Wet Cool Birding This Morning

Great Blue Heron at the preserve.

Rog Newell and I wore jackets and dodged raindrops while birding two locations this morning.  All 32 species at Black Lake and 31 at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve were " the usual suspects".

Black Lake species included Sandhill Crane, Belted Kingfisher, Eastern Wood-pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Veery, American Redstart, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting.

MLNP provided Great Egret, Green Heron, Bald Eagle, Tree and Barn Swallows, and Baltimore Oriole. 

- Ric

Lost Tripod + Warbler Photo

I found this tripod at the Muskegon County Wastewater.  There wasn't anything attached to it.  It was in the dry cells in the "D" section.  I took the tripod to the main wastewater HQ building and left it with Steve.

I did get this photo of Saturday's Brewster's Warbler.

- Charlie DeWitt

Big Day Saturday: 134 Plus 2 Plus 2

What began as a wash-out ended with an excellent total of bird species yesterday.  At least eleven people participated in our annual Big Day Count and recorded 134 species!  Birds listed below are in the order recorded.  (Common Nighthawks were our first and last species!)

From 4:45 - 5:30 at the outer gate of Lane's Landing rain drummed our cars in the darkness.  A few spring peepers peeped.  By 5:35 the rain had stopped, the nighthawks flew and the robins sang.  We drove the puddly mile to the inner gate, woodcocks peenting and Wood Thrushes singing along the way.

Waiting for gray light by the inner gate we added catbird, yellowthroat, Yellow Warbler, Swamp Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, chickadee, goldfinch, Mourning Dove, cardinal, thrasher, goose, Great-crested Flycatcher, killdeer, Blue-winged Warbler and Sandhill Crane.

Walking the road north through the marsh we recorded grackle, mallard, Tree Swallow, Hooded Merganser, Wood Duck, Marsh Wren, Sora, cormorant, shoveler, grosbeak, Black-billed Cuckoo, Pied-billed Grebe, eagle, Willow Flycatcher, Great Blue Heron, crow, flicker, Blue-winged Teal, Trumpeter Swan (3 flying around us blowing their trombone mouthpieces!), kingbird, Ring-billed Gull and Barred Owl (first calling Who-cooks-for-you'all, then flying off pursued by a blackbird).

The "Prothonotary Woods" produced no Prothonotary Warblers.  Instead we recorded Indigo Bunting, Yellow-throated Vireo, redstart, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, cowbird, Veery, Ovenbird, Red-eyed Vireo, Baltimore Oriole, Northern Waterthrush, Tennessee Warbler, Green Heron, Wilson's Warbler and hummingbird.

Birding the Prothonotary Woods, photo by Charlie DeWitt

Returning south from the woods to our cars we added Barn Swallow, Alder Flycatcher, Cedar Waxwing and Blue Jay.  

On the way out our main group observed Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Black-throated Green Warbler, White-breasted Nuthatch, tanager, Chipping Sparrow and Least Flycatcher.  A few stragglers found a previously-reported Brewster's Warbler (Blue-winged x Golden-winged hybrid)!

Late morning until early afternoon we birded the State Game Area properties from DNR headquarters west along the Maple River to the northeast edge of the Lane's Landing marsh.  New birds were House Wren, towhee, House Sparrow, Pileated Woodpecker, White-crowned and Field Sparrows, Black-and-White Warbler, Swainson's Thrush, Chestnut-sided and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Purple Finch (female), Cape May Warbler, parula, kingfisher, Nashville Warbler, Warbling Vireo, phoebe and bluebird.

After lunch on our way to the Wastewater most of us drove back into the Lane's Landing road hoping to see the Brewster's hybrid.  We had fleeting glimpses of it and heard it repeatedly singing the three-bzzz Golden-winged song.  So we counted this "half a species" as a full species (Golden-winged Warbler).  If you have a complaint, contact the bird police!  ;-)

Among the gulls at the Wastewater, photo by Charlie DeWitt

The Wastewater properties gave us 35 new species: meadowlark, Grasshopper Sparrow, Blue-winged Teal, Gadwall, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plover, Short-billed Dowitcher, Dunlin, black duck, Brewer's Blackbird, Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, harrier, turkey, Red-tailed Hawk, Savannah Sparrow, Herring Gull, Horned Lark, Wilson's Phalarope (female in rapid-filtration cell!), pewee, starling, Cliff and Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Bonaparte's Gull, Canvasback, Lesser Scaup, Horned Grebe, Upland Sandpiper, Ring-necked Duck, Sedge Wren, Vesper Sparrow and Bank Swallow.

We found an amazingly high 10-species at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve!  Usually we've already seen most of the species it has to offer by the evening of Big Day, but last evening (especially after the wind died down) warblers invaded the trees.  MLNP gave us Mute Swan, Magnolia Warbler, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Palm Warbler, Great Egret, Blackpoll (several!) and Blackburnian Warblers, White-throated Sparrow, Red-breasted Nuthatch and a Bay-breasted Warbler!  No pigeons, no titmice, no House Finches.

A quick walk at Snug Harbor up the Lost Lake Trail to the hemlocks and back to the parking lot was a bust!  No pigeons, no titmice, no House Finches.

Daylight was almost gone as we quickly panned the beach of Muskegon State Park south to the Muskegon Channel.  Nothing new!  At the channel we added Chimney Swift and our traditional final species: Purple Martin.  While saying our good-byes we enjoyed a few nighthawks flying overhead in the last light of the day.

