles at
the park but it took me 7.25 hours to complete that. That pace is too
slow for a good big day result. Of course, I achieved a reasonable
pace after the half-way mark, but only because it was too late in the
morning to see lots of birds (and add new species).
Here's a historical comparison for my
Muskegon State Park NAMC results (lakewatches excluded):
2013: 67 species, 421 birds
2014: 88 species, 612 birds
2015: 82 species, 735 birds
2016: 82 species, 476 birds
2017: 85 species, 826 birds
After the MSP lakewatch, I stuck to my
plan and birded my traditional areas of Little Cedar Creek and the
DNR Headquarters. Again, heavy volume and a desire to hike my
historical route slowed me down, but not seriously.
By the time I finished the DNR, I was
at 102 species. Not bad, but skipping the morning waterbird count had
cost me 10 or more species. As far as time, I was perfectly situated
to hit my traditional close at Lanes Landing. But this year's plan
had been to incorporate a Shorebird Survey at MWS.
When I do the Shorebird Survey, I
follow a few routines: I follow a regular route; I bird in the
evening; and I give myself at least two hours. As far as counting, I
obviously include all shorebirds. But I also count "near
shorebirds" and certain other waterbirds, since consistent
surveys on these species are few. Those include loons (never
present), grebes, cormorants, herons, rails and cranes. I do not
count waterfowl, gulls and terns. All those birds are entered into
Manomet's eBird portal. For my own interest, I also count Grasshopper
Sparrows, Brewer's Blackbirds, and other sensitive species that I
have banded there. So, by my figuring, if I did well enough during
the day, I could plug most holes with the Shorebird Survey. Certain
waterfowl (e.g. Northern Shoveler) would be a problem, since I would
not count them, and they cannot be found anywhere else in the county.
However, it was already after 7:00 pm,
and I simply could do the Shorebird Survey the next day. Yet, Lanes
Landing would only provide 5-10 new species. I finally chose the
Wastewater. But once there, I almost had to reconsider -- it was
loaded with shorebirds! It was the sort of volume that can take four
hours to properly tally, especially if the birds are skittish.
Thankfully, there were no other birders to interfere with the
counting, and the birds largely stayed in place. The final tally
established a new spring daily record for both species (15) and
individuals (403).
I officially ended the day with 120
species (precisely 2300 birds). There were about 15 species (mostly
ducks and grassland songbirds) that I saw at the Wastewater that I
did not count. Even Rock Pigeon was officially missed.
Some final thoughts. For an attempt at
a personal Big Day, I knew that counting as I went would indeed be a
problem. And I don't think I would change that unless I was truly
competing. To me, finding 14 Lincoln's Sparrows on a single day is
more impressive, and memorable, than a 160-species total. Moreover,
because eBird's Global Big Day uses the same date as the former NAMC,
the count must be done on that Saturday -- no matter what the weather
or migration holds. Finally, building a large species tally by
superficially working many small sites (in order to add 1-2
specialties at a time), even if I still count everything there, seems
counterproductive to a larger monitoring goal. Otherwise, I learned a
few things that I may implement in the future.
If I truly want to increase my species
tally, my whole route needs to be seriously revised. Doing a
lakewatch at dawn, unless weather forces it later, is critical. If
energy permits, I could precede that with a dedicated stationary
count at one of the larger marshes. Ending with a Shorebird Survey is
a given -- a big day is not possible without the Wastewater. On the
other hand, Lanes Landing may not be the best morning focus. Neither
may be Muskegon State Park, but the proximity to Lake Michigan makes
it better. The big problem with MSP is that the very best areas are
too far from parking areas, so productive trail loops are too long.
Also, while probably unbeatable for total species, there are few
unique ones. Hence, I would likely need to emphasize the smaller
lakeshore parks. For instance, Lake Harbor Park can produce species
at a fast rate, as can Kruse and Beechwood Parks. And those time
investments are minimal. Adding Black Lake Park to the mix should
really boost numbers. The afternoon can be spent cleaning up at
Muskegon State Game Area (primarily Lanes Landing and the DNR
Headquarters). Muskegon State Park can be skipped altogether.
