White-crowned Sparrows Are Back - 06 Oct 2026

 

Robin and I are on Mackinac Island this week (05 - 07 Oct 2026) for a short get-away. We are staying at Mission Point Resort and enjoying the quiet and cool island; visitor numbers are low but a brisk wind and cool temperatures (40-50's) is making for sweatshirts and rain jackets.

This morning I took a walk around the grounds of Mission Point. Just outside the back doors of the resort the Maintenance Yard held a number of goodies. A flock of White-crowned Sparrows were singing and frolicking in the field of Common Tansy, Gray-headed Coneflower, New England Aster and Queen Anne's Lace. A dozen or so birds were scattering through the field and up onto the dirt piles next to the propane yard. 

A half-dozen Song Sparrows were among the WCSP flock, as well. 

I was here to do a bit of foraging, as well. I wanted to collect some Gray-headed Coneflower seeds but couldn't resist collecting a few seeds from the Common Tansy, as well. But first, I'd head down the road toward Arch Rock to do a little birding and collect seeds on the way back.

Along the shoreline a Common Merganser (female) was swimming and diving for prey just inches from the shoreline.

I went down to the shoreline to look for any unusual rocks and found this Ring-billed Gull just chilling. I didn't want to spook it so I took a few pics and walked back to the road. 

I walked the shoreline as far as Arch Rock then turned around. Along the way I'd hear a Winter Wren and Red-shouldered Hawk calling but fail to see either. 

I returned to the field next to the Maintenance Yard and collected some Common Tansy, 

Gray-headed Coneflower, 

and other plants such as Purple-stem Aster, Sea Lavender, Floss Flower, and Snapdragon. 

The White-crowned Sparrow flock was still moving around so I took a few more pics as they foraged among the seeding wildflowers. 

Song Sparrow against the backdrop of a green propane tank.

Blue Jays were moving through the island by the dozen. This one was foraging nearby before crossing the Straits to the mainland. 

Still more White-crowned Sparrows.

Virginia Creeper in its glorious red against a backdrop of Common Tansy seed heads.

A pair of female Common Mergansers on a rock next to the Lake Huron shoreline.

I'd head back to the room, collect Robin, and walk into town for lunch at the Great Turtle Brewery. I'd collect a couple of Hollyhock seed pods on the way back to the resort. 

Mackinac Island State Park, Mackinac Island US-MI 45.85202, -84.60515, Mackinac, Michigan, US
Oct 6, 2026 9:34 AM - 11:16 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.909 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, cool, breezy50F
15 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  60
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  3
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  6
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  3
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)  1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  60
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  2
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  1
Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  1
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)  16
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  2
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  6
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S399768470

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