Long-Tailed Duck

Thanks to Mike Phillips for sending a photo he took this afternoon of a Long-tailed Duck in the Muskegon Channel.

Short-eared Owl Saturday Evening

Yesterday at 5:35 p.m. Ken Sapkowski saw a Short-eared Owl "take off" and fly southwest from the RC airport on the south Wastewater properties.

Perhaps a Snowy Owl?

After posting this morning's field trip on our homepage and the redpoll/siskin report (below), I found this email from Charlie DeWitt (who was on today's trip):

Ric, I think we have better than a 75% chance that the "white bump" on Muskegon Lake was a snowy.  Look at the lighting in the two pictures.  It appears to show movement.  You still can't blow the picture up and get detail, but I think it shows movement.

Chas

Below are the two pictures Charlie sent.  But before looking at them, please be aware that if that is a Snowy Owl, all credit goes to Susan Herrick who somehow saw it from the nature preserve way way way way out on the ice of Muskegon Lake.  Our group had no spotting scope, but Charlie's telephoto lens was the next best thing, and these photos are the result:  

Comments welcome!

- Ric

Siskins and Redpolls at Muskegon State Park

At 11:30 this morning Carol Cooper, Susan Herrick, Ric Pedler, Ken Sherburn and John Walhout watched a mixed group of finches fly into the treetops along Lost Lake Trail just north of the Snug Harbor fisherman's parking lot.  Roughly a quarter of the flock was Common Redpolls, the others about half American Goldfinches and half Pine Siskins.

Three of the Common Redpolls

The flock foraged mostly in the high branches, but a few near the ground, for at least fifteen minutes before moving on.

Shortly after their departure, a dozen Cedar Waxwings also visited that area.

More details and photos from this field trip are posted on our homepage.

Muskegon City Christmas Bird Count Data

As posted previously (see Dec. 24 below) we conducted our annual City of Muskegon Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017.

Thanks to the 16 participants, particularly Brian Johnson, Feller DeWitt, Bonnie Kot and Steve Minard for helping to compile the numbers.

The Bird of the Day was a Marsh Wren.  Common Ravens weren't bad either!  

The final tally included 58 species and 5,279 individual birds:

2 Canada Goose, 39 Mute Swan, 4 Tundra Swan, 31 swan species, 6 Gadwall, 1 American Black Duck, 148 Mallard, 7 Canvasback, 53 Redhead, 1 Greater Scaup, 121 scaup species, 2,568 Long-tailed Duck, 1 Bufflehead, 12 White-winged Scoter, 408 Common Goldeneye, 3 Hooded Merganser, 376 Common Merganser, 93 Red-breasted Merganser, 3 Red-throated Loon, 162 duck species,

32 Wild Turkey, 2 Horned Grebe, 3 Great Blue Heron, 1 Cooper's Hawk, 10 Bald Eagle, 3 Red-shouldered Hawk, 4 Red-tailed Hawk, 2 American Coot, 212 Ring-billed Gull, 301 Herring Gull, 64 gull species, 127 Rock Pigeon, 27 Mourning Dove, 2 Snowy Owl, 2 Belted Kingfisher, 9 Red-bellied Woodpecker, 13 Downy Woodpecker, 4 Hairy Woodpecker, 2 Northern Flicker, 5 Pileated Woodpecker, 

1 American Kestrel, 1 Northern Shrike, 35 Blue Jay, 58 American Crow, 2 Common Raven, 72 Black-capped Chickadee, 11 Tufted Titmouse, 5 Red-breasted Nuthatch, 16 White-breasted Nuthatch, 1 Marsh Wren, 15 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 7 Eastern Bluebird, 1 American Robin, 5 Cedar Waxwing, 9 European Starling, 

17 American Tree Sparrow, 22 Dark-eyed Junco, 1 Song Sparrow, 25 Northern Cardinal, 25 House Finch, 67 American Goldfinch and 19 House Sparrow.

- Ric

Golden Eagles Finally Reported at Wastewater

Thanks to Ken Sapkowski for emailing us several reports (Jim Zervos, Stan Lilley, Miles McNally, Gerry Ziarno) from Friday through Sunday of at least two Golden Eagles at the Muskegon County Wastewater properties.  I think they've been seen at the WW every winter for the last ten years, but this is the first I'd heard of them this year.

- Ric

British Photographer Visited Recently

January 13 Email:

Hi,

While visiting Grand Rapids from the UK over Christmas and New Year, I was privileged to visit the Muskegon Wastewater Treatment Plant to attempt some wildlife photography.

I was fortunate to see some Bald Eagles and a beautiful Snowy Owl; however, I got some shots of another bird that I am struggling to identify and wondered if you could help me.

I thought it might have been a Rough-legged Hawk; however, there is no clear barring on the tail, so I am at a loss to say what the bird is.

I am attaching the photos I took, but they are not great (dark bird against bright background), and I have had to tweak them quite a bit.

Any help you can offer would be most appreciated.

Thanks for your time

Regards,

Eddie Conway

Northumberland

UK

Mr. Conway figured correctly, Rough-legged Hawk (dark morph).  According to Jerry Liguori's Hawks from Every Angle, "many" adult male Rough-legged Hawks have "multiple narrow black bands" in their tails" (so not "all"), and his photographs on page 75 of flying dark-morph roughlegs seen from below show everything from very visible bands to no visible bands at all.  Thanks to Mr. Conway for the report and photos!   - Ric

January Baths

 House Finches

 House Finches and Pine Siskin on right

Pine Siskin

While I was watching my feeders this afternoon, I noticed birds on my plant stand.  It had water in it and the birds were taking baths, so I took some pictures.  When I downloaded the pictures, I saw that one bird was a Pine Siskin, #47 for the year.  I also had Dark-eyed Juncos and American Goldfinch taking baths.

- Charlie DeWitt

Meadowlark and Glaucous Gull

January 6 Email:

I saw a Meadowlark, presumably an Eastern but I didn't hear it sing, on Swanson Rd about halfway between White Rd and Apple Ave today. There was also a Glaucous Gull among a group of Herring Gulls on the east lagoon near the landfill. 

- Mike Boston