A Big Day of Birding Michigan & Ohio

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)

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:

"Follow me!" - a Wild Turkey with young

Why did the Wild Turkeys cross the road???

The Dickcissel who had no tail

This Turkey Vulture wanted to carrion with its business

Great Egret

Halloween Pennant dragonfly (possibly my fav photo of the day) 🎃🎃🎃

Pied-billed Grebe-lets! 💙💚

Purple Martin of House 14 provides well for his family

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. 👏🐛

Playing fetch?

Sizing me up

Species of Birds We Saw/Heard:

1. Canada Goose
2. Mute Swan
3. Trumpeter Swan
4. Wood Duck
5. Mallard
6. Northern Bobwhite (lifer!)
7. Ring-necked Pheasant
8. Wild Turkey
9. Pied-billed Grebe
10. Double-crested Cormorant
11. Great Blue Heron
12. Great Egret
13. Snowy Egret
14. Green Heron
15. Black-crowned Night Heron
16. Turkey Vulture
17. Northern Harrier
18. Bald Eagle
19. Red-tailed Hawk
20. Common Gallinule
21. American Coot
22. Sandhill Crane
23. Killdeer
24. Short-billed Dowitcher
25. Spotted Sandpiper
26. Solitary Sandpiper
27. Greater Yellowlegs
28. Lesser Yellowlegs
29. Ring-billed Gull
30. Herring Gull
31. Caspian Tern
32. Forster's Tern
33. Rock Pigeon
34. Mourning Dove
35. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
36. Black-billed Cuckoo
37. Chimney Swift
38. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
39. Red-headed Woodpecker
40. Red-bellied Woodpecker
41. Downy Woodpecker
42. Northern Flicker
43. American Kestrel
44. Eastern Wood-Pewee
45. Willow Flycatcher
46. Alder Flycatcher
47. Eastern Phoebe
48. Great Crested Flycatcher
49. Eastern Kingbird
50. Belted Kingfisher
51. Warbling Vireo
52. Blue Jay
53. American Crow
54. Horned Lark
55. Purple Martin
56. Tree Swallow
57. Bank Swallow
58. Barn Swallow
59. Cliff Swallow
60. Tufted Titmouse
61. White-breasted Nuthatch
62. House Wren
63. Marsh Wren
64. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
65. Eastern Bluebird
66. Veery
67. American Robin
68. Gray Catbird
69. Brown Thrasher
70. European Starling
71. Cedar Waxwing
72. Common Yellowthroat
73. Yellow Warbler
74. Grasshopper Sparrow
75. Chipping Sparrow
76. Field Sparrow
77. Savannah Sparrow
78. Song Sparrow
79. Eastern Towhee
80. Summer Tanager (lifer!)
81. Scarlet Tanager
82. Northern Cardinal
83. Indigo Bunting
84. Dickcissel
85. Bobolink
86. Red-winged Blackbird
87. Western Meadowlark (lifer!)
88. Eastern Meadowlark
89. Common Grackle
90. Brown-headed Cowbird
91. House Finch
92. American Goldfinch
93. House Sparrow

Fav Lifer of the Day: Summer Tanager because I found it after a bit of a chase hearing it but not being 100% sure and wanting to see it. The chase made it worth it and super fun. Unfortunately with the Bobwhite we couldn't stay long enough to see it, so we only heard it.
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

Behind the Lens; A Birding Interview with Andrew Simon

As a new installment to the world of Little Bird Nerd, I have decided to begin a series of interviews with birders!

For my first interview, I spoke with friend and classmate Andrew Simon, whom I met at Walsh college just a few semesters ago.

My first interviewee: Andrew Simon

At first we didn't speak much, except to compare statistics notes, until one day the topic of birding arose. Andrew's eyes lit up as I talked about my birding adventures, and then he shared with me his far-reaching history of birding, which ended a few years back. Since then, he hadn't done much birding at all, and was reinvigorated by our conversation. I was happy to see him "get back in the game", and ever since, we've been close cohorts on many birding missions. We often compare sightings and swap stories, and now he is rising in the Macomb birding scene, as well as branching out well outside the county. It has been exciting to watch him track down many of the local bird species he had previously missed. I have also witnessed his willingness to share and connect with others who are interested in birds, including local birders, Facebook birding groups, and with his girlfriend Andi. He also happens to be a master juggler of his schedule: working full-time, going to school, and still squeezing in many more birding trips than I seem to manage! Since we began teaming up approximately 6 months ago, we have had much success. Of the 26 lifers (aka life birds = bird species one sees for the first time) I've seen this year, 9 of them have been while birding with Andrew.

