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Birding

[Birding (and more) in Calhoun County and beyond

Lazy birder playing catch up

4/3/2022

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Doesn't feel like over a month since last post, but there has been quite a bit that happened in the past month.  Still running behind last years pace.  Not sure it is entirely lack of effort on my parts.  Last year by end of March there were 127 species seen in the county.  This year, only 117 at end of March.  I think that may be the case for most of the state, with the crazy weather we have had.  If we had 127 species this year, we would be around 7th in the state.  

March 2nd I may have had a Red-shouldered Hawk flyover the house.  The bird was moving so fast, and in a tuck I couldn't count it.  I continue to see occasionally white-winged variants of the Slate-colored Junco.  Feels like it might be more than 1 out of every 200, as I seem to get at least one every year.  On March 10th an e-mail came out from Christopher Peet that a Snowy Owl was at the airport.  I booked out there at lunchtime and drove to E Airport Road to see if it may have moved.  After not seeing anything there, I went over to S Airport Road where it had been seen.  After driving up the road and seeing nothing I turned back around, and just happened to notice a rounded top of a small snow pile.  Sure enough this Owl had found a very small snow pile to hide from the crows.  It has been a long wait to get another Snowy in the county.  
On March 12th I caught a quick glimpse of a Cooper's Hawk going after some feeder birds.  The birds came right towards the picture window, and up over the roof.  I'd heard recently about Cooper's Hawks having learned to steer birds towards windows.  Another interesting raptor interaction was this young Red-tailed Hawk soaring overhead with its alula feathers spread out very prominently.
Picture
March 16th, right on schedule Brooks Nature Area was full of American Woodcock calling.  I counted at least 7, which flagged as high on eBird.  I took Hercules back with me the next night to try to get some night vision pics or videos, but had trouble getting them spotted.  
March 20th brought one of the best experiences of birding so far.  I checked a fluddle on 23 Mile Road, north of J DR N.  It has been there for a while, so thought I would just check if there were some early shorebirds.  I was shocked to see a small sandpiper bobbing up and down in the small fluddle.  I had seen reports of Spotted Sandpipers already showing up in Michigan and initially I thought I had one.  When I got the scope on it, I realized it had spots on its back.  It was a Solitary Sandpiper!!!  About 10 days earlier than the first March record in Michigan we had last year at D DR S.  Crazy early bird, obviously helped along with all the southerly winds we had been experiencing.  
Not a whole lot of other highlights lately.  Was able to record some audio of Blue-winged Teal, and it was the first audio of them on eBird for Michigan.  Things are going to pick up more with Chaos in the coming weeks, so probably will keep things slowed down.  Hopefully the birds don't hold up for too much longer.  
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    My exploits in my latest passion, Birding...not Bird-watching;-)
    Attempting to get the Calhoun County life-list to 206 by the end of 2015.....Mission accomplished, 252 and counting.  

