Opening tipoff of round 2 game between Michgan and Florida
Shortly after the Michigan State Spartans defeated Bradley early Thursday afternoon in a first round NCAA Tournament match, I gave into the case of March Madness that I had been fighting off since earlier in the week, when I had noticed that both MSU and Michigan (despite competing in the tournament's East and West regions respectively) would be playing their first two rounds in Des Moines, Iowa. With the Spartans (my wife's favorite team since 2015) wrapping up their early game and Michigan (my favorite team since 1975) being favored against Montana in their first round game later in the day, I went to ticketliquidator.com (an aftermarket ticket selling site) and found a pair of tickets at center court just 3 rows behind the scorers' table.
Screengrab of tipoff from NCAA's highlight video
If you watch the above video at 0.25 speed, at the 0:08 mark you can see my right hand coming down after taking the tipoff photo with my iphone.
Jordan Poole hits a 3.
Isaiah Livers working the ball to the hoop...
...for two.
Michigan ended up outclassing Florida as expected with stifling defense 64-49.
After a half hour break for warm-ups it was time for game two with the Spartans taking on Big Ten rival Minnesota.
Coaching legend Tom Izzo.
MSU big man Nick Ward throws up a short jumper.
And it's good.
Minnesota's 6 to 22 turnover edge was overcome by the Spartans 45 to 19 rebounding advantage, as MSU manhandled the Gophers 70-50.
Izzo receives congratulations from Minnesota Assistant Coach Ed Conroy
In the photo below, Coach Izzo gives words of encouragement to Minnesota senior Jordan Murphy. Murphy was limited to 4 minutes of play because of a back injury sustained in the Gophers' first round game. We were surrounded by Minnesota fans and were told that Murphy hadn't missed a game (or even a practice) in his four year college career.
In the waning minutes of the 20 point blowout Murphy was reinserted into the game so that he could receive a proper crowd acknowledgement when he was removed from the game just moments later. The Minnesota fans responded by chanting JOR-DAN MUR-PHY. The Gopher contingent was soon joined in their tribute by the Spartan fans as well as the Michigan and remaining Florida fans.
While the games were in Des Moines near the geographic center of Iowa, our hotel was 2 hrs and 20 mins away in Davenport. That shortened our drives to Iowa and home. It also gave us a chance to visit the Antique Archaeology antique store in Le Claire, Iowa. The store is famous as the home base of Frank Fritz and Mike Wolfe of the American Pickers show, which airs on the History Channel.
Phillip Morris Bellhop....$7500
Laurel and Hardy oversized heads......$2500 each
85-pt Deer mount......$1200
Flock of American White Pelicans flying over as we walked back to the car....priceless.
A couple of months ago I purchased a bottle of Black Xantus Imperial Stout with the expressed intent of drinking it the next time I recorded a new bird to the yardlist. At 22 ozs of 11% alcohol I couldn't very well consume it on a workday. Fortunately a night off from work coincided with a Field Sparrow making its debut in the my yard,.
The Harlequin Duck shown above has been seen off and on at my work site since December. Earlier this week a Surf Scoter was seen at Ludington State Park. But my searches the past couple of days only yielded Scoters of the White-winged variety.
The Barrow's Golden-eye found by Linda Scribner early this winter in Manistee is being seen almost daily. Below is a photo taken in early February.
On January 13, Linda Scribner found a Barrow's Goldeneye in Manistee Lake. I unsuccessfully tried to view the bird a couple of times in the following 10 days.
On January 27 with the lake icing up which greatly reduced the amount of open water, Linda refound the bird at Seng's Marina at 47 Lake St. The bird and its Common Goldeneye cousins were taking advantage of the marina's bubblers that helped keep the water ice-free.
Hanging with a female Common Goldeneye.
In the 6 day span from the January 27 to February 2 the local semi-official weather spotter measured just over 23" of snow which was accompanied by strong winds and temperatures ranging from 17F down to -8F. This severe weather prevented me from making another attempt at the Barrow's until today.
The bird not only was still at the marina today, it was the first male Goldeneye that I saw when I pulled up to the docks.
Crescent face patch and blacker back distinguish it from Common Goldeneye drakes.
Late this morning Dave Dister relayed that Linda Scribner had found a Snowy Owl near the little pier at the Loomis Street Boat-launch of Ludington Harbor. Since I had yet to see a Snowy this season I headed right out there.
When I arrived the bird had moved from the location that Linda had seen it but a binocular scan of both piers revealed that the bird was perched near the top of the Ludington Lighthouse.
The bird seemed unfazed and unnoticed by the few pedestrians who hiked to the end of the pier. I would have attempted a closer approach but I had my dog with me whose presence I'm sure the owl would not have appreciated. So I headed home dropped the dog off, picked my wife up and drove back to the lakeshore. As luck would have it the bird had fled the lighthouse but we fortunately ran into Matt McConnell who saw it head toward the south pier.
We were able to relocate the bird on the sand near the beginning of the pier.
At one point as the owl scanned its surrounding it tilted its head up to check out a....
...piston-twin plane on final approach to the local airport.
The plane flew straight overhead as the owl kept an eye on it.
Back at home White-throated Sparrows are still making daily appearances.
On Thursday of last week my Christmas Bird Count partner Van Burmeister reported that a Black-headed Grosbeak (3rd Michigan record) was visiting the feeders in his yard. It was after sunset when I got the word but I made it over there at daybreak on Friday morning, When I arrived Van and his wife Sally were hosting several birders who had made the predawn journey from across the state.
As bird stakeouts go this was one of the most hospitable you could imagine. Coffee, oatmeal cookies and sweet-rolls were offered while we observed the feeders through the sliding glass door. The only thing lacking was the target bird.
While the morning light progressed and the Grosbeak still being a no-show, Matt McConnell, Adam Byrne and Linda Ar started canvassing the neighborhood in search of the rarity. About 10:45 Linda Scribner who had remained inside, received a call from Adam who was observing the bird under one of Van's tube feeders. I caught a brief glimpse but the bird took off before I could pick up my camera.
Later in the day it was realized that the bird was visiting feeders in at least a 3 block area of the neighborhood. Over the weekend the bird was seen and photographed by many birders with myself being one of the few exceptions.
Around noon today I unsuccessfully spent over an hour in my car ( unheated to prevent photo-ruining thermal distortion), staking out the feeders on Dexter St (three blocks north of Van's). Needing to warm up I headed over to the Burmeister kitchen where the cookies were fresh but the Grosbeak had just left. Within the hour the bird returned and I was finally able to get some decent photos of young molting male.
Hopefully it will stick around until its molt is complete and it takes on a more photogenic appearance. Or it could wander a mile and half north where my feeders are waiting.
