Red-necked Phalarope Ludington Harbor

   Late this morning Van Burmeister found two Red-necked Phalaropes out on the South Pier of Ludington Harbor.  One was still present when I met up with Dave Dister out there during the noon  hour.

Not the first Red-necked to find comfort in West Michigan

   A Golden Plover also was viewed out on the breakwater.

Olive-sided Flycatcher - A Proper Welcome Home

    My Wednesday began at 1:30 AM PDT  on Tuesday or did my Tuesday end at 1200 Noon on Wednesday. Anyway,  my daughter Dana and I drove straight through from La Grande, Oregon to my home in west Michigan in 28 hours 35 minutes.  It worked out pretty good as we switched driving duties with each tankful of gas, which turned into a 5 hours-on, 5 hours-off schedule for both of us.  Arriving home I was finally able to relax and caught a lengthy nap from noon til 4:00 pm this afternoon.
   Around 5 pm I grabbed a beer and a sandwich and headed out to the back deck to relax and watch for the beginning of fall bird migration.

22 oz x 11% = 4 beers in one

  No sooner did I set down my food and drink when I spotted a young Olive-sided Flycatcher engaged in an questionable campaign to eradicate my neighborhood of bees.  It probably caught a half-dozen bees in the hour I observed it, each time returning to the same perch on an oak snag in my front yard.

  I've found 3 Olive-sided Flycatchers in my life. Each sighting occurred within 10 feet of my refrigerator as I was preparing or sitting down to eat lunch/dinner. The first at my old house in metro Detroit  back almost 4 years to the day ...... http://mostlybirdsbutnotalways.blogspot.com/2013/08/new-yard-bird-without-even-trying.html   Then last September I found one in the exact same tree as today's bird, while I was standing in the exact same spot . http://mostlybirdsbutnotalways.blogspot.com/2016/09/olive-sided-flycatcher-982016.html

    Monday's Solar Eclipse post will be expounded upon at my astronomy blog here....http://mostlynerdbutnotalways.blogspot.com/

Total Eclipse 8/21/2017

    Disclaimer : These photos do no justice to the spectacle created by the Moon blotting out the late morning Sun.

  It started innocently enough as a small notch formed on the upper right edge of the Sun.

   The bite got bigger....

....until our local star showed a fat crescent.

   It progress until only a sliver remained

    After the last ray of sun shined through a deep crater on the Moon's rim creating a diamond ring effect(not pictured), the elusive solar corona appeared.  A close look at the photo below reveals a red promenience at the same position that the moon's transit started.

  A longer exposure shows the star Regulus  (circled) to the lower left of the eclipsed Sun.

 

He had to stay home because he couldn't pass the eclipse safety test.

Eagle Fight

    A routine walk to the mailbox took an unexpected turn as a pair of  immature Bald Eagles put on a show right over my yard.  Fortunately my camera was nearby and I was able to catch all the action.