MICHIGAN TRIP REPORT ~ |
As the sun came up Friday morning in Michigan, we were riding in the van north toward the site of the Henslow's Sparrow. We were already on the road twelve hours, having driven through the night on the turnpikes of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Nobody had slept more than a few minutes all night because the conversation and the jokes never stopped. Our group was Adrian Binns, the leader, Paul and Anita Guris, Dennis and Anna Bert, Irene Goverts, Don Jones, and Frank Windfelder. On a small farm road in the north end of Bay County, Flajole Road, we stopped and saw Least Flycatcher, Savannah Sparrow, Bobolink, Meadowlark, and Northern Harrier. Farther down the road, after some patient listening and looking, Anita found the Henslow's Sparrow, and we had a good view of it.Nearby, on Grim Road, we were excited to hear and see a Sedge Wren. Around the corner, on the road to Molasses Lake, we saw a Black Tern and heard an Alder flycatcher. Paul caught and showed us a garter snake he found. We also saw Green Heron and Ring-necked Duck. Back on Grim Road, we saw and heard the Mourning Warbler, Veery, Blue-Winged Warbler, and amidst a great burst of excitement, the Golden-Winged Warbler. By 10:45, we'd already had a very successful morning. At Nayonquing Point Wildlife Area, Adrian found the Yellow-headed Blackbird for us. Also Sedge Wren, Bald Eagle, Swamp Sparrow, Pied-billed Grebe, and Moorhen were found there. After lunch at Pinconning Subway, we were off to Tawas Point State Park, which projects into beautiful Lake Huron. It was sunny, breezy, and cool on the point, and we had the park almost to ourselves. We saw Caspian Tern, Dunlin, White-rumped Sandpipers, and Sanderling. After 3 pm, walking around the point near the lighthouse, we encountered a pocket of birds, in a small pine grove including American Redstart, Bay-breasted Warbler’s, Orchard Oriole, Great Crested Flycatcher, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Brown Thrasher, Blackpoll Warbler, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. We left Tawas and encountered a turkey on the field en route to Mio Michigan and a Purple Finch at Horst Lake area of Huron National Forest. By the time we reached Mio Motel, our weary group had found 111 species of birds in Michigan. Saturday morning, 7 am was our Kirtland Warbler appointment. After a short video, our ranger, Joe, led us out to the Kirtland Warbler habitat. We had several great looks at the Kirtland Warbler in the jack pines right after we arrived. We spent two hours there, and also saw Clay-colored Sparrow, Nashville Warbler, Field Sparrow, and Hermit Thrush. Some of us also saw a Vesper Sparrow. We also saw a porcupine sleeping in a tree. Joe showed and explained the cowbird trap in the Kirtland habitat. Joe recommended our visit to the Luzerne Boardwalk nearby, where we were able to hear several warblers. It was a lovely habitat with singing Magnolias, Black throated Greens, Winter Wrens and a Canada and we were able to eat lunch there, sitting on the grass. Saturday afternoon we crossed the 45th parallel, halfway between the equator and the North Pole, on the way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. At exit 322 of route 75 we pulled off for an easy peak at Brewer's Blackbirds right from the van. They have a purple head and blue body with a thin small bill. Soon after, we crossed the Mackinac Bridge to Upper Michigan, with Lake Michigan to the left and Huron to the right. The water below was a beautiful turquoise and we gazed at the various islands in the lakes from the bridge. Once in the Upper Peninsula, we began to see ravens along the roads and even once a Harrier. We stopped at Raco Field, an abandoned airfield. Out popped several Sharp-tailed grouse, as we were driving by. They scattered quickly but we were able to track down one among the pine trees nearby and get excellent looks in scope and binoculars. We felt really fortunate to also catch glimpses of Upland Sandpiper at Raco field. Our next stop was a Forest Service Road nearby where Paul spotted a male Spruce Grouse ahead on the road. We got out to enjoy the most tame, beautiful close-up bird ever. He let us watch him and take pictures for several minutes. It was fantastic. When we finished the day at Zeller's Village Inn for dinner, we all felt we'd had two awesome days of birding with a new total of 131 birds. On Sunday we birded the Spruce bog area at Hulbert's Corner where Ruffed Grouse were drumming and then Trout Lake, road 3344,hearing a Mourning Warbler but not finding the Connecticut Warbler. In the afternoon we toured Seney NWR. We saw Trumpeter Swan at Seney's North Show Pool. It has black lores the width of the eyes and a U-shaped bridge between the eyes. The nostrils are midway from the tip of the bill to the eye. At the Visitor Center we also saw Osprey and Pine Siskin. Michigan had such fresh clean air and we've only seen a few ticks, here at this refuge. Sunday