Aka Andrew's and my 2nd annual midsummer hot day of Michigan & Ohio birding
Aka birding in the "kitten" and the "mitten" (just kidding- no one really said that)
On 7/16/17, Andrew Simon and I embarked on a Big Day of birding in Michigan and Ohio. Last year's trip yielded me a few life birds (birds seen for the first time), including Lark Sparrows at Oak Openings in Ohio, Dickcissel along farm roads near Ann Arbor, and a Franklin's Gull and Black Tern at Pointe Mouillee in Monroe.
This year, we wanted to start earlier and hit more places, hoping to pick up a few more lifers. Targets included a few birds that had popped up recently, a Wood Stork in Ohio and a Yellow-crowned Night Heron in both states; a continuing Western Meadowlark in Michigan just north of the Ohio border; and reliable Summer Tanagers at Oak Openings. During the course of the day, we also found out we'd have access to a possible third lifer (for me), a Northern Bobwhite (thank you Lori & Bunny!), which made for an excellent bonus stop. We ended the day with 93 avian species, one lone pigeon being our last.
I walked away with three lifers, although I was unable to get decent pics of any of them:
#277 - Western Meadowlark (MI)
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| poorly lit photo |
#278 - Summer Tanager (OH)
#279 - Northern Bobwhite (OH)
We did not find our targets of Wood Stork or Yellow-crowned Night Heron, though I did see some cute cats (sorry to those who might own these cats, if this is creepy let me know 😅).
I witnessed and photographed some cool moments and subjects, so I'll let them tell their stories:
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| "Follow me!" - a Wild Turkey with young |
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| Why did the Wild Turkeys cross the road??? |
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| The Dickcissel who had no tail |
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| This Turkey Vulture wanted to carrion with its business |
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| Great Egret |
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| Halloween Pennant dragonfly (possibly my fav photo of the day) 🎃🎃🎃 |
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| Pied-billed Grebe-lets! 💙💚 |
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| Purple Martin of House 14 provides well for his family |
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| Part of the largest group of Trumpeter Swans I've ever seen (~70+) |
The bird you'll see in the following pictures is a young Forster's Tern, a common bird around here during summer time, often seen diving headfirst into water to catch small fish. We were at this beach in search of a Laughing Gull, a rare coastal vagrant gull that would have been another life bird for me.
Unfortunately, we missed the gull, but the antics of this young tern were enough to make the stop worthwhile. We watched the tern slowly and tentatively exploring the land, never straying too far from its parents. It picked and prodded through the sand, holding objects like rocks and wood chips in its bill, dropping them when they did not satisfy the role of food. At one point, I saw the young bird choose correctly and snatch a bug. 👏🐛
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| Playing fetch? |
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| Sizing me up |
- Canada Goose
- Mute Swan
- Trumpeter Swan
- Wood Duck
- Mallard
- Northern Bobwhite (lifer!)
- Ring-necked Pheasant
- Wild Turkey
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Snowy Egret
- Green Heron
- Black-crowned Night Heron
- Turkey Vulture
- Northern Harrier
- Bald Eagle
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Common Gallinule
- American Coot
- Sandhill Crane
- Killdeer
- Short-billed Dowitcher
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Solitary Sandpiper
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Ring-billed Gull
- Herring Gull
- Caspian Tern
- Forster's Tern
- Rock Pigeon
- Mourning Dove
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
- Black-billed Cuckoo
- Chimney Swift
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- American Kestrel
- Eastern Wood-Pewee
- Willow Flycatcher
- Alder Flycatcher
- Eastern Phoebe
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Eastern Kingbird
- Belted Kingfisher
- Warbling Vireo
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- Horned Lark
- Purple Martin
- Tree Swallow
- Bank Swallow
- Barn Swallow
- Cliff Swallow
- Tufted Titmouse
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- House Wren
- Marsh Wren
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Eastern Bluebird
- Veery
- American Robin
- Gray Catbird
- Brown Thrasher
- European Starling
- Cedar Waxwing
- Common Yellowthroat
- Yellow Warbler
- Grasshopper Sparrow
- Chipping Sparrow
- Field Sparrow
- Savannah Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Eastern Towhee
- Summer Tanager (lifer!)
- Scarlet Tanager
- Northern Cardinal
- Indigo Bunting
- Dickcissel
- Bobolink
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Western Meadowlark (lifer!)
- Eastern Meadowlark
- Common Grackle
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- House Finch
- American Goldfinch
- House Sparrow
Fav Non-lifer of the Day: Yellow-billed Cuckoos, seeing two together was really awesome. One had a dragonfly or something in its mouth. Then to see Black-billeds in the same small area was cool.
Andrew's Lessons Learned:
- Dulcimer Band =/= Dulcimer Brand
- Doves are not pigeons
My Lessons Learned
- Sometimes moon roofs are closed, in which case don't stick your head through them
- Nature makes trip wires
