Ludington CBC 12/18/2021 and the Winter Finches That Stayed 12/26/2021

  The above photo was taken today in rare December sunlight, in contrast to the shroud of clouds that muted photos during the Ludington Christmas Bird Count a week ago yesterday.  Despite the clouds I was pleased that the White-winged Crossbills that occasionally zipped over my yard since October 23 finally came down to be counted and feed on the spruce cone crop.    

Yeah, now what.

  Also on the count a single Common Redpoll showed up for only its second appearance of the season.

  Today it appeared again..

  Another winter finch that appeared on the count as well as today were Pine Siskins.

    The American Tree Sparrow below also showed up to be counted last Saturday but hasn't been seen since. 

   

Rough-legged Record 11/09/2021

  A report from Brian Allen in Manistee County of a southbound Black-legged Kittiwake had me  perched at the edge of my bluff on high alert.  The Kittiwake was a no-show but migrating Rough-legged Hawks did not leave me disappointed.

  According to Mason County bird record compiler and author Dave Dister the high daily count for Roughies was 15 on last year's Christmas Bird Count.   Between Dave, Brian Brosky and I we totaled 29 yesterday.  With 21 of them being seen from my yard, including 17 between 12:51-1:38 pm.  Three of the 21 were dark-morphs.
 

  

Peregrine Falcon 10/11/2021

 

    October is becoming Peregrine month around here.  Since the first of the month I've seen five of them fly by my yard.  The one today offered the best photo-ops by far.  I spotted it low over Lake Michigan a few hundred feet off shore.

   It proceeded to fly almost straight toward me....

...before resuming its southerly trajectory.

   A stiff headwind played a roll in slowing it down enough for me to fire off 40 shots of the world's fastest bird. 

  Since Thursday a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird has been visiting my feeders.

Mourning Warbler 8/28/2021

 

     A dozen or so warblers swarming around my mulberry tree prompted me to search for a possible rarity among the tree debris left by a windstorm earlier in the month.  I was rewarded with good looks at Bay-breasted, Chestnut-sided and Wilson's Warblers.  But the highlight definitely was a Mourning Warbler.  The first year female was a little challenging to identify but it stood still long enough for me to get some photos. Shoot first ID later.  It is a new addition to the yard list which now is up to 171 species.

 

Here are some of the other warblers that were present today.

Ovenbird

Wilson's Warbler

Bay-breasted Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

   Also seen today but not photographed were Magnolia Warbler and American Redstart.  Pretty good day for August.
 

Olive-sided Flycatcher v. Monarch 8/21/2021

 

   Yesterday I added the 170th bird to the yard list when 3 Olive-sided Flycatchers stopped by to feed on the local flying insects.  Dave Dister says that 3 represents the high daily count for the county, breaking the old record of 2. 

    This morning the Monarch that formed a chrysalis on the exterior of my basement wall, broke out and grew some wings.

   The newly emerged butterfly left the local Monarch population with a net zero gain for the day, as a lingering Olive-sided Flycatcher started the day by taking a taste of one of the newbie's unwary brethren.

       As caterpillars, monarchs only eat milkweed which contains toxins that give the insects a bad taste throughout their life.  Therefore it came as no surprise that flycatcher ended up dropping the Monarch after mouthing and mangling it for a couple minutes.   

   On a happier note, warblers have been migrating through my yard this week.  Today's Cape May Warbler shown below beat the county's old early fall date by 8 days.

  The Magnolia and Nashville Warblers were seen on Wednesday.

Eurasian Collared Dove, Wasn't Expecting That. 8/8/2021

   On the short list of birds that I expected to add to my yard list one day, Eurasian Collared Dove was not on my radar.  Nonetheless, I noticed the rather large pale dove fly across my yard and land on my neighbor's shed.  By the time I sent a group text to a few Mason County birders the bird had moved on.

Yard bird 169

  According to the searchable database on the Michigan Bird Records Committee website, the species had only been recorded in the state 31 times through November 2020. That would make it my rarest yardbird ever, besting the Rufous Hummingbird that visited my Southgate house in 2011.  Rufous Hummingbirds have been recorded at least 50 times in the state.

  Moments later, this young Bald Eagle stared me down as it flew over my deck.  But it didn't intimidate me....

....well maybe just a little.

 

Woodstork '21 8/3/2021

 

   By the time I got to Wood Stork...it was in the roadside ditch making a meal of small minnows.  It's an understatement to say this bird was cooperative.  It was downright bold, as it forced me to backpedal as it kept moving within the range of my lens's near focus.  

  When I first arrived this morning at the stakeout I could see Brian Brosky standing in front of his truck but the bird was not visible.  I made eye contact with Brian and he motioned downward as the bird walked about 3 feet in front of him and momentarily stood to the middle of the road.

     It soon resumed its patrol of the ditch.

  Next time I'll have to bring extension tubes so that I can get my lens's near focus from 15 feet down to 8.