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