I birded the Wastewater for a couple hours this morning. Had a nice view of a male Northern Harrier hunting south of the granery and watched a flock of nine Common Redpolls feeding on the center dike.
Others in the 17 species were Bald Eagle (4), Red-tailed Hawk (2), light-morphed Rough-legged Hawk (2) and American Tree Sparrow (40).
On Thursday our neighborhood Cooper's Hawk perched in a tree out back and watched the feeders.
- Ric
On Saturday an Eastern Screech Owl, Snowy Owl, and White-winged Scoters were reported in the area of the Muskegon Channel, another Snowy on the north pier at Grand Haven, and an American Robin near Black Lake. None of these birds were seen by everyone in our January Field Trip group, but we had a good morning nonetheless. Here's a report with some pictures.
January 21 Email:
Just to finish with our new guest who is back this morning. He seems to like an old treehouse. He was just walking around up there (which previously only held up the zoom camera, hanging from front right). That camera remotely pans 360 degrees and 25 or 30x zoom so can even zoom on things across the river if I spot them. - Torsten Pawloski
Torsten Pawlowski took this photo from the Muskegon River yesterday of a young wet Bald Eagle.
Curtis Dykstra created this video about Snowy Owls and how to observe them. Many of his examples were recorded on the Muskegon Wastewater properties.
- Charlie DeWitt
Waves splashing over the south breakwall at Pere Marquette Park this morning made finding a Purple Sandpiper unlikely, but just a few minutes of binocular-scanning from the beach north of the wall produced one on the rocks halfway out to the elbow.
Three Long-tailed Ducks swam near mergansers beyond the elbow and two House Sparrows (Year Bird #36) perched on a fence near the dumpster behind the restaurant.
- Ric
January 9 Emails:
We located at least three Purple Sandpipers at Pere Marquette Park feeding along the pier before the elbow. Dozens of Long-tailed Ducks. Conditions were great! There was a Snowy Owl on top of the lighthouse that flew to the north pier fifty yards from the end sitting on the rock. We also saw a White-winged Scoter and the fourth sandpiper fly by.
- Elizabeth Miller
January 2 Email:
HAPPY NEW YEAR BIRDING ! I had a Red Crossbill at the Wastewater this afternoon! Down past the silos on Swanson along the edge of the road along with multiple American Tree Sparrows and Common Redpolls.
- Beth Miller
