October 17 Field Trip Report

Nine of us met at Snug Harbor Saturday morning to bird that area and the trail out to Lost Lake.

Birders at Sunrise by Carol Cooper

Looking at LBJ's by Carol Cooper

There were many Little Brown Jobs along the way, some eventually identified as sparrows (Song, Swamp, White-crowned-, White-throated-) or thrushes (mostly Hermits, one Swainson's).

 

Swamp Sparrow by Charlie DeWitt

Hermit Thrush by Charlie DeWitt

An adult Bald Eagle flew around the harbor early and this third-year bird perched and flew around Lost Lake later:

Bald Eagle by Charlie DeWitt

A female Rose-breasted Grosbeak watched us as we returned on the Lost Lake Trail.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak by Charlie DeWitt

Other species included Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets; Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied and Pileated Woodpeckers; Belted Kingfisher; Winter Wren; Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawk, Eastern Bluebird; and Wood Duck.

Meetings, Programs, Field Trips, and CBC's

Unfortunately Covid conditions will prevent our conducting indoor meetings and programs for the indefinite future.  The November meeting is canceled.

We will hold our November 21 field trip following social-distancing guidelines.  Further details will be posted on this page.

The National Audubon Society will announce by November 15 whether Christmas Bird Counts will be canceled this year or conducted following proper Covid safety procedures.  That message will be posted on this page.

September 19 Field Trip Report

Eight of us enjoyed this cold sunny morning at two locations.  We began with temperatures in the 30's at the northside of the Grand Haven Channel.  During our 90 minutes we identified only 10 species, but a few of those made the morning special.

After seeing what was probably the Redknot, a Common Tern (photo above), and a smaller shorebird further out the wall, we walked in that direction.  Just after we realized that the smaller bird was a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, ...

... it was chased off the wall by a Merlin!  For almost a minute the falcon chased the sandpiper northwest over Lake Michigan, zigging and zagging and almost catching it before giving up the chase.

Walking back we enjoyed good views of this Black-bellied Plover.

Then someone noticed that the Buff Breasted Sandpiper had returned to the wall west of us.  It was a Lifer species for some on this trip!  Beth walked all the way back to the bird, lay down on her side, and snapped the bird up close and personal.

Afterward we headed over to the Ottawa Sands County Park.  

There we encountered the Ottawa County field trip group and found (by my count) 33 bird species.  Notable among these were several Wood Duck and a Green Heron hiding in marshy cover, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Sharp-shinned Hawk (2 migrating), Bald Eagle (1 immature), 7 Red-tailed Hawks (4 adults flying around the eagle nest hill all morning, 3 others apparently migrating), Peregrine Falcon, Eastern Towhee, Palm Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler (1 male and 1 first fall female).

When we quit at noon the temperature had climbed well into the 50's.  It was beautiful, but it still didn't feel like summer even though it was.

- Ric

September Meeting Canceled / Field Trip On

 

September 17 Meeting  CANCELED  due to Covid-19.

September 19 Field Trip

Social-distancing, meet from 8:00-8:15 a.m. on the north side of the Grand Haven Channel (Northshore Drive west from Ferrysburg to Lake Michigan, then south to the parking lot beside the channel).  After birding there for awhile, we'll return north and east to Ottawa Sands County Park (south side of Northshore Drive about 1/2 mile east of Lake Michigan; parking available on both sides of the road).  We will bird the fields, woods and marshy shoreline of the small lake until about noon. 

August 15 Un-Trip Report

photo by Carol Cooper

Eleven people drove around the Muskegon County Wastewater properties this morning communicating with walkie-talkies and occasionally getting out of their cars to see a nice variety of late-summer birds.

Notable sightings included Blue- and Green-winged Teal; Ruby-throated Hummingbird; Sandhill Crane; Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs; Baird's, Pectoral and Solitary Sandpipers; Northern Harrier; Cooper's Hawk; Tree, Bank, Barn and Cliff Swallows; Common Raven, Chipping, Field, Savannah and Song Sparrows; Bobolink and Yellow Warbler.

Although not an "official field trip" due to Covid conditions, the group still found 54 "unofficial" bird species.

Ottawa County Book Now Available

Aug. 10 Update (see July 30 post below).

Birds of Ottawa County: An Annotated Checklist  ($14.95) is now for sale at The Bookman in Grand Haven, Reader's World Bookstore in Holland, or by visiting the Ottawa County Parks main office located in the County Fillmore Government Complex, 12220 Fillmore St., in West Olive on Monday or Thursday from 10 am to 2 pm.  The book can also be ordered by phone from the Ottawa County Parks office at 616-738-4810 with an additional shipping fee.   

