Antrim Co., MI - 01 Mar 2008

Robin and I drove up to Central Lake this weekend to check on the condo and celebrate our anniversary. We hadn't been up there since November so we loaded up the car first thing Friday morning (2/29)and braved the snow that fell on the state. Seven hours later we made it to Central Lake, and, after unpacking, drove down to Elk Rapids for dinner at Pearl's Restaurant. The only bird(s) of note were a flock of Wild Turkeys along US-31 just outside of Elk Rapids.

Wilcox-Palmer-Shah Nature Preserve, Antrim, Michigan, US
Feb 29, 2008 5:00 PM - 5:02 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.1 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Roadside
1 species

Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)  6

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S168070941

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

After a trip to Traverse City on Saturday, we drove back in the afternoon along southbound M-88 and came across a Bald Eagle roosting in a tree just outside of Central Lake! Slowing to a stop, I got out and managed to capture a few dozen images as it rested. It then decided to fly off toward Torch Lake, and I caught this sequence as it flew through the trees and out into the distance:

Once back at the condo, I took a walk down to the canal connecting Hanley and Intermediate Lakes and found (among the many Mallards) Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Redhead, Hooded Mergansers, Common Mergansers, and Mute Swans. 

I digiscoped several images of the Hooded Mergansers, 

Redhead, 

Goldeneye, 

and Bufflehead before heading down to Intermediate Lake. 

A Muskrat was sitting on the edge of the already-melting ice, and I took an image of it as a sign that spring was nearing!

Down at Intermediate Lake a pair of Mute Swans were courting. As they swam slowly toward each other they would puff their necks, then slowly touch and hold their heads to the sides. Very touching!

I then noticed the first 'peeps' of the spring along the edge of the exposed shoreline. Slowly sneaking toward them, I managed a couple digiscoped images of them without them flushing. Unfortunately they did not survive the cold and were soon devoured! Yet another sure sign of spring!

Central Lake, MI, Antrim, Michigan, US
Mar 1, 2008 2:00 PM - 3:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.4 mile(s)

8 species

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  16
Redhead (Aythya americana)  2
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  6
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  6
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  8
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  4
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S168072514

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