February 18 Field Trip Report

    Except for the wind, it was a beautiful cold Saturday morning.  But the wind was strong and straight off the Big Lake, always trying to tip over the six of us as we looked for birds along the Grand Haven Channel and at the state park shoreline.

    Pigeon Creek channel was more protected but fairly birdless.  So the best bird-watching, not surprisingly, was through the window at the feeding stations of the nature center at Hemlock Crossing.

    I did add a Year Bird at each of the three locations: #35 Common Merganser at Grand Haven, #36 Bufflehead at Pigeon Creek, and #37 White-throated Sparrow (two surprisingly early individuals, one bright, one drab) at Hemlock Crossing.

    That location also provided Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker, American Tree Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, White- and Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, Tufted Titmouse, Red-bellied Woodpecker and Northern Cardinal (basically all the common feeder species except House Finch and Hairy Woodpecker).

- Ric

February Events

 February 18 Field Trip

        The trip will begin at 8:00 a.m. in the Chinook Pier parking lot at the Grand River Channel (near the steam locomotive) in downtown Grand Haven.  

From there we will drive a mile west to the Lake Michigan shoreline at Grand Haven State Park to look for whatever waterbirds might be on the big lake.

Next we will drive several miles south to the boat launch parking lot north of Pigeon Creek (south of the Consumers Power Campbell Plant).  Weather permitting, we will look for birds from the boardwalk east of Lakeshore Ave.   

Finally we will drive east on Croswell St. and south on West Olive Road to the Hemlock Crossing Nature Center.  We'll watch birds at the feeder stations through the huge viewing window.  They'll have hot cider and hot chocolate at the desk for fifty cents. 

Dress warmly for the outdoor locations.  This trip will end around noon.  The public is welcome.

        In case any future field trips are canceled due to bad weather or other unforeseen circumstances, the cancelation will be posted here no later than 7:00 a.m. on the day of the scheduled trip.

February 21 Program

Long-time Muskegon County Nature Club member Brian Johnson will provide a photographic overview of local birds based on his birding and banding projects in Muskegon County.  Brian will present as many species as possible with quick commentary on status, abundance, habitat preference, phenology, and age and sex differentiation.  

Brian has banded Saw-whet Owls in northern Muskegon County for several years and will share his experiences with this elusive and beautiful bird. 

Our programs are in conjunction with the Owashtanog Islands Audubon Society.  Social Time: 6:00-6:30, Program: 6:30-8:00, at the Covenant Life Church, 101 Columbus Ave. in Grand Haven.

January 21 Field Trip Report

Nine of us in eight vehicles drove 18 miles around the Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center properties this morning.  Thanks to Glen Miller for snapping the photo above.

Things didn't seem particularly birdy, but we still found 31 species in our 3 1/2 hours.  Of note were two Rough-legged Hawks (a dark morph north of the East Lagoon and a light morph south of Apple Ave.), Snow Buntings on the Center Dike, a Sandhill Crane south of White Rd., and a pair of Hooded Mergansers in the Clay Pond.

Best birds of the day were 17 Cackling Geese on the far side of the Clay Pond.  Fortunately two people noticed their short necks, small bills, and size (just a bit larger than a nearby Mallard) or we would have overlooked them as Canadas.  The latter were the most numerous species today with multi-hundreds here and there on the properties.  There were also hundreds of gulls at the landfill.

January Meeting on the 26th !

Remember our January meeting at the Norton Shores branch library on Seminole Road this Thursday January 26 at 10:30 a.m.  We will be discussing ideas for the money George Wickstrom bequeathed to our club.

Three January 2023 Events

On Tuesday Evening, January 17, Lucas Timmer will present his program about Habitat Restoration in Ottawa County.  

Lucas is a resident of Holland with his wife Molly and his daughter Florence. Birds have always been an interest to him (Adelie penguins are his favorite animal) but birding as a hobby did not take root until he found time for it during the spring of 2020 during the pandemic. 

As a now avid birder, Lucas has been enjoying using his skillset as a civil engineer who works with local governments to promote local habitat preservation to these same communities as the head of OIAS Habitat Preservation Committee promoting critical habitat for our avian friends. In this presentation, Lucas will discuss some of the work that OIAS is doing currently with habitat preservation in the community and future opportunities for proposing habitat preservation in our area. 

The location for this and the remainder of our season's programs will be the Covenant Life Church, 101 Columbus Ave., in Grand Haven.  Social time: 6:00-6:30 p.m.  Program: 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Please park on Columbus Street or in the parking lot in front of the piano factory condos on Harbor Drive so we reserve the small parking lot next to the church for church programs that take place the same night.  We appreciate GHCLC hosting our programs!

On Saturday morning, January 21, our monthly field trip will be around the many square miles at the Muskegon Resource Recovery Center (formerly the Muskegon County Wastewater Management System).  We will begin just inside the Maple Island Road entrance at 8:00 a.m.  From there we will caravan in our cars around the fields, lagoons and woodlots of that property stepping out often to look for birds.  A spotting scope and a walkie-talkie tuned to Channel 11, Subchannel 0, for car-to-car communication can be helpful, but neither is necessary.  This trip will end around noon.  The public is welcome.

Our January meeting will be Thursday, January 26, at 10:30 a.m. in the Norton Shores branch library on Seminole Road.  We will discuss ideas of what to do with the money bequeathed to our club by the late George Wickstrom.

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.