Ancient Murrelet

On 11/24/09 an Ancient Murrelet showed up at Tiscornia Park beach in Saint Joseph, MI. It's normal range being coastal Alaska, B.C. and offshore in winter south to California, I thought it would be great to see the bird myself! I first went on 11/20, but rough waters made viewing a small sea bird impossible and I only got a fleeting glimpse (but not identifiable looks) of what I believe was the bird flying low over the water 200 yards from the end of the pier I was standing on.
However, today I made another run for it. Waves were a foot or less and the weather is only supposed to get worse for the remainder of the week. Within an hour the bird showed up to within 30' or so of the pier for GREAT views and a few photos too.

Mason County Eurasian Collared-Dove

4/24/09
At about 10:45 a.m. I heard what I identified as a Eurasian Collard-Dove at the intersection of Anderson and Victory in Mason County, MI.
I've seen/heard this species on numerous occasions in both Texas and North Carolina. After investigating to get a visual on the bird, I found it in the middle of a nearby tree and photographed it (first photo below). It flew off a minute later, but returned at 11:08, when I was able to photograph it a second time (second photo below). I also heard/saw the bird briefly at 1:18 and 2pm. It was seen all 4 times in the same 2 trees NE of the intersection. The trees SW of the house on the same lot and are the closest deciduous trees to the intersection on the NE corner.
The photos indicate that the black markings or "webs" extend beyond the gray area of the under tail coverts and down the edges of the white feathers of the tail, separating this bird from a hybrid ECDO x Ringed Turtle-Dove.
The first 2 photos below are the original (only cropped slightly) images. Image 3 and 4 are "redone" and sharpened versions of 1 &2. Images 5 and 6 are cropped images of 1 & 2 showing just the under tail area.
Comments are welcome.

FINALLY @ the Feeder!

Yesterday I FINALLY saw a Pine Siskin at my thistle feeder! I've been waiting all winter long for this with a feeder full of Goldfinches, but no siskins. One lone bird showed up yesterday (first photo) and again today (second photo). Not to mention another feeder first...a male Purple Finch showed up in all his royal spledor today and fed at the same time as the siskin!

A Family Crossbill Afair

This winter's invasion of White-winged Crossbill to our area possessed me to make a family excursion to Greenwood Cemetary in Grand Rapids so that all in the family could witness the spectacle. Who knows if this will ever happen again? My son Caleb (5) was excited to get out on this "treasure hunt" of an adventure. My wife, Bonnie, willingly went along with this crazy idea. We found them within 5 minutes of arriving (thank goodness!) and everyone got excellent views of several birds feeding high above our heads in a Norway Spruce. We even put Elijah (3 months) up to the scope for good measure! I'm sure he'll remember this and put White-winged Crossbill on his life list when he gets older (yeah, right!). I took the below photos to document the event.
After the 1/2 hour event we drove a short distance further to visit my Grandma to play cards. It was a fun afternoon for all!

White-winged Crossbill















Caleb points to the tree where we saw the crosbills.



















Elijah gets a look too!















Bonnie, the multi-tasker!

Unusual Crossbill Foraging Behavior

On 2/5/09 I was X-Country Skiing with my Dad at Pigeon Creek Park in Ottawa County. As we were preparing to leave a flock of 7 White-winged Crossbills landed in a deciduous tree and began, interestingly, to forage! I got a few photos and a video too. Turns out the tree is called a Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus) and it was devoid of it's fruits. So "what were they feeding on?" is the question. Chip Franke visited Pigeon Creek Park the following day and wrote this:
"I had 3 WWC today at the same location (Pigeon Creek Park). I went to the park to look at the tree of heaven. The birds landed in the tree briefly while I was there. I was able to watch them with a scope at close-distance and they did appear to be feeding on something. I was able to collect a branch from the tree and I carefully examined it for what they might be feeding on. I could not find anything living on the twig nor were there any tree seeds. The only think I found was some sort of fuzzy material that either was part of old seed pods that remained on the tree or some kind of insect egg case. I couldn't tell for sure. Chip"
The video I took is posted at the bottom.

Note the birds in the top of the tree.

Crossbills on a Sunny Day

On 2/4/09 my Dad and I revisted Greenwood Cemetary in Grand Rapids on a sunny day to get better looks at White-winged Crossbills and with hopes of getting decent pictures. We got both! There were about 7 males feeding in the top of a Norway Spruce in the sunlight! I digiscoped the pictures below.

Goldfinches and friends?

This winter my nyjer feeder has been inundated with American Goldfinches. They come in droves, filling the perches on my feeder and emptying the seed! I don't mind, trust me. I love watching them and providing a suppliment to their winter diet, however, they have refused to bring their other finchy friends. This has been a really good year for Pine Siskins and there are numerous Common Redpoll reports as well, but alas, not at my house. Well, winter's not over yet!

Snowy Owl at GR Ford Airport

On 1/27/09 in the late afternoon I went with my son Caleb and my Dad to find a previously reported Snowy Owl at Kent County's Gerald R. Ford Int. Airport. On our second time through my dad spotted it on top of a street light overhanging the road on the NE part of the airport. It flew to the fence and posed long enough to get a few photos. Then it dove in the snow and stuffed it's face in the snow as if it were eating something (see photo below). It may have caught something, but whatever it got, it was gone when the owl flew back to the fence.

White-winged "Yard Bird" Crossbill!

On January 8, 2009 I added White-winged Crossbill to my yard list! One day after searching for the birds at a college campus and cemetary (in response to previous reports), a single male decided to show up in the top of a White Pine tree across the street while I was shoveling snow! Since then, I've had several other sightings of WWCR's in my yard (see below). This year's WWCR invasion has been wonderful and possibly once in a lifetime.

The photos below were taken 1/24/09.

1/8/09 - one heard/seen in top of white pine across the street to the SE. Seen/heard by my son Caleb too.

1/9/09 - flock of about 20 seen/heard as they flew from top of white pines across the street and over my head as I stood in the driveway before heading south. Seen by Bonnie too.

1/12/09 - 3 briefly seen flying into and perching briefly in top of white pines across the street.

1/13/09 - one heard/seen in top of spruce N of our house

1/20/09 - at least one heard in top of white pine across the street.

1/22/09 - Fly-by of small flock SE of house. Heard.

1/24/09 - 4 heard and seen as they flew over the yard, landing in deciduous tree in neighbor's yard to the N before continuing to fly W.

1/24/09 - 3pm - 2 seen feeding in spruce adjacent to white pine across the street. A flock of 12 took off from there and flew N. Photos taken!

2/1/09 - Flock of about 2 dozen circled the pine and spruce across the street before disappearing to the south.

2/4/09 - 4 seen foraging in the top of the white pine, then flying West.