Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Rarities following Hurricane Sandy
Hey all,
The strong and consistent northerly winds associated with Hurricane Sandy are bringing in large numbers of rarities all over the place. Keep a constant eye on Lake Michigan and watch for entrained rarities.
A brief check at Holland SP in extreme conditions this morning gave me a possible Black-legged Kittiwake, a possible Cave Swallow, and a possible Little Gull. I'm not calling the official ID on any of these due to awful viewing conditions and consequently short looks at them. Waves were rolling up to 10 feet above both piers! There must be multiple Jaegers out there as well.
On the east side of Lake Michigan (where everyone is doing the birding right now), Allen Chartier reports 100+ BRANT, Red Phalarope, Black-legged Kittiwake, loons, grebes, many scoters of all species. Sabine's Gulls also are moving.
Also, watch your feeders for northern species such as Evening Grosbeaks. They have been invading Kent County already.
Get out there, and remember to be safe!
Good luck!
Zachary DeBruine
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4 comments:
Thanks for the update Zach. I'll probably check out Holland SP this evening, maybe viewing conditions will be better.
Tonight was only worse. Waves twice as high. Sleet, hail, slush, whatever you want to call it killing your binnys and camera. There were about 75 BOGU moving out beyond the piers, along with HERG. Thought I had one second-cycle GBBG, but couldn't be sure. Some BOGU were moving FAR out on the lake--like so far I thought they would drown when the next 30+ foot wave came crashing in. There were more people at Holland SP than I have ever seen even during the busiest beach season. They lined up a mile just waiting to get into the park--about a 20 minute wait.
I must've passed you on the way out! That was a long line of cars. Only saw BOGU, HERG, and RBGU. No gulls with the lovely "M" pattern on the wings (like a kittiwake/Sabines). If I were out there any longer my hands probably would've frozen off.
If any rarities made it to Lake Michigan (I'm sure plenty have) do you suppose they will stick around for a while?
Chase, these particular rarities likely won't be sticking around, but more rarities will be constantly moving in. The probability of Lake Michigan Jaegers right now is extremely high. Also, Black-legged Kittiwake and possibly Red Phalarope are still very good bets. Maybe even a straggler Brant (from that flock of 300+ in Saint Clair...). Keep checking that lake regularly through Saturday! Who knows, Sabines Gull might come down to Muskegon--check MWS too!
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