Shrike at the Wastewater Today

Mike Boston sends this photo of a Northern Shrike he photographed east of the East Lagoon at “the Wastewater” today.

Two_Headed Bird -- Really !

My neighbors had this two-headed House Finch on their feeder Saturday.  At first they thought that both heads were feeding, but on closer look they saw that only the rightside head was functional, though the other one followed it up and down.  Amazing that this bird made it to adulthood!  Have any of you seen anything like this?

Lesser Black-backed Gulls at Ovals Today

A pair of lesser black-backed gulls this morning on the beach at Pere Marquete Park with ring-billed gulls.  - Fred Simmons

Little Gulls at Pere Marquette Park

August 22 Email:

I spotted a semipalmated sandpiper and a pair of little gulls feeding on my walk on the south pier this morning.

- Fred Simmons

August 17 Field Trip Report

Five people found 62 (!) bird species at the Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center (Wastewater) properties this morning.  Here is the eBird report:

Muskegon Wastewater System

Aug 17, 2024
8:35 AM
Traveling
14.94 miles
248 Minutes
All birds reported? Yes
Comments: Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 3.0.1 Build 3.0.49

12 Canada Goose
3 Wood Duck
5 Blue-winged Teal
3 Northern Shoveler
74 Mallard
1 Ruddy Duck
23 Wild Turkey
13 Mourning Dove
13 Sandhill Crane
4 Killdeer
1 Semipalmated Plover
17 Spotted Sandpiper
1 Solitary Sandpiper
5 Lesser Yellowlegs
1 Greater Yellowlegs
4 Lesser/Greater Yellowlegs
1 Sanderling
4 Baird's Sandpiper
23 Least Sandpiper
1000 Ring-billed Gull
30 Herring Gull
4 Double-crested Cormorant
1 Great Egret
3 Great Blue Heron
1 Turkey Vulture
7 Bald Eagle -- All immature. 5 Sitting on electrical posts near the landfill. 2 flying over dried cells.
1 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Belted Kingfisher
3 Downy Woodpecker
8 American Kestrel -- One family group hunting near a dry cell
5 Eastern Wood-Pewee
1 Acadian Flycatcher -- High in forest canopy giving sharp “pweek!” Call note. Have recording.
1 Empidonax sp.
1 Eastern Phoebe
2 Eastern Kingbird
3 Blue Jay
4 American Crow
6 Black-capped Chickadee
5 Tufted Titmouse
6 Tree Swallow
2 Northern Rough-winged Swallow
4 swallow sp.
4 White-breasted Nuthatch
2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
1 House Wren
1 Carolina Wren -- Cinnamon colored wren with bold eyebrow and decurved bill, calling loudly tea kettle tea kettle, tea kettle in the forest near the entrance.
800 European Starling
8 Eastern Bluebird
2 Cedar Waxwing
1 House Sparrow
4 American Goldfinch
10 Chipping Sparrow
5 Song Sparrow
2 Eastern Towhee
4 Bobolink
9 Eastern Meadowlark
1 Baltimore Oriole
1 Nashville Warbler
1 new world warbler sp. -- Yellow with eyeline
2 Northern Cardinal
4 Indigo Bunting
2 Dickcissel

Birding the MCRRC Wednesday

August 14 Email:

“I had a fun time birding the wastewater facility on Wednesday.  The water in the big lagoons was kinda low and that is where I saw most of my birds.  Making my way around the lagoons I did see Bobolinks and Meadowlarks in the pokeweed and a few ducks in the water and on the rocks.  My Sandpiper variety was pretty good which included Semipalmated, Least, Pectoral, Spotted, Stilt, and White-rumped.  I was watching a juvenile and trying to determine if it was a White-rumped or Bairds when it gave me a peek.  I also got a high-five from a Stilt.  The photography was kinda tough as I was there mid-day with a hot overhead sun but I managed to get a few decent images.   All and all it was a pretty good day and I'm looking forward to my next visit.”

Bob Kingsbury 

Lansing, MI

Muskegon’s Peregrines

Many people around Muskegon are aware by now that we have had a pair of Peregrine Falcons for several years.  Although this writer is unaware whether the current pair of parents are the ‘original’ pair that formerly nested at the power plant, it seems that they possibly are, and by all accounts, Muskegon’s current pair have been mated for several years in this area.   They seem to go back and forth between the Shoreline Inn and the former Huntington Bank building in downtown at First and Webster.  Last year, the couple had several chicks up on that inside ledge of the bank building that fell and were rescued and rehabbed.  Those chicks were released again and may have found another  area in which to launch into their own new adult lives.  

Here we are at season 2024 of the Muskegon Peregrine Falcons.  The mated pair nested once again this Spring on the upper/inner ledge of the tall building that has been undergoing update/remodel for a number of months.  The couples’ four chicks fledged at the beginning of June.  One of the chicks, a female and seemingly, the youngest, had an accident that caused it to be found on the ground, stunned and apparently unable to fly just a day after taking it’s first flight.  That little ‘gal’, like the chicks that fell from the ledge the year before, were taken to Wildside Rehab in Eaton Rapids for care.  For this year’s little female fledgling, there was nothing broken or seriously injured.  The young falcon was fed well and given opportunities to strengthen her wings and was returned to be released a week later at the former bank site.  