May 19 Email:

Glenda and I went back to MCWS yesterday (5/18) around 6:45 in the evening to look for the Wilson's Phalarope that had been spotted earlier.  As we watched a large group of Short-billed Dowitchers (17) and Dunlin (40), a flock of Black-bellied Plovers (11) arrived and a minute later a flock of Ruddy Turnstones (7) came in.  The new guys proceeded to bathe (and even enticed an Upland Sandpiper to join them).  No phalarope but we watched and counted this flock for a long time.  We stayed in the car the entire time and I would recommend this for these wet cells.  - Ken Sapkowski  

Greg DeWeerd phoned today.  Yesterday in his yard among other species he had Black-throated Blue Warbler and Mourning Warbler.

So even without House Finch, titmouse and pigeon, adding Ken's 2 and Greg's 2 to the group's 134 means at least 138 kinds of birds were observed in Muskegon County yesterday by members of our club.  Not bad!   - Ric

Tanager and Ovenbird at Hoffmaster Tuesday

May 15 Emails:

A friend shot these two photos in Hoffmaster yesterday.  Ovenbird is really cool..

- Greg DeWeerd

Robert deJonge wrote:

Saw these two fellows at Hoffmaster yesterday — Unfortunately was not able to get a clean shot of the Scarlet Tanager.

Thanks for the photos, Robert, and for forwarding, Greg.  - Ric

Censusing Birds Yesterday

As usual on the second Saturday in May I counted bird species at two locations for local statistics (once compiled for the North American Migration Count) still kept by Brian Johnson.

I found 46 species at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve including the Blue-winged Teal above, 10 warblers (Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-White, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, Palm and Yellow-rumped), Wood Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Virginia Rail, Sora, Green Heron, Eastern Kingbird, Marsh Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows, Baltimore Oriole and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Five more Year Birds (I'd have 125 if I were counting) were among 41 species at Black Lake Park.  I couldn't find the Connecticut Warbler Brian saw Friday near the parking lot, but did find this Gray-cheeked Thrush 

plus Sandhill Crane, Least Flycatcher, Eastern Towhee, 9 warblers (Ovenbird, waterthrush  -- could have been Northern or Louisiana -- Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Yellow, Black-throated Blue, Palm, Pine, Black-throated Green) and Scarlet Tanager.

- Ric

Tuesday at Crockery Creek Natural Area

Mike Erickson birded the Crockery Creek Natural Area yesterday and found several bird species including Scarlet Tanager, Black-and-White Warbler, Brown Thrasher, Wood Thrush, Sandhill Crane, Palm Warbler and Pileated Woodpecker.

Dowitcher and Harrier on Friday

May 5 Email:

I made a quick stop at the Wastewater on Friday. I saw what I think is a Short-Billed Dowitcher,  Also a Northern Harrier in the grass.  Have a great week!

- Kevin Feenstra

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Thanks, Kevin!  I don't do dowitchers so we'll leave it to others if that's a short-billed or long-billed.  It appears to be a young harrier.  Great shots!  (This is a recording.)  - Ric

Harbor Island and Ottawa Sands County Park

I birded Harbor Island for a couple hours this morning meeting Dick Baker and Pat Bazany along the way.  

Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets were everywhere.

 Yellow-rumped Warbler singing.

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Yellow-rumped Warbler playing peek-a-boo.

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A Ruby-crowned Kinglet sits long enough to be photographed!

Other species included Blue-winged Teal, Sora, Brown Creeper, Wood Thrush, Brown Thrasher and Common Yellowthroat.

Afterwards Pat and I birded the woodland trail at Ottawa Sands County Park.  I didn't keep a species count but added three to my Michigan Year List (now 101): Warbling Vireo, Broad-winged Hawk and White-throated Sparrow: 

Palm Warblers were plentiful at both locations:

Earlier this morning Pat birded the Hofma Preserve where she took this photo of a Cape May Warbler:

- Ric

Cold Ohio Birding

Carol and I returned today from three days of birding the Toledo area.  It was cold and wet and not very birdy Monday and Tuesday.  This morning was better.

Lark Sparrows were plentiful Monday afternoon at the Oak Openings Preserve:

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A male Eastern Towhee repeated this tail-spreading display east of the lodge; we never saw the female.  A pair of Belted Kingfishers performed a flight display over the lodge.

We counted just three warbler species (Yellow, Yellow-rumped and Black-throated Green) the first two days.  This Whip-poor-will slept on the exact same spot along one of the Magee Marsh boardwalks every single day!  We also met John Blanshine on the boardwalk on Tuesday.

There were plenty of real Bald Eagles around so we didn't need to count this stiff pair at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.

High water everywhere!  We couldn't even drive into Metzger Marsh because of the water over the road!  Finally a shift in temperatures and wind direction brought many more birds into the woods this morning.  We counted 40 species in three hours including seven more warblers (Pine, American Redstart, Palm, Black-and-White, Black-throated Blue, and Louisiana Waterthrush).

Several Broad-winged Hawks and a few Sharp-shinned Hawks migrated over the area this morning.  The sky was also full of Blue Jays and Tree Swallows.

This House Wren sang in a thicket beside the Magee Marsh boardwalk today.  The Bald Eagle mom and dad brought fish to their babies on the nest near the parking lot.  

We headed for home early this afternoon as storms returned to Toledo.  Local experts predicted this weather system would bring many more birds into the area for tomorrow, and hopefully for the 10-day national festival beginning this Friday.

- Ric