Two Christmas Bird Counts

This years' City of Muskegon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will be held on Saturday, December 17, 2022.

As in the past, three groups will begin at 8:00 a.m., count birds at various locations that morning, and meet for lunch at the Cherokee restaurant (1971 W. Sherman Blvd.) from roughly 12:00-1:30 p.m.  

Anyone wishing to participate may do so.  Just join one of the groups mentioned below.  Contact Ric Pedler for more information.  Be sure to dress for the weather.    

Bonnie Kot will lead the south group which meets in the old Denny's restaurant parking at the southeast corner of Seaway Drive and Green Street (east of Mona Lake Park).  The group will drive to various locations to walk and count birds for awhile.  

Ken Sherburn will lead the north group.  That count won't include as much walking as in previous years, but will still include walking the Snug Harbor and Muskegon Channel areas of Muskegon State Park and the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve.

Although the central group will be censusing several areas within the city of Muskegon, it will not always be participating as one group and will not be starting at one location that morning.  So if you want to participate, please meet at 8:00 with either the south or the north group.

    

After the all-group lunch at the Cherokee, some people may continue to count birds, but most will call it a day.

The Muskegon Wastewater CBC will be on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022 (not the 21st as first posted).  For your area of coverage within the 15-mile-diameter-circle, meet leader Brian Johnson in the headquarters parking lot of the Muskegon Resource Recovery Center (formerly Muskegon County Wastewater Management System), 698 N. Maple Island Road, between 8:00 and 8:15 a.m. on the 14th.

This count is done almost entirely by car.  Participants may meet for lunch around noon at Granny's Griddle Restaurant (northeast corner of Apple Ave. and Wolf Lake Road), but check with Brian that morning to be sure.

November 12 Field Trip Report

Our monthly field trip probably began a bit late this morning.  Prior to our starting time of 9:00, one of our early arrivers had already recorded several bird species.  On the other hand, one said that she wouldn't have participated if the trip had begun any earlier.  You can't win for losing!

photo by Carol Cooper

For about three hours, seven of us recorded 30 species around the Snug Harbor area and on a walk out to Lost Lake.  Notable were 16 Tundra Swan, Hooded Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, Bald Eagle, a docile Red-shouldered Hawk that sat for the better part of a half hour along the northwest shore of the harbor, Belted Kingfisher, Downy, Hairy, Re-bellied and Pileated Woodpeckers, Winter Wren, many Eastern Bluebirds, a few American Robins, Evening Grosbeak (flying over Lost Lake), Purple Finch, and American Tree and Song Sparrows.

We also witnessed our first snowfall of the season!

November Events

November 15 Hawaiian Birds Program

Lonny Garris is an avid birder and an Owashtanang Islands Audubon Society board member.  He traveled to Maui, Hawaii, in September of 2020 to celebrate his wife's birthday and bird as much as she would let him. 

Join Lonny Tuesday evening November 15 as he talks about his experience traveling to Hawaii during the pandemic while sharing his birding experiences in the paradise of Hawaii.  

Covenant Life Church, 101 Columbus St., Grand Haven

Social Time: 6:00-6:30 p.m.  Program 6:30-8:00 p.m.

October 18 Wren Program Report

At Covenant Life Church in Grand Haven this evening Dale Kennedy and Doug White presented a program perfect for the audience from the Grand Haven and Muskegon Audubon clubs.  Using images and audio from ever-changing technologies, they explained the various behaviors and vocalizations of male and female house wrens on the many territories at Albion College’s Whitehouse Nature Center.  Afterward they answered questions from the audience.

October 8 Field Trip Report

Seven of us birded areas around Muskegon Lake on Saturday, October 8, hoping to see migrating raptors and blue jays.  The harsh winds prevented us from traveling out the Pere Marquette pier very far so we headed for the channel. 

Photo by Charlie DeWitt

While it was less windy, it was not very birdy at the channel.  We checked out Muskegon lake near Harbor Towne, Cottage Grove launch ramp, and finally Grand Trunk launch ramp and ended the October Big Day with 25 species, including Blue-winged Teals and an American Pipit at the pier, a Common Raven at the channel, a Great Egret at the Cottage Grove launch, and an Orange-crowned Warbler at the Grand Trunk launch ramp.  We hope you can join us on November 12 when we explore Muskegon State park’s Snug Harbor.

September 10 Field Trip Report

Eight people participated in Saturday morning's field trip.

We found 18 bird species at the north pier at Grand Haven including a Semipalmated Plover with an injured left foot, a Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderlings, Bonaparte's Gulls, Bald Eagles, Caspian Terns and Forster's Terns.