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  • Balance the Chaos
  • Contact
  • Hobbies/Passions
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    • Throwback Baseball Game Database >
      • 1990 - Brewers at White Sox
      • 1991
      • 1992
      • 1993
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      • 1996
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      • 2005
  • Birding
  • Birding Calhoun County
    • Calhoun County Checklist
    • Birds of Calhoun County >
      • Calhoun County Birds by Code >
        • Yearly Calhoun County Birds
      • Loons (Gaviidae) >
        • Common Loon
      • Grebes (Podicipedidae) >
        • Pied-billed Grebe
      • Pelicans (Pelecanidae)
      • Cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae)
      • New World Vultures (Cathartidae)
      • Bitterns, Herons, and Allies (Ardeidae)
      • Ducks, Geese, and Swans (Anatidae) >
        • Long-tailed Duck
      • Ospreys (Pandionidae)
      • Hawks, Kites, Eagles, and Allies (Accipitridae) >
        • Northern Goshawk
      • Grouse, Pheasants, Quail, and Turkeys >
        • Greater Prairie-Chicken
        • Wild Turkey
      • Flamingos
      • Cranes, Rails, Gallinules and Coots >
        • Yellow Rail
        • King Rail
        • Virginia Rail
        • Sora
        • Common Gallinule
        • American Coot
        • Sandhill Crane
        • Whooping Crane
      • Shorebirds, Gulls and Relatives >
        • Black-necked Stilt
        • Black-bellied Plover
        • American Golden-Plover
        • Semipalmated Plover
        • Killdeer
        • Spotted Sandpiper
        • Solitary Sandpiper
        • Greater Yellowlegs
        • Lesser Yellowlegs
        • Upland Sandpiper
        • Semipalmated Sandpiper
        • Least Sandpiper
        • White-rumped Sandpiper
        • Baird's Sandpiper
        • Pectoral Sandpiper
        • Dunlin
        • Stilt Sandpiper
        • Buff-breasted Sandpiper
        • Short-billed Dowitcher
        • Long-billed Dowitcher
        • Wilson's Snipe
        • American Woodcock
        • Wilson's Phalarope
        • Black-legged Kittiwake
        • Bonaparte's Gull
        • Laughing Gull
        • Franklin's Gull
        • Ring-billed Gull
        • Herring Gull
        • Iceland Gull
        • Lesser Black-backed Gull
        • Glaucous Gull
        • Great Black-backed Gull
        • Caspian Tern
        • Black Tern
        • Common Tern
        • Forster's Tern
        • Dovekie
      • Pigeons and Doves >
        • Rock Pigeon
        • Mourning Dove
      • Cuckoos, Roadrunners and Anis >
        • Yellow-billed Cuckoo
        • Black-billed Cuckoo
      • Owls >
        • Eastern Screech-Owl
        • Great Horned Owl
        • Snowy Owl
        • Barred Owl
        • Long-eared Owl
        • Short-eared Owl
        • Northern Saw-whet Owl
      • Goatsuckers, Nighthawks and Allies >
        • Common Nighthawk
        • Eastern Whip-poor-will
      • Swifts and Hummingbirds >
        • Chimney Swift - Swifts (Apodidae)
        • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
        • Rufous Hummingbird
      • Kingfishers
      • Woodpeckers and Allies >
        • Red-headed Woodpecker
        • Red-bellied Woodpecker
        • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
        • Downy Woodpecker
        • Hairy Woodpecker
        • Northern Flicker
        • Pileated Woodpecker
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          • Eastern Wood-Pewee
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          • Bank Swallow
          • Cliff Swallow
          • Barn Swallow
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          • Tufted Titmouse
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          • White-breasted Nuthatch
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          • Marsh Wren
          • Carolina Wren
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          • Golden-crowned Kinglet
          • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
        • Thrushes >
          • Eastern Bluebird
          • Veery
          • Gray-cheeked Thrush
          • Swainson's Thrush
          • Hermit Thrush
          • Wood Thrush
          • American Robin
          • Varied Thrush
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          • Gray Catbird
          • Brown Thrasher
          • Northern Mockingbird
        • Starlings
        • Wagtails and Pipits
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          • Cedar Waxwing
        • Longspurs and Snow Buntings >
          • Lapland Longspur
          • Snow Bunting
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          • Worm-eating Warbler
          • Louisiana Waterthrush
          • Northern Waterthrush
          • Golden-winged Warbler
          • Blue-winged Warbler
          • Black-and-white Warbler
          • Prothonotary Warbler
          • Tennessee Warbler
          • Orange-crowned Warbler
          • Nashville Warbler
          • Connecticut Warbler
          • Mourning Warbler
          • Common Yellowthroat
          • Hooded Warbler
          • American Redstart
          • Kirtland's Warbler
          • Cape May Warbler
          • Cerulean Warbler
          • Northern Parula
          • Magnolia Warbler
          • Bay-breasted Warbler
          • Blackburnian Warbler
          • Yellow Warbler
          • Chestnut-sided Warbler
          • Blackpoll Warbler
          • Black-throated Blue Warbler
          • Palm Warbler
          • Pine Warbler
          • Yellow-rumped Warbler
          • Prairie Warbler
          • Black-throated Green Warbler
          • Canada Warbler
          • Wilson's Warbler
          • Yellow-breasted Chat
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          • Scarlet Tanager
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          • American Tree Sparrow
          • Chipping Sparrow
          • Clay-colored Sparrow
          • Field Sparrow
          • Vesper Sparrow
          • Lark Sparrow
          • Lark Bunting
          • Savannah Sparrow
          • Grasshopper Sparrow
          • Henslow's Sparrow
          • Fox Sparrow
          • Song Sparrow
          • Lincoln's Sparrow
          • Swamp Sparrow
          • White-throated Sparrow
          • Harris's Sparrow
          • White-crowned Sparrow
          • Dark-eyed Junco
        • Cardinals, Piranga Tanagers and Allies >
          • Northern Cardinal
          • Rose-breasted Grosbeak
          • Blue Grosbeak
          • Indigo Bunting
          • Dickcissel
        • Blackbirds >
          • Bobolink
          • Red-winged Blackbird
          • Eastern Meadowlark
          • Western Meadowlark
          • Yellow-headed Blackbird
          • Rusty Blackbird
          • Brewer's Blackbird
          • Common Grackle
          • Brown-headed Cowbird
          • Orchard Oriole
          • Baltimore Oriole
        • Fringilline and Cardueline Finches >
          • House Finch
          • Purple Finch
          • Red Crossbill
          • White-winged Crossbill
          • Common Redpoll
          • Hoary Redpoll
          • Pine Siskin
          • American Goldfinch
          • Evening Grosbeak
      • Old World Sparrows
    • Hotspots >
      • 1/2 Mile and Marl Lake Rd
      • 10 Mile Road near G DR S
      • 23 Mile Road Flooded Field
      • Waterfowl
      • Shorebirds
    • ID
  • Macro, Bugs and Moths
    • Moths >
      • Michigan Moths Checklist
      • Bombycoidea
  • YouTube Links