Black Lake This Morning

Close encounters with a Common Yellowthroat, Great Crested Flycatcher and Veery added to the beauty of this morning's birding at Black Lake Park.  

Thanks to Charlie DeWitt last Saturday for identifying a female Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly for us on the Howard Christensen field trip.  That helped when I saw this pretty green guy this morning.  No three spots on the wings (see female photo here) indicated this was a male (and I confirmed that with Charlie before posting it here). 

Male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly

I found 27 bird species in two hours, none of them out-of-the-ordinary.  Several mosquitoes found me.

- Ric

Cecropia Moth

Mike Vanderstelt photographed this large insect at his place yesterday:

Cecropia Moth

June Field Trip Report

Yesterday ten of us found 43 bird species at the Howard Christensen Nature Center during our first field trip since the Covid-19 shut-down.  Details and photos here.

Mmmmm. Delicious !

So Torsten Pawlowski got more than a hummingbird at his feeder up on the Muskegon River.

Ottawa Sands County Park Saturday

The lake with a Tree Swallow overhead.

I spent a couple of hours walking the trails at Ottawa Sands County Park this cool, windy morning finding 29 bird species and a pretty butterfly along the way.  Water was high, including in the woods where some parts looked like ponds. 

Male Mallard on water deep in the woods.

Other species included Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Eastern Wood-pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Warbling and Red-eyed Vireos, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Tree and Barn Swallows, Song and Chipping Sparrows, and Yellow Warbler.

Spotted Sandpiper

Red-spotted Purple Admiral (?) Butterfly

- Ric

Field Trips Resume !

For the first time since February, our club will conduct its monthly field trip on Saturday morning, June 20, 2020.  Click here for details.

Watching Today’s Sunrise

Mike VanderStelt sends this picture of Rambi (on the left) and his female Mourning Dove friend watching this morning’s sunrise from the railing on Mike’s deck.

Searching for an Upland Sandpiper

Today I spent some enjoyable time at three locations with Bruce Matasick from Indiana.  We missed on our target bird, Upland Sandpiper, despite spending a few hours on the south Wastewater fields.

We did find a Year Bird, Green-winged Teal, on the east lagoon.

The Wastewater also provided plenty of Dickcissels and Eastern Meadowlarks, two Common Ravens, and a few Grasshopper Sparrows and Bobolinks:
 

A Cerulean Warbler sang repeatedly from the north side of the Maple River west of the DNR headquarters at the Muskegon State Game Area.  We also saw American Redstart and Belted Kingfisher there, and a Wood Thrush walking the Lane's Landing road.
 
- Ric

Blackbird Versus Heron

The Great Blue Heron was not bothered at all by the Red-winged Blackbird.

- Charlie DeWitt

Ruddy Turnstones at Grand Haven

There were 3 Ruddy Turnstones on the Grand Haven north pier this afternoon.  They were first reported by Carl and Judy Manning.

- Charlie DeWitt

Crane Family at Snug Harbor

Carol Cooper phoned this afternoon to report a baby Sandhill Crane with its parents at Snug Harbor.