At Ottawa Sands County Park we encountered 39 species including Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Green Herons, a Northern Harrier, several woodpeckers (Red-headed, Red-bellied, Pileated, Downy, Northern Flicker), Eastern Wood-Pewee, Swainson's Thrushes, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, several warblers (American Redstart, Magnolia, Blackburnian, Blackpoll and Bay-breasted) and a Merlin chasing a Mourning Dove.

Our 2022-2023 Season

        We're back!  This year's schedule reflects the difficulties that many Audubon chapters are experiencing just staying alive these days.  Fortunately the Muskegon County Nature Club (MCNC) is back for another season, thanks in no small part to the efforts of our new president, Beth Miller.

    MCNC and the Owashtanong Islands Audubon Society (Grand Haven's chapter) will combine their resources for programs this season.  Instead of scheduling fourteen (7 per club per season) for our gradually-dwindling audiences, we've combined resources and scheduled a total of seven.  Until further notice, programs will be presented at the Covenant Life Church, 101 Columbus Ave. in Grand Haven.  See the sidebar.

Our first MCNC meeting of this new season will be at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday evening, September 15, at the Roosevelt Park Community Building as in the past.  One item of business will be to determine dates, times and locations of future meetings.  We'll also catch up on what we've all been doing since last season.  There will be light refreshments for this social time.  We hope to see you there.

The MCNC will continue to conduct monthly field trips, the Christmas Bird Counts, the Big Day Count, and our annual Potluck Picnic meeting in May.  See the sidebar. 

August 20 Field Trip Report

Ten of us began Saturday morning's field trip to the Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center and were joined along our way by four others.  Thanks to the birding skills of Chip Francke, we found an excellent number of shorebird species: Semipalmated Plover; Killdeer; Stilt, Least, White-rumped, Baird's, Pectoral Semipalmated and Spotted Sandpipers; Red-necked Phalarope (15 in the northeast corner of the West Lagoon) and Lesser Yellowlegs.

Among the 47 other identifiable species were Blue-winged Teal, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Sandhill Crane, Bonaparte's Gull, Green Heron, Bald Eagle, Osprey, Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, Merlin, Horned Lark, Tree, Cliff and Barn Swallows, Cedar Waxwing and Eastern Meadowlark.

A trip highlight was the Merlin seen first eating small prey on the wall of the aeration lagoons and later zipping over a rapid filtration cell scaring all the birds and tail-chasing some shorebirds.

Thankfully, very little of the predicted rain materialized.  All photos by Glen and Beth Miller.

Lesser Yellowlegs were seen at various locations.

Tree Swallows, Red-necked Phalaropes, Bonaparte's Gulls and Mallards.

Stilt Sandpiper

August 20 MCRRC Field Trip

You're invited to meet with those of us breakfasting at the McDonald's restaurant at Apple Ave. & US-31 before the field trip.  We will leave the restaurant at 8:00.

The trip itself will begin around 8:15 a.m. just inside the Maple Island Road entrance to the Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center (formerly the Wastewater).  We will bird the entrance area until 8:30 before heading to the headquarters, the dikes, and the fields of this 16-square-mile property.  

We will drive to various areas and then get out to bird.  Besides your binoculars, a spotting scope and a walkie-talkie tuned to Channel 11, Subchannel 0 will be useful, but neither is necessary.

We hope to find many migrating shorebirds and yet-to-migrate breeding grassland and woodland birds this Saturday morning.  The trip will end around noon.  The public is welcome.

July 16 Field Trip Report

Only three of us attended the July field trip this morning.  For awhile we were joined by a birder from Muskegon and another from Brooklyn.  We curtailed our walk after birding the Snug Harbor area without walking out to Lost Lake.

Among the 34 bird species we found Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, Yellow-throated and Red-eyed Vireo, Tree and Barn Swallow, House and Marsh Wren, Cedar Waxwing, Chipping Sparrow and Common Yellowthroat.

June 18 Field Trip Report

Eight of us birded three areas in Allegan County yesterday and lunched at the Crane's Orchard Pie Pantry Restaurant.  Photos taken by Beth Miller.

At the Allegan State Game Area farm unit we found 46 species including a very cooperative Henslow's Sparrow that sang repeatedly and perched on a grass stalk for us.  Other species there included Dickcissel ...

... Sandhill Crane, Red-tailed Hawk, Cedar Waxwing, Grasshopper Sparrow, Eastern Towhee and Indigo Bunting.

Chip led us to a beautiful woods east of Fennville where we heard a few Cerulean Warblers and watched this particularly cooperative one:

Other birds at that location included Acadian, Least and Great Crested Flycatcher; Yellow-throated, Warbling and Red-eyed Vireo; Blue-gray Gnatcatcher; Wood Thrush; Ovenbird and American Redstart; Scarlet Tanager; and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

At New Richmond we watched and listened to a Carolina Wren!  Also present was a Prothonotary Warbler ...

