Avocet and Rough-legged Hawk at Wastewater

I walked some paths and two-tracks on the Wastewater fields south of Laketon this morning unsuccessfully searching for Bobolinks but finding two new routes to the second Clay Pond now that Seba is cut off by the ditch.  I found 36 common species, many of them with youngsters.

Behind schedule on the return to my car, I encountered Tom Beekie who reported some remarkable stuff north of Apple: an American Avocet in full breeding plumage in the drawn-down churning lagoon (Tom thought female from the curvature of the beak), Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpipers and a light-morph Rough-legged Hawk south of the East Lagoon near the Landfill.

Tom doesn't eBird and wasn't sure how to send email attachments, but the pictures he had in his camera (one sharp photo of the hawk perched, one out of focus as it flew off, but clear enough to show white tail feathers and broad dark terminal band) were definitely of a Rough-legged Hawk.  Maybe too injured to migrate?  I had no time to check these myself.  What follows are pictures of stuff I saw and my eBird report.

I didn't realize this was one of Brian's banded Grasshopper Sparrows until I uploaded the image to my computer:

The second Clay Pond now has an east-west berm running along its north side and seems to have less water than in 2012.

An adult Red-tailed Hawk screamed from the edge of the woods east of the pond all morning.  As I approached, I heard the squeaky cries of her fledgling(s) deeper in the woods.  Mom flew out and circled me screaming constantly both times that I walked by.  For someone who had obviously eaten a good breakfast, she seemed in a foul mood.

This Vesper Sparrow evaded me behind clumps of grass:

Along the new ditch I came upon a mother Spotted Sandpiper and her youngster.  It ran left, right, forward and back successfully blurring all pictures as Mom screamed for it to run away from the big bad birder.

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- Ric

Muskegon Wastewater System--Laketon/Swanson Fields
Jul 11, 2014 8:35 AM - 11:10 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
35 species (+1 other taxa)

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  2
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)  2
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  1    Plus 1 fledgling.
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)  6    Plus 2 fledglings
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  3    Plus 1 fledgling
Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda)  3    Plus two fledglings.
gull sp. (Larinae sp.)  24
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  5
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  1
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)  1
Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus)  1
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)  1
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)  2
Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)  3
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  6
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  2
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  2
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  2
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  2
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)  1
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)  2
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)  1
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)  2    Plus 2 fledglings
Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)  2
Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus)  3
Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum)  12
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  12
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  1
Dickcissel (Spiza americana)  3
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  24
Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)  4
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)  1
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  4