Lark Sparrow Yardbird 190

 

   Shortly after 2 pm this afternoon I noticed a light-colored sparrow in an ash tree across the driveway.

 A quick look through the binoculars revealed a Lark Sparrow, a species of the grasslands and prairies of the West and Great Plains.  

Lark Sparrow Range Map 

    Despite being off course it has made itself at home by cleaning up under my feeders often enough to allow half of Mason County's top 12 ebirders to stop by and add it to their year and/or life county list.

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.

Lewis's Woodpecker, Muskegon County 5/18/2022

 

   A Lewis's Woodpecker has been the talk of West Michigan birding the past few days.  It showed up in the yard of a birder in Fruitport Twp on Monday and word quickly spread to draw birders from across the state to see it.

   Yesterday afternoon Brian Brosky and I headed down there and after about an hour we were able to locate the bird with the help of Salar Alam who had seen the bird a little while before we arrived.

       It is only the fourth record for this species in Michigan, but the first since 2004 and the first in the lower peninsula.

Time for a Chat 5/10/22

 

    A Yellow-breasted Chat found its way into my yard this morning and set off a daylong game of hide and seek.  Brian Brosky and I first spied the bird at 10:41 am, and while the last sighting was over 8 hours later the total time that the bird was visible could have been less than a minute.  At one point it was not seen for four hours only to be relocated in the exact location it had been last seen.

  This is only the second time a Yellow-breasted Chat has been seen in Mason County.  The previous sighting by Ethel Getgood occurred on May 18, 1974. Of course this represents a new species for the yard list, number 184.  It is also the 140th species that I've seen here this year and the 100th this month.

Other birds of interest since the last post....

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Forster's Tern 

Blue-headed Vireo

Nashville Warbler

Orchard Oriole

Indigo Bunting

Baltimore Oriole

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Western Tanager, Hamlin Lake 5/5/2022

 

     Around noon today Randy Dougherty noticed a Western Tanager on the feeders at his Hamlin Lake home. Word of the discover got to me through a text from Brian Brosky.  Traveling from different parts of the county Brian and I arrived at the same time at Randy's house. Though not initially present it showed up a few minutes later just as the Wilson brothers got on site.

  This is only the second recorded visit to Mason County for this species. 

Pelicans and So Much More 4/23/2022

 

  A busy bird day was expected Saturday with southerly winds aiding migration in the preceding overnight. While searching for new arrivals in the front yard I noticed two huge white birds over the lake about to disappear behind the neighbor's trees.  I took off in a sprint to the backyard waterfront and was able to get a few photos of a pair of American White Pelicans meandering southward. They are the 101st species that I've seen from home so far this year.  Last year I didn't hit 100 until May 2.

  Other new arrivals for the year were

Palm Warbler

Bank Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

  Also a couple of House Wrens were heard and seen but wouldn't pose for the camera. They brought my yard total for the year to 104.  As I was processing the images in the late afternoon I received a text from Brian Brosky about a Cattle Egret found by Brendan Klick in Grant Twp.  Needing that bird for my Mason County list I grabbed the camera and headed out to Townline Rd where the egret was of course, hanging out with cattle.

  After locating and photographing the bird, I checked the Mason-Manistee-Oceana County Bird Chat on Discord and saw that Brendan Klick also found a Wilson's Phalarope just a mile south of the egret on Beyer Rd.  I was there within a couple minutes and was able to get some distant shots of the phalarope.

  The phalarope is also a first for me in the county. My county list is at 252.

King Eider Ludington Harbor 4/20/2022

  Mason County birding is on fire.  For the second time in a week a county first has been found.  Over the weekend Donna and John Haack found a Yellow-crowned Night Heron and yesterday Grand Rapids area birder Steve Minard found a King Eider just north of the north breakwall of Ludington Harbor. 

  Just before 1 pm I received a call from Brian Brosky relaying Steve Minard's discovery. As quickly as I could, I headed out to the north pier where Brian had already relocated the arctic duck.  The bird was somewhat cooperative as it provided an array of activity all within a relatively short distance of the pier.

Periscoping

Flying

Shaking off water

Feeding

  With the peak of the spring migration coming in the next few weeks let's hope the county's hot streak continues. 

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron Mason County 4/18/2022

   

    Yesterday Donna and John Haack found a Yellow-crowned Night Heron in Grant Township.  It is the first record of this southern bird in Mason County. Today with Brian Brosky guiding me by texts I got to the correct location on Nurnberg Rd, where I was fortunate enough to find another birder Joe Lipar, who was able to point me right at the seemingly glowing yellow crown of the wayward heron about 50 yards from the road.

  That's enough road birding.  Here's what has been visiting me at my house lately...

April 11 brought...

Belted Kingfisher

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Peregrine Falcon

 On April 12 I saw...

Northern Flicker

Purple Finch

Flock of Scoters

Mostly White-winged but not always 
Black Scoter in yellow circle and Surf Scoter in the red.

And on April 13 the south wind brought the first of the year....

Northern Harrier

White-Crowned Sparrow

Brown Thrasher

As well as a Common Loon.

  So far for the year I've seen 95 bird species from the yard which puts me about 2 weeks ahead of last year when I didn't hit that total until May 1.