Brant in Pentwater 11/10/2022

Yesterday, a rare Brant appeared a couple miles down the road at the Pentwater north pier. It was discovered by fishermen at the pier during the afternoon and word quickly spread to the birding community. Brants have been recorded fewer than 100 times in Michigan. Their fall migration route takes them from the Arctic through Hudson Bay and on to the Atlantic Ocean. Any migration through the Great Lakes region is usually limited to the eastern lakes of Huron, Erie and Ontario. Within minutes of finding out about the bird I gathered up my camera and headed down there. The small goose was very cooperative so I was able to get photos at reasonable close range.

The heavy overcast made for drab photos but today the sun popped out but the goose went AWOL for the morning. On my second attempt of the day I was able to photograph it when it showed up in the noon hour and resumed posing.

During my futile morning wild goose chase a tolerant Snow Bunting was willing to sit for photos.

The highlight on the homefront this week occurred on Tuesday, when I had a brief visit from a leucistic Evening Grosbeak.

Cackling Geese 9/9/2019

 On Monday 9/9  Van Burmeister found a Cackling Goose at Peter Copyean Park in Ludington.  By the time I got there a few hours later a second one had joined it.

2018 Ludington Christmas Bird Count (CBC) 12/15/2018

   Since November 26th a White-throated Sparrow (WTSP) has been seen almost daily feeding on the seeds that I put out at the base of the spruce at the end of my driveway.  I was hoping that it would stick around for the Christmas Bird Count but had some concerns when I didn't see on either Monday or Tuesday this week,  I was relieved when it returned on Wednesday just in time to be included for the count week.  On Thursday the odds of a Count Day (12/15/2018) WTSP increased when a second bird showed up and hung out by the same tree.
   Of the previous 47 Ludington CBCs  WTSPs were only recorded on 6 counts but 3 of those have occurred in the last 3 years.

   I wasn't able to check for the sparrow this morning because I left before sunrise to look for a Snowy Owl that a coworker had spotted at my work site earlier this week.  From there I had to head back to town and meet up with Van Burmeister and assist him with his assigned count area.  Luckily the White-throated Sparrows were both present when I returned home in the early afternoon.

  I only took a few photos as I traveled with Van in and around Summit Twp.

House Finch

Eastern Bluebirds

   After Van and I parted ways I went back up to the reservoir at work and found a single Snow Goose hanging around with a flock of over 800 Canada Geese.

Snow Goose and Canada Goose

 

Red-breasted Merganser

   Down by the powerhouse a pair of Long-tailed Ducks were seen.

   As well as 3 American Tree Sparrows

Goldfinch and Tree Sparrow

      Other birds at my feeders that posed for photos were....

White-breasted Nuthatch

Sharp-shinned Hawk

  Moments after I photographed the hawk it dropped down, grabbed a Goldfinch and flew off with the tasty morsel.

First Half of October Update

Tennessee Warbler

   The first half of October had a mix of warblers and sparrows passing through the yard.

White-throated Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

   The Eastern Towhee seen below was the 108th species to visit the yard this year.

Eastern Towhee

Full cheeks give this chipmunk a bobble head look

  On October 7, a trip around the lower reservoir road at my work yielded an Eastern Phoebe...

 … and a few bucks.

10 points.....the hard way

More typical rack

    At the south pier of Ludington Harbor a Dunlin was seen on October 8.

   On Saturday October 15th a pair of plovers were active on the pier.

American Golden Plover

  Also on Saturday, a single Snow Goose was hanging out with a large flock of Canada Geese in Pere Marquette Lake at Peter Copeyon Park.

   The highlight on Sunday at Lake Erie Metropark was the first Golden Eagle of the year at the hawk count site.  

Turkey Vulture migration is peaking this time of year at the count.  Over 7000 were tallied on Sunday.

    The Goodyear Blimp took off from Grosse Ile Airport where it spent the night, after hovering over the Michigan-Wisconsin game in Ann Arbor on Saturday.