At 4 a.m. Saturday, it was decided that the bird walk to Chocolay Bayou Nature Preserve would be a no-go due to wind gusts topping 28mph. At 7:30 two birders arrived on site, so we birded regardless of the darn wind. Troy, Clare, and I walked the route and recorded 44 species. The rescheduled walk on Sunday, Mother’s Day (sorry about that) delivered 41 species. Yep. That’s birding, predictably unpredictable. So both days were enjoyable and productive in different ways. We had a total of 10 birders for the two outings, with a total of 50 different species seen and/or heard.
Today’s outing was a joint venture with
Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy
On Saturday, the highlights were two American Wigeons, two Blue-winged Teals, two Northern Shovelers, a Brown Creeper, and one Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Sunday was a little quiet, and also windy by 9:00 am. We enjoyed good looks at Common Mergansers, Swamp Sparrow, and Osprey. And did I mention, over FIFTY warblers! YES! We ran into a large flock in the forest along the river. They flowed in front of us, over us, behind us, and through us: three Palm Warblers, one Black-throated Blue Warbler, one Magnolia Warbler, and about 50 Yellow-rumped Warblers. Well, it was fun, if not diverse. The radar will light up tonight as our little friends ride a stiff southerly wind into the UP. Go birding this week, it will be terrific, I promise. And see you Sunday at Peninsula Point for our annual birding picnic, the best spring birding in the UP. Thanks to everyone who attended the Chocolay Bayou Nature Preserve outing, especially Clare Fastiggi with Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy, and a big thanks to Matt and Beth for their expert eyes and ears.
Thanks for that report Brian. It sounds like a great weekend of birding. Sorry that I got COVID and had to miss it, but should be good to go for next weekend. Jeff