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
Traveling
14.94 miles
248 Minutes

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

August 17 Field Trip

Muskegon Resource Recovery Center

August 17, 2024

    Meet at 8:30 on Saturday morning August 17, 2024, near the Maple Island Road entrance to the Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center properties (MCRRC, formerly "the Wastewater").  Having a walkie-talkie tuned to Channel 11, Subchannel 0, can be helpful but is not necessary.

    We will drive around the Rapid Filtration areas looking in the dry cells for late summer field species such as Dickcissels, sparrows, larks, Bobolinks, etc. and in the wet cells for shorebirds and waterbirds, stepping out of our cars occasionally.

    Then we will look for shorebirds in whichever aeration lagoons are drained down providing proper habitat.  Later we'll drive the perimeter of the large lagoons looking for waterbirds and shorebirds.  Near the landfill at the southeast corner of the east lagoon we'll try for the odd gull, ducks, ravens, etc.

    Unfortunately the properties south of Apple Ave. are closed to birders, so we will conclude our morning northward up Swanson Road to the granery and the edges of the MCRRC properties.

    This trip will end around noon.  It is open to the public.  We hope to see you there!