Unfortunately I never managed a Broad-winged in the past 3 plus weeks.  Down to Eastern Screech-Owl and Cackling Goose as ones that I can still get up to 10/10 years.  The Owl I feel okay about, but not so much the Goose.  Honestly was shocked to see that those have been annual birds for me.  Always felt like a struggle to get one.  

Since my last update I managed to nab a Surf Scoter at Brooks Nature Area on 10/15 for bird #200 for the year.  That was one of my goals for this year.  Keeps my yearly average over 200 over the last 10 years, including my Big Yard year where I only got to 180.  That bird helped push Brooks into a tie with Whitehouse at 183 birds, for #1 hotspot in the county.  A number passed a couple days later, and then with a bird I'll discuss in a bit now at 185.  I think there is a shot to eventually get the checklist there to 200.  I've come up with 19 somewhat likely candidates.

1. ​Veery
2. Acadian Flycatcher
3. Blue-headed Vireo
4. Hooded Warbler
5. Cerulean Warbler
6. Rough-legged Hawk
7. Gray-cheeked Thrush
8. Canada Warbler
9. Virginia Rail
10. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
11. Mourning Warbler
12. Philadelphia Vireo
13. Cackling Goose
14. Snow Goose
15. Golden Eagle
16. Eastern Whip-poor-will
17. White-winged Scoter
18. Short-eared Owl
19. Golden-winged Warbler

None of these are totally out of bounds for showing up there, and likely do and just timing has been off.

One bird I wasn't expecting, and didn't even think about showing up there popped up on 10/22.  I snapped some pics of a gull flying out of there, and didn't even look close at it.  Shortly after arriving at the lookout this small darker juvie gull caught my eye.  It ended up being the same bird I fly over heard about 10 minutes prior.  It gave me lots of great looks, and I had no doubt, as it landed amongst the Ring-billed Gulls, this was a juvie Lesser Black-backed Gull.  Most of our sightings have been near R DR N, or at Duck Lake.  I also hardly ever have many gulls at Brooks.  It just doesn't attract them like Duck Lake does.  This was bird #185 at Brooks, and my 161st bird tying my hotspot high with Woodland Park, and 1 more than my yard.  

The bird gave some nice flybys, even being chased by the Ring-billeds with what appeared to be a leaf in its mouth.  This bird would be a bird that hatched this year, and already this far south and away from the Great Lakes.  It was also, by a day, the earliest in the season I've had one.  
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Not my bird, but the Limpkin was sighted again...one month after it first showed up.  Things are really going to start getting tough for it.  Hopefully it decides to take some favorable winds and head to warmer climes.  

Not a whole lot of other highlights in the past 3 weeks.  My downed tree limb I think save a bird from a Cooper's Hawk on 10/5.  On 10/6 I probably had my Broad-winged Hawk at Woodland Park with some hawk jumping off the forest floor, but just never got a really good look at it.  I did have a late Green Heron and Eastern Wood-Pewee, and this weird looking juvie Red-tailed Hawk.  Lots of spotting going down the neck, thick patagials and the spotting going all the way down the belly.  

Early in the morning on 10/10 I had the pair of Great Horned Owls calling back and forth for a short bit.  The next day I had my latest record of Tennessee Warbler.  Not too surprising with the way the weather has been.  We managed a late walk at Brooks on the 18th, and then ran out to Duck Lake.  The large groups of gulls have already started to show up with close to 3000 out there already.  Very spread out, and nothing that immediately popped out as odd.  I might have had 3 White-winged Scoters out there, as previously spotted, but I didn't try to snap pics and never located them again.  Tough call from that distance.  Nothing else of exceptional note.  Rough past couple of weeks for the family, so motivation has been a little lacking.  If not for trying to make sure Hercules got some walking time, I'd probably not gotten out at all.  

​Some shots from the past few weeks, only half being birds.  

I was originally thinking my next post would be titled "The year without a Broad-winged Hawk", as that has been my year so far.  Looking closer birds I have seen every year, the past 10 years, excep this year are also Cackling Goose and Eastern Screech-Owl.  Still have time for those.  Not so much for the Hawk.  

The bird that was the impetus for this post was something truly unbelievable.  A Limpkin was spotted at Whitehouse Nature Center!!  This is a bird that on a trip to Florida one year I specifcally targeted, along with Snail Kite and Wood Stork.  At that time there were just a couple dozen records of this bird north of Florida.  It was nearly exclusively a Florida bird for years.  Even just in 2020 there was a single record north of a line from Atlanta, East and West.  2021 brought some records to Minnesota, Illinois and Maryland.  2022 was Limpkin summer with records up into Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan and Niagra in NY.  

Michigan had 2 records last year (I think these were determined to be 2 different birds), and we have had 5 more this year, with the Calhoun bird being the latest.  I drove 200 miles in 4 trips to finally see that bird.  It was very elusive, but others kept seeing it when I was not there so I didn't give up when reports were coming in on Monday 10/2.  I got to the little boat dock near the Albion College football field and started scanning.  Nothing though.  I moved over to this pipe that was in the river and started to scan again.  Just as I was about to give up and head to the Nature Center I spotted it well hidden under some overhanging branches slowly moving in the water.  It even bathed for a bit.  What an amazing bird I never expected to see here, even with the other birds showing up in the state.  #252 for the county, and #199 for the year.  

Bird #198 for the year was American Pipit, with 12 seen on the fence of the buidling at Homer WTP.  I almost gave up on those there also, until I decided to scan the top of the fence and noticed them all hanging out there.  I also managed a young Bald Eagle fly close by, and then 4 way up in the sky.  On the way back home I ran in to another young Bald Eagle lower, and 4 up high.  I thought they were the same birds, but looking at my pics they were all different birds.  10 Bald Eagles in one day isn't bad at all.  

The weather continues to be weird this fall with a lot of winds from the south keeping some birds up north longer.  I've had my first October record of Eastern Wood-pewee, and even had 2 of them on 9/29.  Along with that though the American Pipits are my first September record of that species with earliest arrivals previously being 10/2.  It still feels like some warblers haven't come through.  I've only seen 6 Yellow-rumped, and no Palm Warblers yet this fall.  My latest bird, so far, is a Wood Thrush giving some volley calls on the morning of 9/30.  This bird was 18 days later than my previous latest Wood Thrush.  Just a very weird Fall migration this year.  

Sound like the Great Horned Owls may be setting up shop in the woods again as I had 2 calling the morning of 10/1.  Hopefully I can get back to having windows open, without the need to run the fans to cool things off, soon.  Hopefully also a chance still for some Broadwings to show up.