Macomb County count

I was not able to join my friend Mick this year on our annual 2 day birdathon to either Pelee or Magee Marsh.... Feeling upset by this, I asked Kevin Rysiewski if he would join me in a local count for the day... Kevin agreed to give me a hand, and I am amazed at what a great birder Kevin has become ... We covered a big area in a small amount of time and I am tired...

Bobolink

We started the day at my house at 5am... First bird out of the gate was the Woodcock calling behind my home... from there we went to Lk St. Clair Metropark, Wetzel State Park, ponds near Hall Rd/I-94, Macomb Corners Park, Wolcott Mills Metropark, Stoney Creek Metropark, Holland Ponds and finished up at River Bends Park in Shelby Twp.... Our total species for the day was 116..  I was very disappointed in the amount of warblers we had today... Only 16 species... Although we got 3 Mourning Warblers at LSCMP.... Highlight of the day was a Gray-cheeked Thrush behind the Nature Ctr at LSCMP.... We also managed a couple of Black-billed Cuckoo's at Wetzel off an area near Omo Rd... Thanks to Tom Heatley for showing Kevin and I this location.... Its not an easy area to access, but very good... click to enlarge photo

Misses on the day included Green Heron, Barred Owl, Osprey, Orchard Oriole.... New for my county list were Swainsons Thrush(191), Gray-cheeked Thrush(192) and Least Bittern(193)....

List for the day:
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Comorant
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Canvasback
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Merganser
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Ring-necked Pheasant
Sora
American Coot
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
Spotted Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
American Woodcock
Ring-Billed Gull
Forster's Tern
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Wild Turkey
Black-billed Cuckoo
Great-horned Owl
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmous
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Sedge Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainsons Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black and White Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Mourning Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Clay-colored Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
House Finch

Black-billed Cuckoo

Got a tip from Kevin and Tom today about Black-billed Cuckoo (190) at Wetzel State Park.... I followed there directions and found one near the airfield... very cool bird.... It dived in the bushes and my photo of it is not worth posting, but it was cool seeing it and hearing it call from the dense thicket it was hiding in...

While I was there I took a quick walk around the pond south of 27 mile rd... A Marsh Wren popped up out of the cattails to yell at me and I also saw a Green Heron.... In the distance I could hear a Bobolink...

Near Wolcott Mills today I heard the familiar song of an Orchard Oriole.... I found it quickly and was able to get some photos before it moved on....

Orchard Oriole

Marsh Wren

Marsh Wren

Short Lk. St.Clair Metropark trip

quick loop around the trails... new FOY were Ruby-throated Hummingbird(187), Blackpoll Warbler(188) and Mourning Warbler(189).... It is really hard to photograph warblers in this leaf cover.... I managed one crappy photograph of the Mourning Warbler.... They usually stick around for a couple of weeks, so hopefully I will get another chance.... also saw Chestnut-sided, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Blue, Northern Parula, Black and white, Ovenbird, Northen Waterthrush and Yellowthroat.... decent array of warblers.... I did not see the Wilson's and Golden-winged Warbler that had been reported earlier in the day....

Mourning Warbler

Ruby-throated Hummingbird at feeder

Wayne Hoch posted this link today of a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird that came to his feeder...  Very cool video....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca5V1dpelbo


Cool video Wayne!!!!!

Barred Owl finally

I have known for awhile of a location of a Barred Owl at Stoney Creek Metropark.... On the Oakland County side of the park.... I am working on a Macomb County list this year, so this Owl isn't in the right area for me... On a tip I headed to stoney today after work and got a Barred Owl(186) to start calling to me.... on the Macomb County side of the park... Supposedly they are nesting in the area that he was calling, but I could not find the tree with the cavity in it.... Something about an owl that will call in the daytime hours is very cool... I also found an Imm Bald Eagle off of Inwood Rd near the gated entrance to the Nature Ctr....

A report came in of a Short-billed Dowitcher at Lk St. Clair Metropark.... I headed over there after Stoney and was unable to locate the bird... Only a few Dunlin and a couple of Pipits....

Imm Bald Eagle (shot out my car window)

Dunlin

Bull Frogs - I swear I heard Barry White in the background

I don't see Bullfrogs that often.... When I do, they are usually jumping in the water... away from me... Yesterday when I was at Lk. St. Clair Metropark (slowly getting used to the new name) in the afternoon, they were all in a mating frenzy in the small pond near the South Marsh.... The sound was incredible and I was able to approach the frogs closely... they had other things on their mind.... It was interesting watching their behavior... Not being an expert on Amphibians, I found it interesting that they all had the same thing on their mind at the exact same time....  click to enlarge

He seems happy

Cape May Warbler - Wetzel

Got a call from Wayne Hoch about a possible Yellow-throated Warbler at Wetzel State Park... It was early and before work so I headed that way to see if I could relocate the bird he had seen... No luck, but we did find a Cape May Warbler working the tree line near the parking lot... early morning and cloudy does not make for great pics with my big zoom, but I took a couple none the less.... Also saw a couple of Green Heron, Blue-winged Warbler, American Redstart and Magnolia Warblers..

After work I headed to Metrobeach.... It was surprisingly active for late in the day... Lincoln Sparrows, Common Gallinule(185), Black-throated Blue and Northern Parula were my highlights.... The Common Gallinule was working the edge of the South Marsh... I almost was able to get a photograph.... if only he would come one more foot.... but he never popped out of the Cattails.... Rats!!!!!

Cape May Warbler

Cape May Warbler

Cedar Waxwing

Green Heron

Mute Swan Cygnets