Andi holds a Downy Woodpecker at Kensington Metropark (Andrew Simon, 2016)

LBN: When and how did you first get into birding?

AS: I honestly don't remember. It was so long ago. I've always loved animals and I remember when I was little, every bird was a "mingo" (flamingo). I think it really set in when I would visit my grandma who had a bunch of bird feeders and a Huge book of all of the Audubon pictures.

LBN: That's awesome! So when did you start keeping a life list?

AS: The first bird on my life list is a Sandhill Crane from March of 2003, coincidentally from my grandma's house in Florida.

LBN: So that was 13 years ago, what's your list looking like these days?

AS: Well, it spans 7 countries and 8 states. I found species #389 yesterday, a Crested Caracara, and #390 and #391 today, Piping Plover and Black-backed Woodpecker. My goal is 400 by December 31st.

Crested Caracara found in Munising, MI, 7/15/16 (Andrew Simon, 2016)

LBN: So you're moving at a pretty fast pace these days. Know how many lifers you've added this year?

AS: I've added about 50 this year but some of them were so easy it's like how have I not seen them before, others I traveled around the state for, and some of them are incredibly rare and just happened basically in my backyard like Whooping Cranes and a Kirtland's Warbler.

LBN: That's great, like double of what I have added this year. So you have said before that you sort of dropped out of birding for a time. Was there ever a year where you didn't bird at all?

AS: There were many years I didn't bird at all. Maybe from 2005 til present it was extremely sporadic and only on vacations. Life got in the way and I fell off the bandwagon for a while.

LBN: I've talked to other birders where this has happened for one reason or another, but maybe it's, "once a birder, always a birder" type deal? Anyway, I'm glad you're back at it! You mentioned your listing goal for the year; any other big goals or birding plans?

AS: I would like the 400 on my life list by the end of the year, and 200 in Macomb County for the current year. Otherwise just to have fun and meet new people.

LBN: Well you already met me so you really can't top that (*laughs*). Seriously though, what is the best lesson birding has taught you?

Lark Sparrow, a lifer for both of us! (Andrew Simon, 2016)

AS: Patience is a virtue.
And always bring a rain coat/hat and gloves, depending on the time of year, which is funny because I'm in the middle of the woods at Shiawassee and it's probably going to rain any time and my rain coat is in the car.

LBN: Too funny...! Alright, this question pains me because I can never really answer it, but I feel like I need to ask, do you have a favorite bird?

AS: Not as a whole but on my life list is now a toss between a Trinidad Motmot and the Caracara.

Trinidad Motmot (Andrew Simon, 2009 )

LBN: What about your most satisfying species (because of how long it took you to find it, how difficult was the search, its rarity level, etc.)?

AS: Most satisfying was the Whooping Crane. It is so rare that it ended up here in the first place, and between trying to figure out exactly where they were seen and driving an hour round trip sometimes twice a day for 4 days before finally seeing them, mere minutes before the Whooping Crane organization [Operation Migration] came to pick them up. That was the most satisfying.

Whooping Cranes in Macomb County (Andrew Simon,  2016)

LBN: Last question, do you have a nemesis bird (a bird that constantly eludes you)?

AS: I've found most of them, but maybe a Barred Owl or Long-eared Owl.

LBN: Ah yes! I remember finding both of these birds for the first time, on the same day, thanks to another great birder and friend, Kevin Rysiewski. But that's another interview for another day.

AS: I'm looking forward to seeing other people's interviews!

LBN: Thank you Andrew for taking the time to participate. Happy Birding! :)

Henslow's Sparrow, a lifer for both of us! (Little Bird Nerd, 2016)