Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Muskegon 10/5/2019

    On Thursday, Roger Hagerman found a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper at the Muskegon Wastewater Treatment Facility. It is only the third time this species has been seen in Michigan (the first was also at this location back in August 2016).

Pectoral (left) and Least (right)

   My work site was quite birdy on Friday afternoon.  The American Golden Plover was one of two up on the reservoir.

 

Red-tailed Hawk

   Down on the lower reservoir road there was  a good variety of birds passing through....

Orange-crowned Warbler

   ...with several birds choosing to pose on the barbed-wire fence.

American Pipit

Eastern Bluebird

Lincoln's Sparrow

Eastern Pheobe

Geese at Work

   Yesterday at my worksite I found a single Blue-morph Snow Goose mixed in with 600 Canada Geese.

  It was still present this afternoon when I drove around the upper reservoir road.

  Scanning the Canadas today I found 5 Greater White-fronted Geese.

   An adult Bald Eagle momentarily spooked the geese.

  Other birds of interest were...

Lapland Longspur

American Pipit

Red-breasted Merganser

  At home yesterday the female Pileated Woodpecker made the case for a larger feeder.

  This morning I searched unsuccessfully on south breakwater at Ludington Harbor for the Purple Sandpiper.  Only shorebird was this Sanderling.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Ludington, 10/15/2014

    Exploring my new neighborhood, I headed to the south pier of Ludington Harbor after work.  Saw a few nice but non-blogworthy birds.    As I pulled out of the parking lot and headed south on S. Lakeshore Drive, a bird that flew up to the wires caught my eye.  I had one of those Jack-Buck-1988-World-Series-Game-One moments "I don't believe..... what I just saw".  It was a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.   

  In an email from Dave Dister, who's currently working on a book 'The Birds of Mason County, Michigan', this is the second Scissor-tailed Flycatcher ever in the county.  The first one was by Gary Worton, October 14, 1975, 39 years ago almost to the day. 

Here are the birds I saw out on the pier.

Green-winged Teal hen

American Pipit

Merlin