Bad Day for the Easter Bunny

March 31 Email:

Here's a photo of an Ottawa County Great Horned Owl with owlets.  Should any club members want to see them, have them contact me.  Otherwise I'm keeping the location quiet.

- Ken Sapkowski

Easter morning explanation:  "Bad Day for the Easter Bunny" was Ken's subject line on his email yesterday.   However, I did not get it, so I simply posted the photo as an adult owl with young (thinking the third gray lump on the left was another owlet).  Thanks to Ken for setting me straight; that's a rabbit! 

- Ric

Redtail Captures Muskrat?

March 19 Email:

Saw this guy this morning.  I think he had a muskrat.  - Carol Cooper

"This guy" appears to be a young Red-tailed Hawk.  Carol took the photo with her iPhone.  - Ric

Rusty Blackbirds Saturday Afternoon

March 17 Email:

We had at least 4 Rusty Blackbirds calling past the Muskegon County State Game Area headquarters at the yellow gate at the end of Messinger Road shortly after noon today.

- Ken Sapkowski

46 Species at the Wastewater This Morning

Noteworthy among the 46 species counted on our field trip to the Wastewater properties this morning were Snowy Owl, Wilson's Snipe, Pine Siskin, Rough-legged Hawk (one dark, one light morph), Sandhill Crane, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Northern Shrike.  More details are posted on our homepage.

Afterward Marc Miedema saw five Greater White-fronted Geese west of Swanson Road north of the Musketawa Trail.

Quiet Morning East of Muskegon

With visions of longspurs in my head (Ken's report below), I drove around some farmland east of Ravenna this morning before heading to the Wastewater.  Very little bird life out there; a Wild Turkey, some Killdeer, etc., but no longspurs.

I counted 19 bird species at the Wastewater, nothing remarkable.  An American Tree Sparrow, a few Song Sparrrows and three Horned Larks on the southside.  No shrike.

I'm guessing this piece of equipment on the southside

has to do with windmills?

A male Belted Kingfisher was on the landfill fence by the East Lagoon and this male Hooded Merganser (and a pair of Common Mergansers) were far down the White Road ditch east of Swanson.  Two visiting birders said they'd had Eastern Meadowlarks in the cells between White and the West Lagoon this morning.

- Ric

Lapland Longspurs Reported

March 8 to Mich-Listers:

NE corner of Ottawa County.  8th Ave 200 yds north of Truman.  Homogenous flock of 150-200 birds.  Look for a yellow post and a small area to pull off and point your car east.  Some of the corn rows have bare ground today and they were in there thick.  About 60 yards out.

-  Ken Sapkowski

A Hawk with a Headache

March 4 Email:

This morning we heard a loud “thunk” on one of our windows and looked out to see what was going on. We saw a raptor lying on the deck, so I went out, covered it with a towel, wrapped it up, and put it into a large shopping bag. The bird started stirring before I could even get back into the house, so I opened the bag and the bird fluttered out and landed on the railing. It appeared to be an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk.  I took these pictures.

- Jim & Tracy Zervos

Thanks for sharing the experience and the pictures!  - Ric

The Migration Is Underway

I was down in Ohio last week with limited time on the computer.  Several people sent me information about Muskegon birds: Greg DeWeerd a light-morph Rough-legged Hawk southeast of Muskegon, Ted Ogren a Great Horned Owl and Northern Shrike on Harbor Island in Grand Haven, Ken Sapkowski waterbirds on the fields near the Musketawa Trail along Swanson Road (see Mike Boston's report below) plus a Killdeer, and this Friday email and photo from Jim Zervos sent from his iPad:

Ric, I was out birding today and found a large raft of mostly Canvasbacks and Greater Scaup on White Lake at the dead end of White Lake Drive.  The most Canvasbacks I have ever seen in one raft.

Fortunately Charlie DeWitt posted the stuff below last week so the site stayed "active".   

At my son's place north of Dayton the robins and vultures were already everywhere and I was able to distinguish his Carolina Chickadees (from the Black-capped's we have up here) with some good views.  

The migration seems underway everywhere!

- Ric