Phalarope Babies! - 24-27 Jun 2021
Earlier in the day of the 24th reports began to circulate that the Wilson's Phalarope pair at Lake Erie Metropark (Wayne Co.) from several week's past have been spotted again with babies! At least one brood of 4 chicks has been photographed and a second brood of 2-4 chicks were also spotted; these are reportedly smaller than the first. I suspect that the female has successfully mated with two different males in the same area.
Jun 24, 2021 5:30 PM - 6:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.2 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Wave Pool Area
4 species
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 6
Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) 6 2 adults and 4 chicks in field just north of Wave Pool. I drove down to Lake Erie Metropark to look for the babies, and after a few minutes of looking through the grassy field of Killdeer, European Starlings and Savannah Sparrows I spotted the male flying in broad circle over the field. The female suddenly joined him for a few moments before he eventually landed next to 4 chicks! Photos.
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 12
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 6
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
With a weekend forecasted for heavy rains and hot temperatures I took a chance and drove back to LEMP on Friday morning to see if the birds were around. The field, now freshly mowed, was relatively calm with just a few Killdeer and Savannah Sparrows milling about. It began to downpour so I had to take turns rolling down the window long enough to scan the fields on either side of the road for any evidence of the phalarope family (incidentally, the maintenance crew at LEMP are aware of this rarity and are watchful for the birds when they mow; in fact, one person insists that they were here last year).
As I drove my way out I spotted the male Wilson's Phalarope huddled in the grass very near to the road. I was able to photograph and digiscope him from the dryness of the car while the rain battered her. No sign of the female or chicks (they would be seen shortly after I left the park).
Jun 25, 2021 9:30 AM - 9:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.2 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Downpouring rain!
3 species
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 4
Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) 1 Male only. Female and chicks not seen this morning but assumed to be elsewhere in the field. Photographed from car.
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 3
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
I did a search to find out the last time there was any record of phalaropes breeding in Michigan. These birds are known to breed in the prairie pot holes of the mid-west, NW Minnesota and up into Alberta, CA. I found a record in the Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas II that lists historical records for the birds in Michigan.
Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas II record for Wilson's Phalarope shows a number of previous records of the species breeding in Michigan. Unfortunately, I was unable to search eBird to see if there were any recent records.
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| https://naturecenter.org/Portals/0/MBBA/MBBAIIAccounts/R-Y%20MBBAII%20Accounts/WIPH-2020.pdf?ver=2020-05-26-080643-537 |
Sunday evening rolled around and skies were clearing. It was hot and humid, but worth a ride back to the park to look for chicks after Brian Beauchene reported seeing both broods earlier in the day. Robin and I drove back to LEMP at 5:30 pm and headed toward the Great Wave Pool where the bird has been reported.
As we approached the parking lot I spotted the male very close to the road on my left. I was able to slow down and grab a few pics from inside the car when I spotted a young hatchling with him! It looked smaller than the chicks I photographed on Thursday evening so it might be part of the 2nd brood that has been reported. With the 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens on the Sony a1 I had wonderful photo opps as the two strolled along the edge of the road just a few feet away.
Robin dropped me off w/ the scope and drove off to park while I took a few pics of the birds from the road side. The male took offense to my presence and immediately took to the air and circled around me while the hatchling took off for deeper grass. With traffic buzzing by I was glad of the situation as they were awfully close to traffic.
I grabbed the scope and backed off across the road into the field and that settled Dad down. The chick disappeared into the field and after a few more circling passes the male dropped down and found it. I took it as my queue to leave quickly so as not to disturb them any more.
Such a brilliant find by all and definitely one of the highlights of 2021. Especially for me!
Lake Erie Metropark, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jun 27, 2021 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.3 mile(s)
1 species
Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) 2 Continuing. As we approached the parking lot I spotted the male very close to the road on my left. I was able to slow down and grab a few pics from inside the car when I spotted a young hatchling with him! It looked smaller than the chicks I photographed on Thursday evening so it might be part of the 2nd brood that has been reported.
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
