Eleven people participated in this year's Big Day Count (Saturday, May 15, 2021). Unofficially they tallied a total of 129 bird species* in 16.5 hours at 7 locations in Muskegon County. (People photos by Charlie DeWitt.)
Lane's Landing yielded 80 species from 4:30-10:20 a.m.:
Eastern Screech-Owl, Barred Owl, Gray Catbird, American Robin, Swamp Sparrow, Canada Goose, Common Yellowthroat, Pied-billed Grebe, Great Horned Owl, Yellow Warbler, Mourning Dove, Wood Thrush, Brown Thrasher, American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Song Sparrow, Great Crested Flycatcher, Mallard, Wood Duck, Blue-winged Warbler, House Wren, Warbling Vireo, Sandhill Crane, Red-winged Blackbird (photo by Charlie DeWitt),
Common Grackle, Green Heron (photo by Susan Christner),
Tree Swallow, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, Great Blue Heron, Killdeer, White-crowned Sparrow (photo by Charlie DeWitt),
Blue-winged Teal, Lesser Yellowlegs, Sora, Double-crested Cormorant, Belted Kingfisher, Barn Swallow, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Solitary Sandpiper, Savannah Sparrow, Black-crowned Night-heron (2 adult, 1 juvenile, photos by Charlie DeWitt and Susan Christner),
American Tree Sparrow, Palm Warbler, European Starling, Marsh Wren, Baltimore Oriole, Northern Flicker, American Redstart, Brown-headed Cowbird, Brown Creeper, Red-eyed Vireo, White-throated Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Chimney Swift, Prothonotary Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak (photo by Charlie DeWitt),
Pileated Woodpecker, Common Nighthawk, Black-throated Green Warbler, Philadelphia Vireo, American Crow, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Turkey Vulture, Trumpeter Swan, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hooded Merganser, American Coot, Blue Jay, Scarlet Tanager, Northern Waterthrush, Blackpoll Warbler, Least Flycatcher, Hairy Woodpecker and Rock Pigeon.
The Muskegon State Game Area DNR Headquarters area and west along the Maple River yielded 14 additional species from 10:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.:
Ovenbird, House Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Eastern Bluebird, Cooper's Hawk, Field Sparrow, Red-tailed Hawk, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Nashville Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Yellow-throated Vireo, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Magnolia Warbler and a flock of Pine Siskin!
The Muskegon County Wastewater properties from 1:20-3:55 p.m. added:
Grasshopper Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, Gadwall, Ring-billed Gull, Ruddy Duck, Wilson's Phalarope, Northern Shoveler, Horned Lark, Orchard Oriole, Cliff Swallow, Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Redhead, Bufflehead, Bank Swallow, Bonaparte's Gull, Lesser Scaup, Eared Grebe and Horned Grebe (near each other in the east lagoon providing an excellent comparison of the two species), Herring Gull, Bald Eagle, Wild Turkey and Vesper Sparrow.
Traveling to Patterson Park and birding there from 4:15-5:20 p.m. provided American Kestrel, Northern Harrier, Eastern Towhee, Eastern Phoebe, White-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Parula and Black-throated Blue Warbler.
6:00-7:00 at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve added Mute Swan and Yellow-rumped Warbler. 7:10-8:20 at Snug Harbor and the Lost Lake Trail provided Veery. From 8:30-9:00 only one new species appeared: a Ruddy Turnstone foraging along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Rain, poor lighting and distance prevented the ID-ing of some aerial foragers above the martin houses on the other side of the Muskegon Channel.
The core group at dusk: Ken, Mark, Ric, Roger, and Charlie (smiling behind the camera).
Please send any corrections or additions to Ric. As of this posting, it's 129 species for our 2021 Big Day, a good number even without a House Finch.
* Disclaimer: Species were counted if identified this day by the core group or by participants joining or leaving or at the same location as the core group. Anyone having a problem with this methodology should contact the birding police. :-)
