14 People 45 Species This Morning

Feller DeWitt's Ottawa County Field Trip went well this cold cloudy morning.

Beginning at Chinook Pier in downtown Grand Haven we traveled to Harbor Island and then the fisherman's parking lot at the State Park seeing 29 species along the way including White-winged Scoter, Red-necked Grebe, Peregrine Falcon, Common Grackle, Glaucous Gull, Great Black-backed Gull (5 at Harbor Island), Killdeer and Hooded Merganser.

At Pigeon Lake near the Campbell Power Plant we added 5 more species including Pied-billed Grebe.  Along Crosswell Road on our way to Hemlock Crossing were 2 more: Pileated Woodpecker and Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Hemlock Crossing gave us 11 more including Downy, Red-bellied and Harry Woodpeckers, Red-tailed Hawk and American Tree Sparrow.

March 20 Meeting & Program

Post-meeting Update:  Thirty people heard from Anita Friend of Muskegon County Wastewater regarding the upcoming project to maintain bluebird boxes along the trails near W.W. headquarters.  Then Zachary DeBruine presented his program regarding eBird and the many new and innovative features there.

More Awards and Brian's Program

At our February 20 meeting Ric Pedler was honored for finishing last in the club's birding contest for the past five years.  The certificate was presented by Feller and Charlie DeWitt, the trophy was created by Dee DeWitt, and somewhere in the background lurked Ken Sapkowski.  Thanks to Carol Cooper for the presentation photograph.

Afterward Brian Johnson presented his program about bird migration and his bird banding project at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve.

January Trip Nets 27 Species Plus Surf Scoter

On Saturday morning ten of us birded the Wastewater and eight of us the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve finding 24 and 13 species respectively.  We had a "merganser trifecta" (common, red-breasted, hooded), snow buntings and owl, lots of goldeneyes, and six bald eagles (three at each location).

Afterward we enjoyed lunch at the Main Street Cafe in North Muskegon.  Ken and his magic bird-finder (Glenda) left the party early to find this male Surf Scoter in the Muskegon Channel.

Twenty-seven total species for the morning, not counting the channel birds, and good companionship made for a great day.

Ken Sapkowski Best Birder of 2013

Muskegon, Jan. 16, 2014 (AP):  Ken Sapkowski reaped numerous awards for his astounding 291 bird species listed in 2013.  That number may have been even higher had he counted Whooping Cranes, Barnacle Geese, Cockatiels, road kill, etc.

After receiving his spiral notebook pencil-engraved certificate from club president Ric Pedler, Ken accepted Charlie DeWitt's three-penny monetary prize (based on 1/100 cent per species rounded to the nearest hundredth) with accompanying plaque

and the prestigious trophy created by Feller and Dee DeWitt.

Parcipants in the 2013 MCNC Listing Contest:  Charlie DeWitt, Feller DeWitt, Ken Sapkowski, Ric Pedler and Carol Cooper.

1,729 Birds, 49 Species on Muskegon CBC

On December 28, 2013, several of us surveyed the North, Central and South Zones on our annual City of Muskegon Christmas Bird Count.  We found 1,729 individual birds among these 49 species:

Mute Swan, Wood Duck, Mallard, Canvasback, Greater Scaup, White-winged & Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded & Common & Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, Wild Turkey, Horned Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin, Ring-billed & Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Snowy Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Red-headed & Red-bellied & Downy & Hairy & Pileated Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Horned Lark, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Red- & White- breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, European Starling, American Tree & House Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, House Finch and American Goldfinch.

Roughleg and Horned Grebe on Northside Trip

Six people braved the cold and snow yesterday on our Northside Field Trip observing 16 bird species at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve and 11 species at Snug Harbor in Muskegon State Park.

- Carol Cooper

MLNP:  Mute Swan, Mallard, Blue Jay, Mourning Dove, Rough-legged Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, Bufflehead, Canada Goose, Bald Eagle, American Tree Sparrow, Black-capped Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker, House Finch, American Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Snug Harbor:  Mute Swan, Horned Grebe, Hooded Merganser, Common Goldeneye, White-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Bald Eagle, Dark-eyed Junco, Hairy Woodpecker, American Crow and Duck Decoys.

This is birding?

photo of John Walhout by Charlie DeWitt

Nature Club Tri-Fold Display

CHOICE ONE EXPO

Saturday November 9:  Ric took the tri-fold display that Judy Fleener created to the Moss Ridge Country Club east of Ravenna today and presented information and handed out brochures to many of the participants who strolled by our table.

Mocker and Shrike on Upper Mac Field Trip

Liz Notman led sixteen club members and others around the Upper Macatawa Natural Area this morning.  Besides dodging raindrops, we saw a good number of individual birds and some excellent species.

Of special note were a Northern Mockingbird along the paved trail between the parking lot and the overlook and a Northern Shrike perched on a marsh snag south of the trail.  Here is Travis Dewys' photo of the mockingbird and the eBird report for the morning.

Oct 19, 2013
Upper Macatawa Natural Area
Traveling
1 mile
150 Minutes
Observers: 17

25 Canada Goose
8 Mallard
1 Great Blue Heron
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
1 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Killdeer
10 Herring/Ring-billed Gull
30 Mourning Dove
3 Northern Flicker
1 Northern Shrike
6 Blue Jay
1 American Crow
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
3 Eastern Bluebird
6 American Robin
1 Northern Mockingbird
12 European Starling
10 Yellow-rumped Warbler
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 Eastern Towhee -- female (probably 2)
1 Fox Sparrow
1 Swamp Sparrow
2 White-throated Sparrow
12 White-crowned Sparrow
2 Northern Cardinal
12 Red-winged Blackbird
3 House Finch
2 American Goldfinch

12 Participants 28 Species on September Trip

Ken Sherburn led a group of twelve people on our field trip to Oceana County this morning.  Two hours at Gale's Pond produced 22 species of birds.  After breakfast at Sadey's Restaurant in Walkerville an hour along the east side of the Walkinshaw Sanctuary added 6 more species.  eBird reports:

Sep 21, 2013
Gale's Pond
Traveling
1 mile
120 Minutes
Observers: 12
All birds reported? Yes
Comments: MCNC Field Trip

27 Canada Goose
2 Wood Duck
1 Mallard
1 Sandhill Crane
3 Mourning Dove
1 Belted Kingfisher
1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 Northern Flicker
1 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Blue Jay
2 American Crow
6 Black-capped Chickadee
1 American Robin
1 Gray Catbird
1 European Starling
2 Magnolia Warbler
1 Black-throated Green Warbler
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 Northern Cardinal
36 Red-winged Blackbird
3 House Finch

Sep 21, 2013
Walkinshaw Wetlands
Traveling
3 miles
60 Minutes
Observers: 11
All birds reported? Yes
Comments: MCNC Field Trip

7 Canada Goose
1 Mallard
1 Great Blue Heron
4 Turkey Vulture
1 Red-tailed Hawk
9 Sandhill Crane
1 Rock Pigeon
3 Mourning Dove
1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
3 Blue Jay
3 American Crow
3 Palm Warbler
1 Common Yellowthroat
3 Song Sparrow
8 Red-winged Blackbird
60 blackbird sp.
3 American Goldfinch