- Chip Francke

Regarding Programs and Field Trips

Good News/Bad News regarding 2020-2021 Programs:

We've filled the first four dates of our schedule, September through January (see details in the Sidebar).  However, we have no programs lined up for February, March and April nor any prospects at this time for presenters on those dates.  If you have ideas regarding possible programs for those dates, please contact me as soon as possible.  Thanks!

Field Trips for the upcoming season are now posted in the Sidebar.  Hopefully most of these can be conducted as in the past, but that will be dependent on pandemic conditions.

As a field trip date, consider August 15 CANCELED.  

However, some of us will still be on the Muskegon County Wastewater properties that morning from 8:30 until noon.  For car-to-car communication, we will have Walkie-Talkies tuned to Channel 11, Subchannel 0.  If others are present when we get out of our cars, we'll wear masks and maintain a safe social distance.  That will be a bit cumbersome, but no bird sighting is worth anyone's contracting Covid-19.

- Ric

Ottawa County Bird Guide Updated

Birds of Ottawa County, Michigan:

 An Annotated Checklist

Five Year Update and Photo Supplement

 

Birds of Ottawa County, Michigan: An Annotated Checklist by Chip Francke, Carl Manning, and Judi Manning was published in 2015 and covered bird records in Ottawa County through 22 April 2015.  The Five Year Update (35 pages) includes bird records from 22 April 2015 through 31 May 2020.  

It is Important to note that this Update does not replace Birds of Ottawa County, Michigan: An Annotated Checklist, but is an addendum to the original publication.  Ownership of the original book and this Update are needed to have all the information required for a full understanding of the data and information in both documents.  In addition to the Five Year Update, there is a color Photo Supplement created by Judi Manning that includes 53 photos of new county records as well as other uncommon to rare birds that have been seen in Ottawa County since 2015. 

 

If you already own Birds of Ottawa County, Michigan: An Annotated Checklist, you can download and print/view the Update and Photo Supplement at the following link:

 

https://www.miottawa.org/Parks/birding.htm

 

Thanks,  Chip Francke 

July Field Trip Canceled

For various reasons we canceled our July 18 Field Trip.  

June 20 Field Trip Report

photo by Carol Cooper

Ten people showed up at the Howard Christensen Nature Center Saturday morning for our first field trip since the Corona/Covid closures.  There were plenty of birds vocalizing on the property and despite the summer foliage, several showed themselves. 

Eastern Bluebird by Charlie DeWitt

We also enjoyed seeing several other plants and animals. 

 Male Common Whitetail Dragonfly

Female Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly

  Huge Snapping Turtle by Carol Cooper

Green Frogs by Carol Cooper

As usual, Veerys sang and called all along our walk, as did Wood Thrushes and Ovenbirds.  Yellow-billed Cuckoo was a first year bird for some and a first Kent County bird for others.

We also encountered Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-shouldered Hawk, Belted Kingfisher, four "woodpeckers" (Red-bellied, Downy, Pileated and Northern Flicker), five flycatchers (Eastern Wood-pewee, Phoebe and Kingbird, Great Crested, and an "Empy" (Willow or Alder)), Warbling and Red-eyed Vireos, Brown Creeper, Cedar Waxwing, four "sparrows" (Chipping, Field, Song and Eastern Towhee), American Redstart, Pine Warbler, Scarlet Tanager and Rose-breasted Grosbeak among our 43 bird species.

Door to the home of an elf in the trunk of a tree near the lake.

Covid Big Day Report

May 16, 2020

Because of the need for social distancing during the Covid-19 epidemic, we did not bird our usual itinerary together.  What various people did is described below followed by a list of all the bird species recorded.  "Notable" birds mentioned are simply "notable", but include all warbler species except Yellow and yellowthroat, all shorebirds except Killdeer, and all raptors (except vulture).

---

Ric Pedler began at 5:00 a.m. on Black Lake Road between Black Lake and Hoffmaster State Park hoping to hear some night birds. The frog chorus prevented that.  So at 5:15 he drove over to Black Lake Park and birded there until 7:00.  He found 27 species, American Woodcocks being notable.

Back home for breakfast he added three species in his yard.  Then he and Carol drove to Snug Harbor. Notable in two hours there were Veery, Red-headed Woodpecker, Nashville and Pine Warblers, and Red-shouldered Hawk.  They birded the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve for only half an hour because high water prevented walking very far south in tennis shoes.  Notable was a Black-and-White Warbler.

After lunch at home, Ric birded alone.  From SGA headquarters along the Maple River to the snipe field, notable sightings included Indigo Buntings, American Redstarts, Dave and Bonnie, and a non-singing Blue-winged Warbler.  

