Red-throated Loon 3/21/2022

 

  For the second year in a row I spotted a Red-throated Loon off shore from my yard.  Last year's bird required a spotting scope zoomed to 60x magnification and a couple of guide books to ID due to its distance estimated at half a mile.  By contrast this year's RT Loon was nearly at the shoreline 120' below the top of the bluff.  In fact it was so close that I didn't see it while I was seated 8' from the edge. It was only after I stood up to calmly remind my dog that barking at woodchucks is not appreciated by anyone, that I looked down and saw the loon. When I notified a few local birders of the sighting, Dave Dister texted back that last year's bird also showed up on March 21. 

  When predicted rain never materialized the persistent east southeasterly winds made for optimal conditions for bird migration as it pushed ducks up the coast and raptors toward the shore.  I ended up with 48 species for the day that included 9 species of ducks, 7 species of raptors, 525 Tundra Swans and  117 Sandhill Cranes.  Nine first of the year species were observed which brought the year's total to 67 and a flock of Northern Pintails became the 179th species on the all-time yardlist. 

   Here are a few photographic highlights

Tundra Swans

 

Dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk

Adult Red-shouldered Hawk

Immature Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Northern Pintails, yardbird 179

Sandhill Cranes

Snowy Sunday 4/14/2019

     It was cloudy and cold in west Michigan this weekend.   On Saturday at least a dozen Common Loons were patrolling Pere Marquette Lake.

   On Sunday just before a predicted moderate snowfall began, I took a ride around my work site and found....

Long-tailed Duck

American Kestrel

Horned Grebe

     As I finished driving around work a light snow started to fall.  I took this photo as it started to cover the lawn.

     It intensified quickly. The portrait of Nico was taken an hour and a half later when about 3" of snow had fallen.

   As the snow piled up in my yard, bird activity increased around the feeders.

    This morning after work I raced out to Ludington State Park to try to photograph birds before the snow melted in the bright sunlight.

    This female Northern Cardinal didn't let the snow stop her from gathering nesting material.

   Eastern Phoebes are among the earliest flycatchers to migrate north. I was able to find two of them who weren't finding a whole lot of insects.

Lake Erie Metropark Hawk Watch 9/16/15

  On a quick trip back to my old neighborhood to return a borrowed trailer, I spent the afternoon at the Lake Erie Metropark hoping to catch a significant Broad-winged Hawk migration.  The annual fall Broadwing migration through southeast Michigan is a function of weather and the calendar. Previous years' data shows that 85% of the Broadwings counted at LEMP occur between September 15 and 19, so yesterday's date fell conveniently into that window.  The weather on the other hand was not ideal. The sunny skies were fine but the moderate south winds were far from ideal, as the higher counts in the past have typically occurred on day with a light wind with a northerly component that had followed a day or two of similar light north winds that push Broadwings from Canada to the northern shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario. 

  Of the 300+  raptors tallied at the countsite yesterday only a couple of dozen were Broadwings.  Despite the modest count there were still a few photo ops to be had.

Osprey working the shoreline

Sharp-shinned Hawk

American Kestrel

Immature Bald Eagle

  For anyone with an opportunity and desire to view Broadwings this season, you may want to stop by  the countsite on Sunday or Monday.  Although those two dates fall outside the aforementioned calendar window the winds will be much more favorable.

Lake Erie Metropark Hawk Watch 11/2/2014

   As advertised, the draw of the Hawk Watch at Lake Erie Metropark in November is variety of raptor species. The count today included 30 Golden Eagles, 97 Red-Shouldered Hawks, 6 Rough-leggeds and 2 Goshawks among 10 species in total.

Rough-legged Hawk

Red-shouldered and Northern Harrier

Golden Eagle

Red-tail Hawk and Golden Eagle

Immature Red-Shouldered Hawk

Here come the Broadwings 9/14/2014

Broad-wingeds over my yard

   For the second year in a row on September 14,  I had a nice flight of Broad-winged Hawks over my yard.  Earlier in the afternoon I visited the Hawk Count site at Lake Erie Metropark and saw a few small kettles.  After I headed home the flow of hawks at the park increased in intensity to the point that a total of over 13,000 Broadwings were tallied.   That sum may sound impressive but by the time Thursday rolls around,  the total could be a dwarfed by the numbers possible under the ideal weather conditions forecast for Tuesday 9/16 and Wednesday 9/17 the historical peak of the migration.

Wider view

    The 200 hawks that I saw from my yard all passed by in a five minute span that started at 5:40 PM.  This week will be the last Broadwing migration that I can watch from my yard, as a change in jobs will have me relocating soon to another part of the state.  The house isn't up for sale yet but my personal suburban birding hotspot will belong to someone else sometime next year.  With a yardlist that includes Yellow-throated Warbler, Evening Grosbeak, Golden Eagle, White-winged Crossbill, Common Redpoll,  Olive-sided Flycatcher, almost annual Pine Siskins and the county's first and only Rufous Hummingbird, I can only hope that the next resident appreciates the inexplicable attraction that birds have to this parcel.   

  Coincidentally, my all-time yardlist and current year work birdlist both are at and will probably stay at 139.  Here are a few birds photographed the past few days at both locations.

At Work       

Swainson's Thrush

Common Yellowthroat

Magnolia Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

Wilson's at work

                                                                      At Home

Wilson's at home

Nashville Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Carolina Wren

 

Lake Erie Metropark North American Migration Count 5/10/2014

   Scoured every corner of Lake Erie Metropark and counted every bird. Ended up with an even 70 species haven't totaled the individual numbers yet.   Here are some photos presented in the order in which they were taken.  

  At this point I changed locations in the park and swapped lenses on the camera.  The quality of the photos improved with the 500mm lens.