FINALLY, my results for Muskegon's
Spring Migration Count, with highlights:
(this is my favorite part of this long
post):
Canada Goose - 6
Wood Duck - 6
Mallard - 10
Long-tailed Duck - 2 (new SMC high
count)
Double-crested Cormorant - 8
Great Blue Heron - 5
Green Heron - 1
Turkey Vulture - 15
Bald Eagle - 1
Cooper's Hawk - 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Merlin - 1 (at Muskegon State Park)
Virginia Rail - 1
Sora - 3
Sandhill Crane - 2
Black-bellied Plover - 1
Semipalmated Plover - 30 (my third
best ever count; new SMC high count)
Killdeer - 23
Spotted Sandpiper - 38
Greater Yellowlegs - 1
Lesser Yellowlegs - 34
Upland Sandpiper - 3
Stilt Sandpiper - 1 (first SMC
record)
Dunlin - 14
Least Sandpiper - 244 (my second
best ever count; new SMC high count)
White-rumped Sandpiper - 1
Pectoral Sandpiper - 5 (new SMC high
count)
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 4
Short-billed Dowitcher - 5
American Woodcock - 2
Bonaparte's Gull - 2
Ring-billed Gull - 573 (fly-catching at
MSGA)
Herring Gull - 2
Mourning Dove - 12
Great Horned Owl - 1 (at Muskegon
State Park)
Barred Owl - 1 (at DNR Headquarters)
Chimney Swift- 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1 (my first
of 2017)
Belted Kingfisher - 2
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 (at
Muskegon State Park)
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 6
Downy Woodpecker - 4
Hairy Woodpecker - 3
Northern Flicker - 7
PIleated Woodpecker - 4
Willow Flycatcher - 2 (my first of
2017)
Least Flycatcher - 9
Eastern Phoebe - 7
Great Crested Flycatcher - 7
Eastern Kingbird - 3
Yellow-throated Vireo - 3
Blue-headed Vireo - 3
Warbling Vireo - 5
Red-eyed Vireo - 2 (my first of 2017)
Blue Jay - 24
American Crow - 8
Purple Martin - 18
Tree Swallow - 2
Rough-winged Swallow - 2
Bank Swallow - 160
Barn Swallow - 2
Black-capped Chickadee - 19
Tufted Titmouse - 19
White-breasted Nuthatch - 2
Brown Creeper - 1 (at Little Cedar
Creek)
House Wren - 8
Sedge Wren - 2 (at Little Cedar
Creek)
Marsh Wren - 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 16
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 10
Eastern Bluebird - 1
Veery - 5
Wood Thrush - 12 (my highest daily
total from Muskegon County)
American Robin - 22
Gray Catbird - 25
Brown Thrasher - 2
European Starling - 7
Ovenbird - 5
Northern Waterthrush - 1
Golden-winged Warbler - 1 (at
Muskegon State Park)
Blue-winged
Warbler - 5
Black-and-white
Warbler - 2
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1 (at
Muskegon State Park)
Nashville Warbler - 9
Common Yellowthroat - 24
American Redstart - 16
Cerulean Warbler - 2 (at DNR
Headquarters)
Northern Parula - 2 (at Muskegon
State Park)
Magnolia Warbler - 5
Bay-breasted Warbler - 2 (at
Muskegon State Park)
Blackburnian Warbler - 5 (two
singing songs nearly inseparable from Black-and-white Warbler, two
singing songs very similar to Cape May Warbler)
Yellow Warbler - 45
Blackpoll Warbler - 1 (my first of
2017)
Palm Warbler - 2
Pine Warbler - 6
Myrtle Warbler - 61
Black-throated Green Warbler - 14
(my best ever count from Muskegon County)
Eastern Towhee - 6
Chipping Sparrow - 29
Vesper Sparrow - 1
Savannah Sparrow - 17 (clearly
migrating today)
Grasshopper Sparrow 14 (new SMC high
count)
Song Sparrow - 55
Lincoln's Sparrow - 14 (my best ever
count - from anywhere)
Swamp Sparrow - 17
White-throated Sparrow - 37
White-crowned Sparrow - 156 (my best
ever count from Muskegon County)
Scarlet Tanager - 9
Northern Cardinal - 16
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 14
Indigo Bunting - 9
Red-winged Blackbird - 111
Eastern Meadowlark - 9
Brewer's Blackbird - 5
Common Grackle - 11
Brown-headed Cowbird - 14
Baltimore Oriole - 16
House Finch - 2
American Goldfinch - 22
House Sparrow - 4
- Brian Johnson