... and Cliff Swallow, another Cerulean Warbler, Osprey, and more.

Well over 60 species on this beautiful almost-summer day!

Big Day Count Report

Six Die-hards and a total of 17 people participated in our club's annual Big Day Count on Saturday, May 21, 2022.  They recorded a total of 127 bird species.  See the complete listing on our Recent Sightings page.

April Program and Field Trip Report

April 21 Program

Penny Briscoe from Vicksburg, well-known for her knowledge of Purple Martins, presented a fascinating program at our monthly meeting Thursday.  Besides club members, several "purple martin people" were in the audience as well.  Penny left some brochures and other materials which you may get from Ric.

April 23 Field Trip

Finally, beautiful weather for our monthly field trip, and surprisingly only five people participated.  We walked counterclockwise from the temporary Lincoln Street entrance on the 2.2-mile trail around the lake at the new Dune Harbor County Park (formerly the Nugent Sand property).  

Our efforts produced 40 bird species including Wood Duck, Bufflehead, Redhead, Common Loon, Northern Harrier, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Common Raven, Tree Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatch, Eastern Bluebird, White-throated and Swamp Sparrow, Pine and Yellow-rumped Warbler, and close to 200 Double-crested Cormorants (one carrying nesting material)!

Bluebird Box Monitoring at MCRRC

Once again members of our club will help with the monitoring of bluebird boxes on the Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center (Wastewater) properties.  This year the monitoring will take place for 13 weeks from May 16 into August. 

You may sign up for one day on either of two trails at this website ...

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080b49a8aa2da1fb6-bluebird

... or the old-fashioned way by contacting Anita Friend at MCRRC (email friendan@co.muskegon.mi.us or phone 231-724-3457).

That sign-up website includes more information and a helpful video showing how the monitoring is done.  The information you receive from Anita when you arrive also explains the procedure.  Monitoring a bluebird box trail takes about two hours.

March Program and Field Trip Reports

March 19, 2022

March 19 Field Trip at the Wastewater

Charlie DeWitt

    Before the trip I saw a Short-eared Owl.  

    On the trip we counted 31 species: Red-tailed Hawk, Killdeer, Mallard, Gadwall, Bufflehead, Sandhill Crane, Ring-necked Duck, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Bald Eagle, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, European Starling, Common Grackle, Northern Shoveler, Redhead, Ruddy Duck, American Wigeon, Snowy Owl, American Robin, American Goldfinch, Mourning Dove, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Tree Sparrow, Tufted Titmouse and Eastern Meadowlark. 

    We had 13 adults and 3 kids and birded from 8:00-10:30.

March 17 Program: Birding Costa Rica

Dave Dister

       The events in Dave's program occurred in late January through early February of 2019.  He was one of only five U.S. birders led by Johan Fernandez, a local birder who was excellent in helping Dave see and photograph at least 177 Life Birds.  They stayed at various rustic lodges in all of the major eco zones that they explored, from coastal to mountainous.  

Dave also brought copies of his book, Birds of Mason County, Michigan.

New App for Michigan Birders

A new app is being launched in Michigan called "Discord".  Its goal is to create a more consistent way to communicate both rare bird alerts and chat among Michigan birders at both the county and state levels. If you are interested in joining, visit the App Store or Google Play and get the free app.  Then email Ric Pedler or Beth Miller and they will send you an invitation to join:

oakridge35@yahoo.com

glenabeth@gmail.com

February Program and Field Trip Report

On the evening of February 17, Steve Barnard presented a very interesting and informative program about the operations of the Muskegon County Wastewater System.

February 19's field trip was scheduled for the same area.  However, just as last month, bad weather virtually canceled the trip.  The few people who didn't see our posting about the winter weather advisory found blustery conditions at the Wastewater.  We took a brief drive around the properties pointing out places to bird when the weather was good, but then called it a day.  Hopefully March will provide better weather!

Election of Officers for 2022-2023

Because Covid conditions still exist, members who were unable to vote by secret ballot in person at our February 17 meeting may still do so non-secretly by phoning or emailing Ric with their votes from Feb. 18-28, 2022.

No one other than the people below have asked to be candidates, but "write-ins" are acceptable whichever way you vote.

Candidates for 2022-2023

President:         Beth Miller

Vice-president: _________

Secretary:          Ric Pedler

Treasurer:    Greg DeWeerd

No January Events

A peak in local COVID conditions canceled the January 20 meeting.

Weather conditions "canceled" the January 22 field trip.  Charlie and Ric met at 8:00 in the parking lot along Muskegon Lake south of the channel.  They watched several ice fishermen deciding not to fish, observed a few others heading out on the ice despite the conditions (and the partially submerged tent of the guy who was rescued earlier in the week), saw a few Mallards (but no other birds, or birders), and headed for home before 8:30.