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!