Fisherman's Island State Park - 09 Sep 2006
I was out at Fisherman's Island State Park this morning looking for shoreline migrants. Winds were blowing hard shoreward and whitecaps were visible on the lake. However, there was a bit of sunshine between all the clouds and rain north and south of Charlevoix Co.
I got as far as the base of Fisherman's Island and found a small flock of shorebirds working a weedbed next to shore:
(1) Baird's Sandpiper
(5) Semipalmated Plover
(2) Least Sandpiper
(4) Semipalmated Sandpiper
I desperately tried to digiscope, but winds, and water kept both me and the peeps moving along the shore. Then, a sub-adult Bald Eagle flew overhead and spooked everything. I managed a few flight shots of the eagle as it floated overhead:
The peeps returned shortly after, and after giving up on the scope I decided to belly-crawl and work the 400mm. I was able to get w/in 2ft. of the Baird's Sandpiper and shoot about 60 pics w/ the D70.
I also got a few of the Semipalmated Sandpipers
and Semipalmated Plovers from slightly farther out,
as well as the Least Sandpiper.
The bay held a half-dozen Blue-winged Teal that were spooked by the eagle.
Also seen were several Common Mergansers and Killdeer. A Palm Warbler was also seen on the fence as we drove out of the state park.
Sep 9, 2006 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Windy, whitecaps
9 species
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) 6
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 4
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 3
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) 5
Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii) 1
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 2
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) 4
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 1
Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Robin and I then drove to Charlevoix for dinner at Terry’s, and on the way back to Central Lake we found a Broad-winged Hawk next to the road on an overhead wire. It stayed long enough for me to get out of the car and snap a half-dozen shots. We drove off and left it alone.
Pretty good day despite the weather forecast.
Central Lake, MI, Antrim, Michigan, US
Sep 9, 2006 4:30 PM - 4:40 PMProtocol: Traveling
0.1 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Driving back from dinner
1 species
Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus) 1 perched on wire next to Co-88 just n of Central Lake
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