From 3:00-4:45 he birded the Wastewater properties.  On the south side he saw two Common Ravens near the Laketon-Swanson intersection and on the far side of the Clay Pond one of the Little Blue Herons reported Friday by David Holmberg.

Patterson Park from 5:00-5:30 produced only one new species, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Pere Marquette Park was unreachable from Lakeshore Drive, so he didn't try for the martins at the Channel.  He did see a Double-crested Cormorant over Muskegon Lake and added his 68th and final species of the day on his feeder back home: House Finch.

Charlie DeWitt also began at 5:00 a.m. but at the Ferguson Farm (SGA property on River Road north of the Muskegon River).  Notable were Eastern Whip-poor-will, American Woodcock, American Bittern, Barred Owl, Wood Duck, Willow Flycatcher, Sandhill Crane, Swamp Sparrow, Hooded Merganser, Green Heron, Sora, Palm Warbler, Solitary Sandpiper, Yellow-throated Vireo, Pileated Woodpecker, Brown Thrasher, Black-throated Green Warbler, Red-tailed Hawk, Eastern Phoebe and Indigo Bunting.

He then headed for the Walleye Ponds (across the river from Lane’s Landing).  Along Holton Duck Lake Road he saw a Swainson’s Thrush.  At the ponds he found Blue-winged Teal, Cedar Waxwing and Great Egret.  That was the end of Charlie’s birding for the day.

Jim and Tracy Zervos and Feller DeWitt followed the normal Big Day Route and completed a wonderful Big Day all by themselves with 121 species!  They birded Lane's Landing, Muskegon State Game Area and the Wastewater.  When they got to the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve there were so many people that it was unsafe to bird.  The same was true at Snug Harbor.  So they birded the north side of the Muskegon Channel (Muskegon State Park channel campground).  After 12.5 hours, Feller went home.  Jim and Tracy found Snug Harbor still too busy, so finished their day safely birding M.L.N.P. Here's what they found at the five locations:

Notable among the 69 species at Lane’s Landing (240 minutes beginning at 5:30 a.m.) were Trumpeter Swan, Pied-billed Grebe, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, American Woodcock, American and Least Bitterns, Belted Kingfisher, Red-headed and Hairy Woodpeckers, Willow, Least and Great Crested Flycatchers, Yellow-throated, Blue-headed, Warbling and Red-eyed Vireos, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, House and Marsh Wrens, Swainson’s and Wood Thrushes, White-crowned and Swamp Sparrows, Eastern Towhee, Bobolink, Northern Waterthrush, Golden-winged, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Cape May, Magnolia, Yellow-rumpled, Black-throated Green and Wilson’s Warblers, American Redstart and Northern Parula.  

In 86 minutes starting at 9:47 a.m. around the SGA headquarters they found 41 species including Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Bluebird, Chipping and Savannah Sparrows, Eastern Towhee, Blue-winged, Magnolia, Palm and Yellow-rumpled Warblers, American Redstart and Scarlet Tanager.

They birded the Wastewater for 182 minutes starting at 12:27 p.m. finding 50 species including Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Black-bellied Plover, Sanderling, Dunlin, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitcher, Bonaparte’s Gull, Bald Eagle, Broad-winged and Red-tailed Hawks, Common Raven, Tree, Bank, Barn and Cliff Swallows, Eastern Meadowlark and Brewer’s Blackbird.

They found 43 species at Muskegon State Park in 99 minutes beginning at 4:22 including Belted Kingfisher, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows, Eastern Towhee, Black-and-White, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Magnolia, Blackpoll, Black-throated Blue, Palm and Yellow-rumpled Warblers, and American Redstart.

For 91 minutes at the preserve beginning at 6:28 p.m. they found 40 species including Rock Pigeon, Swainson’s Thrush, Cedar Waxwing, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Cape May, Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, Palm and Yellow-rumpled Warblers, and American Redstart.

Ken Sapkowski birded many places on May 16 and reported his species from the Wastewater including Black-bellied Plover, Upland, Least, Semipalmated and Spotted Sandpipers, Wilson’s Phalarope, Bonaparte’s Gull and American Pipit.

Dave Herdegen and Bonnie Kot birded two of the Big Day locations but not at the usual times. For a couple of hours at midday they found 31 species at State Game Area Headquarters and along the Maple River including Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Sandhill Crane, Eastern Phoebe, Baltimore Oriole, Orange-crowned and Palm Warblers, American Redstart, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting.

Then they birded the Wastewater properties for an hour and a half.  They found 33 species including Upland, Least and Spotted Sandpipers, Sanderling, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Yellowlegs, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Eastern Kingbird, Tree, Bank and Cliff Swallows, Savannah Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark.