If you’re interested, take a walk around downtown Muskegon in the early morning or just before dusk.  It’s very possible that you’ll be in for a treat of seeing the fastest flying species of bird …or perhaps even several of them!  Some of their preferred places to perch happen to be various sides of the Shoreline Inn…look at the ledges on all of the sides.  Watch the top of the building.  Peregrine Falcons are not huge birds, but if you have binoculars or happen to have at least a 400 telephoto lens on a camera, you’ll be able to determine its identity.  

They can randomly be seen still showing up on that ledge of the bank, the Mt. Zion Church of God in Christ that is across from the nesting ledge,  In particular, the chimney of that church is attractive to the them.  Perhaps it offers a good look-out for them, while at the same time, they can be hidden from view unless the viewer looks all the way around.  The falcon family also love the United Methodist Church.  They enjoy blending in with the gargoyles and sitting at the very top of the steeple.  The tops of telephone poles are another place that they can blend in right there in plain sight.  

Muskegon is fortunate to have a mated pair of these beautiful, powerful, stealthy birds.  They help maintain the ecosystem as they target birds like pigeons, gulls, blue jays, and various black birds whose numbers are high and don’t have many other predators.  For the next few months at least, the four young fledglings of the Muskegon pair will likely stick around as the parents continue to teach them how to hunt and survive.  Over time though, they will find their own way and begin to seek their own mates, etc.  

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to watch them, learn about them and report/photograph them if seen and share that with others?!  Peregrines are in other areas of Michigan…other areas of the Country and the communities embrace them and have ‘named’ them.  The leader of Muskegon’s Nature Club, Beth Miller, who is an avid ‘birder’ and nature lover, has suggested that Muskegon’s falcons should be named.  Interested people from the community could make name suggestions. Efforts are hoped to continue that will educate all viewers more about Muskegon’s Peregrine pair.  It is hoped that before nesting occurs next season that a falcon nesting box can be constructed and placed in that ledge area where the falcons have nested for the last couple years.  Also, the Mt. Zion Church that is directly across from the ledge is considering allowing a video cam being placed at a point from where the falcons and their potential offspring may be viewed right from the beginning next year.  

What are people in Muskegon thinking/feeling about this??  Are you interested in these birds and learning more about them?  

One more note:  The female chick that required time at Wildside Rehab in Eaton Rapids was banded prior to her release back to freedom in Muskegon early in June.  It will be clear who she is around Muskegon as she is the only one of her siblings or her family who is banded. 

- Ruth Achterhoff Aust

Least Bitterns at MNLP Sunday

 June 9 Email:

This is one of two Least Bitterns I saw this morning at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve.

- Mike Boston

Great photo!  Thanks, Mike.  - Ric

Baby Peregrines !

This afternoon Beth Miller reports Peregrine Falcon chicks again this season on the roof of the bank in downtown Muskegon.  She thinks there are three nestlings and sends these three pictures of newborns plus an adult atop the nearby church.

Photos by Tori Martel

Crane Chicks and Northern Lights

 May 13 Email:

Hi Ric, the Sandhill Cranes hatched, 2 days old in these.  Also some of this past weekend’s northern lights show.  - Don Neumann

Thanks, Don.  Great photos!  - Ric

Golden-winged Warbler at SGA

May 6 Email:

Hey Ric,

I saw this guy at the State Game Area this morning.

Mike Boston

Thanks, Mike.  I think seeing a Golden-winged Warbler out there might be good for birders.  The Blue-winged’s and Golden-winged’s crossbreed and create some hybrids (Brewster’s and Lawrence’s) before the Golden-winged’s disappear.  For awhile we might see any of the four types.  - Ric

Happy Birthday Birds

 April 30 Email:

“Glen took me birthday birding ALL DAY LONG today!  I thought you might enjoy these pictures.  A Cape May warbler in April !!!”

- Beth Miller

Thanks, Beth!  I’m calling your birds Warbling Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler and Cape May Warbler.  Happy Birthday!

- Ric

White-eyed Vireo at MLNP

Beth Miller sends these three pictures of the White-eyed Vireo that was at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve.

Three Recent Photos

Thanks to Don Neumann for sending these recent photos of a Sandhill Crane on its nest, a Bald Eagle parent at its nest in Spring Lake, and a Red-tailed Hawk on the Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center properties.

End of an Era?

I birded the Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center properties this morning finding 25 species and 7 Year Birds (Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Killdeer, Song Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark) along with Rough-legged Hawk, Common Raven and Sandhill Crane.

More significant, however, was the barricade across Swanson Road south of Apple Ave. and the missing woods on both sides of Swanson just beyond the ditch!  We knew that sooner or later that land would become a solar energy array, and it looks as if the time has come.  :-(