Up North Hilites - 12-14 Nov 2004

I spent the weekend up north birding Fisherman's Island State Park, Wilderness State Park, and locally in Central Lake. Highlights included the following: 

12 Nov 2004 Fisherman's Island SP, Charlevoix Co.

 

0800 Hrs; Drove to the State Park via M-65 N between Central Lake and Charlevoix.  Temps were 20-24ºF and frost was everywhere.  No real activity along M-65.  Inland ponds have a coating of ice while Hanley Lake has steam rising off the surface.  

0900 Hrs; I walked the shoreline of Lake Michigan toward Fisherman’s Island.  Saw (4) Horned Grebes in winter plumage out on the lake along with dozens of Common Goldeneye and merganser sp.

1000 Hrs; At the tip of the island I saw 24-27 Snow Buntings feeding along the shoreline.  The birds in their winter plumage blended in well w/ the gravel shoreline.  I tried digiscoping the birds but they were easily spooked every time I approached.  

As I scoped the birds snow began to fall.  The sun had disappeared behind the clouds and it began to feel very cold.  I also managed to see several small flyover flocks of Snow Buntings and Pine Siskins.  Also an immature Bald Eagle flew overhead.     

1115 Hrs;  As I left the island and began walking back to the car I noticed a small sparrow foraging in the sparse grasses approximately 15 feet from the shoreline.  As I put my binoculars to it I noticed a bright orange face, a finely streaked body, dark cap and white median crown stripe.  A quick look through Sibley’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America confirmed a LeConte’s Sparrow!  These birds are extremely shy and somewhat rare for this late in the season (?).  My first Ammodramus sparrow.  I was able to follow the bird down the shoreline for about 10 minutes before it flew off; bummed I couldn’t digiscope it…  A few minutes later I saw a Lapland Longspur run down the beach to the water’s edge to drink.  I was able to get a poorly scoped pic of it before it flew off.

1700 Hrs; Robin and I drove to Petoskey to buy lamps, drove to Pearls and had dinner w/ Greg and Louisa Kremer;  Skies clear, tons of stars, faint haze of Northern Lights.

Fisherman's Island SP, Charlevoix, Michigan, US
Nov 12, 2004 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Cold; inland lakes freezing.
7 species

Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  20
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)  15
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)  4
Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  12
Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus)  1
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)  24
LeConte's Sparrow (Ammospiza leconteii)  1     1115 Hrs;  As I left the island and began walking back to the car I noticed a small sparrow foraging in the sparse grasses approximately 15 feet from the shoreline.  As I put my binoculars to it I noticed a bright orange face, a finely streaked body, dark cap and white median crown stripe.  A quick look through Sibley’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America confirmed a LeConte’s Sparrow!  These birds are extremely shy and somewhat rare for this late in the season (?).  My first Ammodramus sparrow.  I was able to follow the bird down the shoreline for about 10 minutes before it flew off; bummed I couldn’t digiscope it; Cleaner look of the sparrow differentiated it from a Nelson's Sparrow. Per conversation w/ Phil Chu a LeConte's was more expected.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S41728464

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

13 November 2004 Wilderness State Park-Emmet Co. 

0730 Hrs;  Robin and I drove to Wilderness State Park.  Temperature was 19ºF; skies clear.  We drove C-48 through East Jordan to US-131 up through Petoskey.  Saw a Pileated Woodpecker just east of East Jordan and a 2nd Pileated Woodpecker just N of Petoskey.

0900 Hrs;  At the entrance to the state park I walked down to the shoreline and saw an immature Bald Eagle fly overhead.  Also saw a Horned Grebe and numerous small flocks of Common Goldeneye, one Lesser Scaup.  At Waugeshonce Point it was very windy and brisk.  The shoreline was very quiet with only a few Chickadees and Goldfinches being heard.  I did manage to see a small flock of 27 Snow Buntings along the shoreline and several small fly over flocks of Snow Buntings, Pine Siskins and (2) American Pipits.  Also saw a single Great Blue Heron fly along the shoreline.  Late for this far north?

1300 Hrs;  After lunch at City Park Grill in Petoskey we drove US-131 S to M-32 W to Adams Rd to Co. Rd 624 to Central Lake.  Along Adams Rd we saw a single Red-Tailed Hawk.  When we crossed C-66 and picked up C-624 we were greeted with a soaring Rough-Legged Hawk (light phase).  Not a half-mile later we saw (2) more Rough-legged Hawks soaring together over pastureland/farm fields.  All hawks showed distinctive black bellies, black elbow patches, and white tails w/ black at the tips.  Very neat!  These birds are supposed to be solitary, but the pair soared together and w/in several feet of each other, sometimes tail walking or flipping in air.  Skies were clear and 40ºF.

1400 Hrs;  As were arrived in Central Lake we saw a pair of Bufflehead on Hanley Lake.  I dropped Robin off, grabbed my scope and binocs and walked down to the lake to digiscope them.  I had little luck getting my scope set up in time before they moved off into the middle of the lake, so I walked around to the condo complex and walked to the edge of a boat dock.  No sooner had I set up the scope when (3) Mute Swans started heading toward me from across the lake.  They swam right up to the edge of the dock, and I thought I was going to get my arse kicked!  They appeared very tame, however, and were looking for handouts, I guess.  I got some lovely pics of them as they swam around the dock and headed off to the shoreline.

Wilderness SP, Emmet, Michigan, US
Nov 13, 2004 7:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
11 species

Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)  1
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  12
Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)  1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)  2
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  2
American Pipit (Anthus rubescens)  2
Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  6
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  3
Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)  27

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S41728607

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

13 November 2004 Co.Rd-624 - Antrim Co.

 
- (3) Rough-legged Hawks, including a pair that were soaring together and apparently simulating 
some courtship/fighting displays that seemed highly unusual for birds that are supposed to be 'solitary'(?). All were light phase. 

13 November 2004 Hanley Lake - Antrim Co. 

- (12) Bufflehead 
- (3) Mute Swans

 

Central Lake, MI, Antrim, Michigan, US
Nov 13, 2004 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Driving back from Petoskey to condo in Central Lake
3 species

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  3
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  12
Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus)  3     light-phase; C-66 and C624

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S41728800

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

14 November 2004 US-127 S from Grayling

Saw several flocks of Wild Turkey on drive home from condo.  Also saw (14) Red-tail Hawks and (1) Rough-legged Hawk.