American Pipit! - 13 Feb 2010


Ok, Patricia, I don't hate you anymore. This morning I was able to finally see the American Pipit that she and Walt Pawlowski have been reporting for the past week and a half. The bird was in the clump of spruce trees near the corner of the parking lot at Pt. Mouillee HQ.


I had parked at the boat launch for 10 minutes or so, but did not see any activity in the clump of spruce trees next to the boat launch. A truck was parked in front of the trees, and I waited for them to leave before parking nearby. Getting out of the car I walked along the edge of the breakwall to see if anything might be along the rocky shoreline.

As I approached the second group of trees a bird popped out into the open almost immediately and perched for several moments. I recognized immediately the bobbing tail as an American Pipit and fired off a dozen or so frames from about 20 feet away. The bird disappeared into the trees again, so I went back to the car for scope. 
For the next 20 minutes or so I knelt in then snow and waited patiently for the bird to reappear.






A Song Sparrow appeared for several minutes and hopped around in the undergrowth, and was soon joined by the pipit. I managed a few digiscoped images through the trees as it fed on the opposite side of the trees from me. Once it disappeared I got back into the car and began to leave, but refound it out in the open just a few feet from the car.

I grabbed several more frames from inside the car before leaving the two birds to continue their foraging.

Pte. Mouillee SGA--HQ, Wayne, Michigan, US
Feb 13, 2010 9:00 AM - 9:40 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:     Continuing bird.
1 species

American Pipit (Anthus rubescens)  1     This morning I was able to finally see the American Pipit that she and Walt Pawlowski have been reporting for the past week and a half. The bird was in the clump of spruce trees near the corner of the parking lot at Pt. Mouillee HQ.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S42315332

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