Pine Warbler at Black Lake Park

Pine Warbler

Took a walk at Black Lake Park today and found this Pine Warbler.

Charlie DeWitt

Long-tailed Duck Last Week

Carol Cooper sends this photo taken April 21 of a Long-tailed Duck at the rocks on the pier head at Pere Marquette Park.

Martins and Caspian Tern at Grand Haven

Purple Martin

Caspian Tern

On Saturday, April 27, I was at the Grand Haven north pier and noticed Purple Martins using the nest boxes that are just north of the parking lot.  I also got my First of the Year Caspian Tern.  

Charlie DeWitt

Birds at Wastewater Friday

Dan Lockard sends these photos from the Wastewater yesterday: American Kestrel, Common Goldeneye, Horned Grebe, Ruddy Ducks, Scaup species (Lesser, I think), Wilson's Phalaropes and Red-tailed Hawk.

- Ric

Black Lake Park

Green Darner

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Brown Creeper

This might sound like heresy, but I went to Black Lake Park looking for Green Darner dragonflies and Mourning Cloak butterflies.  I found 4 Green Darners and 2 Mourning Cloaks.  The butterflies would not sit still for pictures and the dragonflies weren't much better.  I did see a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a few other species of birds.

Charlie DeWitt

Brown Thrasher at MLNP

April 24 Email:

The Brown Thrasher has been around at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve for a few days now.  Today it came into the bird station and enjoyed some peanut butter.

Carol Cooper

Ahhh, Just to Sit on the Deck

Between yesterday and today I've had Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, European Starlings, Mourning Doves, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Dark-eyed Juncos, various sparrows, Common Grackles, White-breasted Nuthatches, Northern Flickers, Northern Cardinals, and an American Robin sitting on my suet feeder (first time I've seen that).

In the wetland I've had Great Blue Heron, Canada Geese, Wood Ducks, Pied-billed Grebes, Mallards, Buffleheads, Cooper's Hawk (hunting), Belted Kingfisher, Great Horned Owl (in the trees of course), Red-shouldered Hawk (also hunting), and a Hooded Merganser taking up residence in my duck house!

I'm sure I've forgotten a few, but other than that, it's been pretty boring around here.  ;)

Mike VanderStelt

Hummingbirds and Other New Arrivals Tuesday

Today Ken Sapkowski reports that Louisiana Waterthrushes are back at Patterson Park, Upland Sandpipers and Wilson Snipe are around the Wastewater, and Swamp Sparrows are back at Lane's Landing.  This morning Paula Wiggins had a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at her feeder north of the Muskegon River.  This was surprising because she doesn't usually put her feeder out until Mother's Day, suggesting that we all might get our hummer feeders out now if they're not up already.

Spring Birds on Monday

Roxanne Eacker sends these photos of a Brown Thrasher and female Red-winged Blackbird at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve yesterday.

Birds at Wastewater on Monday

Great Egret

 Eastern Kingbird

Wilson's Snipe

Today I took a ride to the Muskegon County Wastewater to see if I could find the White-faced Ibis that was reported on 04-20-2013.  No luck!  I did find a Great Egret at Swanson and Laketon and Eastern Kingbird and Wilson's Snipe in the rapid infiltration area.  There was a Brown Thrasher in the brush on the edge of the rapid infiltration area.

Charlie DeWitt

Horned Grebes at Little Black Lake

Horned Grebes

Horned Grebe

Horned Grebe

Wood Ducks

I went for a walk at Black Lake Park and found a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  Not much else going on at the park.  On the way home I stopped at the bridge on Wood Road.  There were 6 Horned Grebes on the east side of the bridge.  I watched and took pictures for an hour.  On several occasions I saw a grebe come to the surface with a worm. 

Charlie DeWitt

Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Nature Preserve

I had my first-of-the-year Ruby-crowned Kinglet at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve today, April 21st.  I also saw 70 plus Bonaparte's Gulls and an Osprey at the east end of White Lake in Whitehall.

Mike Boston

Avocets at Lake Harbor Park

April 19 Email:

I spotted 12 American Avocets this afternoon in Muskegon County at Lake Harbor Park. They were near the bridge over Mona Lake channel. They were hanging out with Mallards!

Jennifer Reck

Loons and Other April Waterbirds

As in past years, I have been monitoring the migration over Lake Michigan from various shoreline vantages in Muskegon County. Not surprisingly, the persistence of chilly temperatures delayed strong movements of most aquatic and terrestrial birds.

Localized flights of Long-tailed Ducks, Common Goldeneyes, and Red-breasted Mergansers comprised the bulk of winter totals, but during the last week of March, numbers of other waterfowl finally surged, and by mid-April diversity has reached a maximum. Other waterbirds and raptors are quickly becoming more numerous, and in the last two days, morning flights of passerines over the dunes have grown significant.

Nearly 200 Common Loons have passed so far this month, but the best flight occurred on April 7, when I tallied 92 in 2.5 hours. This total surpasses my previous high count of 87 from November 10, 2009.

My peak for Tundra Swans this spring was 102 on April 5. Unlike most other species, these fly northwest over Lake Michigan, so they can be quite high after crossing the dunes. Glaucous Gulls have passed regularly this year, 26 Caspian Terns on April 15 was a nice total, and my first Forster's Tern appeared on April 12.

Brian Johnson

Wednesday Birding

White-throated Sparrow

I did some birding at the Muskegon State Game Area this morning.  If you are going to bird this area, the bridge over the Maple River behind the state game area Headquarters building has 3 to 4 inches of water over it.  Also on the south side of the Maple River the trail that goes west has one place that has 6 to 8 inches of flowing water over it.  Boots are a must.

Charlie DeWitt