Ken Sherburn began at 5:00 a.m. and birded from Snug Harbor out to Lost Lake for two hours. Instead of frogs, he contended with noises created by fishermen putting in at the Snug Harbor boat launch and roaring off to Muskegon Lake.  Not surprisingly, Ken heard no night birds.  Notable were Veery, Wood Thrush, Ovenbird, and Black-throated Green and Palm Warblers.

Still at Muskegon State Park but around the Lake Michigan Campground Ken recorded Spotted Sandpiper, Least Flycatcher, American Redstart, Chipping Sparrow and the last species added to our list: Merlin!

Ken saw that little dark falcon three times zipping near the shoreline, harrassing some birds in the trees, and finally diving after something behind the lip of the sand bluff caused by lake erosion.  When the bird flew up into Ken's view, it was carrying some kind of prey.

Alphabetized List

Bittern, American

Bittern, Least

Blackbird, Brewer's

Blackbird, Red-winged

Bluebird, Eastern

Bobolink

Bufflehead

Bunting, Indigo

Cardinal, Northern

Catbird, Gray

Chickadee, Black-capped

Cormorant, Double-crested

Cowbird, Brown-headed

Crane, Sandhill

Crow, American

Dove, Mourning

Dowitcher, Short-billed

Duck, Ruddy

Duck, Wood

Dunlin

Eagle, Bald

Egret, Great

Finch, House

Flicker, Northern

Flycatcher, Great Crested

Flycatcher, Least

Flycatcher, Willow

Gadwall

Gnatcatcher, Blue-gray

Goldfinch, American

Goose, Canada

Grackle, Common

Grebe, Pied-billed

Grosbeak, Rose-breasted

Gull, Bonaparte's

Gull, Herring

Gull, Ring-billed

Hawk, Broad-winged

Hawk, Red-shouldered

Hawk, Red-tailed

Heron, Great Blue

Heron, Green

Heron, Little Blue

Hummingbird, Ruby-throated

Jay, Blue

Killdeer

Kingbird, Eastern

Kingfisher, Belted

Kinglet, Ruby-crowned

Lark, Horned

Mallard

Martin, Purple

Meadowlark, Eastern

Merganser, Hooded

Merlin

Oriole, Baltimore
Ovenbird

Owl, Barred

Parula, Northern

Phalarope, Wilson's

Phoebe, Eastern

Pigeon, Rock

Pipit, American

Plover, Black-bellied

Raven, Common

Redstart, American

Robin, American

Sanderling

Sandpiper, Least

Sandpiper, Semipalmated

Sandpiper, Solitary

Sandpiper, Spotted

Sandpiper, Upland

Sandpiper, White-rumped

Scaup, Greater

Scaup, Lesser

Shoveler, Northern

Sora

Sparrow, Chipping

Sparrow, Grasshopper

Sparrow, House

Sparrow, Savannah

Sparrow, Song

Sparrow, Swamp

Sparrow, Vesper

Sparrow, White-crowned

Sparrow, White-throated

Starling, European

Swallow, Bank

Swallow, Barn

Swallow, Cliff

Swallow, Tree

Swan, Mute

Swan, Trumpeter

Tanager, Scarlet

Teal, Blue-wiinged

Thrasher, Brown

Thrush, Swainson's

Thrush, Wood

Titmouse, Tufted

Towhee, Eastern

Turkey, Wild

Veery

Vireo, Blue-headed

Vireo, Red-eyed

Vireo, Warbling

Vireo, Yellow-throated

Vulture, Turkey

Warbler, Black-and-White

Warbler, Black-thoated Blue

Warbler, Black-throated Green

Warbler, Blackpoll

Warbler, Blue-winged

Warbler, Cape May

Warbler, Chestnut-sided

Warbler, Golden-winged

Warbler, Magnolia

Warbler, Nashville

Warbler, Orange-crowned

Warbler, Palm

Warbler, Pine

Warbler, Wilson's

Warbler, Yellow

Warbler, Yellow-rumped

Waterthrush, Northern

Waxwing, Cedar

Whip-poor-will, Eastern

Woodcock, American

Woodpecker, Downy
Woodpecker, Hairy

Woodpecker, Pileated

Woodpecker, Red-bellied

Woodpecker, Red-headed

Wren, House

Wren, Marsh

Yellowlegs, Lesser

Yellowthroat, Common

That's 137 species.  It will be considered "official" unless we receive corrections.  Whether it's more or less than we would have found birding together, we'll never know.  But it's a very good number!  Thanks, Everybody!  Hopefully next year we'll do this the old fashioned way!