night at 10 pm was our appointed time for joining the Yellow Rail "search and band" party. But that night when we came out with Eric, the ranger who bands yellow rails, we were disappointed that no yellow rail called there. Eric said he was willing to take us out again Monday night, though. The night sky was worth viewing anyway, full of stars, and then later the Northern lights appeared. Monday we had a wonderful morning at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. It was like Cape May in the fall. Whitefish Point extends into Lake Superior. It is the last point of land for migrating birds before they cross the lake. Flocks of hundreds of Blue Jays circled everywhere along with Black-capped Chickadees. This was where we finally saw the Boreal Chickadee, to Adrian's relief. It was also great for warblers and evening grosbeaks and hawks. We had Merlin and Cooper's and Sharp-shinned and also a Bald Eagle. Cliff Swallow nested at the lighthouse. We made a special stop after Whitefish to see Sandhill Cranes, and then stopped at some recommended sites for Le Conte's Sparrow. It was heard by Anita and Paul, but not seen. We also made a good effort to find Black-backed Woodpecker but it was not found. Would the yellow rail be seen tonight? We met Eric the ranger with two interns at 9:30 pm at Seney and followed a different road than Sunday out to the back part of the refuge. At dusk we began to hear Woodcocks call, followed by several Whippoorwills. We had Nighthawks swooping low overhead, peenting and booming. We were able to see some of the Whippoorwills as they perched in the trees by the road, their eyes lit up by the flashlight. The Virginia Rail called further up the road and then finally, The Yellow Rail. It was time to venture slowly into the sedge grass marsh, wearing hip-waders, since the water was fairly deep. The first time Eric stopped and attempted calling in the yellow rail by means of clicking two stones together, it responded but did not come in close. Concluding we were still outside the rail's territory, we ventured farther out, farther than we'd all expected. Eric and his intern knelt on the sedge and used the 2 stone method to call in the yellow rail. It seemed like 15 minutes until the rail flew into the lit area before us. Shortly after midnight, the Yellow Rail flopped (walked) up onto Eric's thigh. Eric caught hold of him in his hand and banded and weighed and measured with the help of the interns. He handled the yellow rail quietly and efficiently. The small rail was the size of Eric's hand and weighed 58 grams. After being petted by Anita and me, it was released and walked toward Irene, who also petted him. The rail's call at close range was memorable. He didn't hurry off but walked away slowly when released. After we lost sight of our rail, the hardest challenge lay ahead; tramp through two hundred yards of uneven sedge and cattail marsh deep in water. Between uneven tufts of grass, feet becoming tangled in grass, unexpected deep holes, and the dark, it was treacherous and strenuous work to get back. But we all made it even though some of us got wet and vowed never to do it again. But the memory of the Yellow Rail made us all happy that we tried. Tuesday morning we covered some previous territory again, trying to find the Connecticut Warbler. We never did find one, but we did see a mammal, a pine marten; and also a brown creeper. More Sandhill Cranes were spotted from the van afterward. On the 7-hour drive into Canada, some of us saw a Peregrine Falcon on the bridge to Canada; we also saw a moose along the road. We enjoyed an exquisite meal at Three Guys and a Stove restaurant in Huntsville. At Algonquin Park Wednesday, we added 7 new birds for the group trip list, now at 174 total for the trip. We saw Black-backed Woodpecker on a telephone pole close to Road 60, a nice male with a warbler-yellow cap. We saw two moose and a snowshoe hare. On the Spruce Bog Trail, we had a Gray Jay and another wonderful Spruce Grouse!- This time we were also able to see a female Spruce Grouse in the same area as the male. These tame grouse surpass any photo in exquisite appearance. This area also had warblers, Blue-headed Vireo, Golden and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and Alder and Least Flycatchers. We all enjoyed the billion-dollar Visitor Center and had lunch there. Our only rain was a light bit on the way south in Canada, then a bit more in New York. On route 41 South, Frank surprised us all by calling "Ruffed Grouse, on a tree by the road". Adrian turned the van around and sure enough, on a low tree in excellent view we saw a male Ruffed Grouse. We all got a great look, amazing since we' d heard them in several sites, but not seen one previous to this. We arrived in our home area around 11 pm., with new Life birds for everybody, even Don who got his first Henslow's Sparrow. Dennis and I were able to see 15 new life birds, Adrian 7, Irene 4, Paul 2, Anita 4, and Frank 2. ~ Anna Bert |