Michigan - A Special Bird

We chose to visit Michigan in early June to see one of the rarest birds in North America, the Kirtland's Warbler. The Kirtland's Warbler breeds only in Northern Michigan and Wisconsin, and relies on a very specific habitat of young Jack Pines, 5' - 20' tall.  Loss of this habitat and increasing parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds landed the Kirtland's Warbler on the Endangered Species List in 1973, with its numbers having fallen to around 400 birds. 

Preservation of the Jack Pine habitat, including regular controlled burns to maintain trees in the preferred height range, along with aggressive trapping of Brown-headed Cowbirds has led to a spectacular recovery of the species, with the current population estimated to be around 4000 birds. 

Early June is the best time to see these birds, as the males are singing to attract females and establish breeding territories. We signed up for a Michigan Audubon sponsored trip, which run daily from late May to the end of June. We met our group and leader at 7:00 at Hartwick Pines State Park, and after a short introduction caravanned in our own vehicles to a site about 30 minutes away.  

The best locations for Kirtland's Warbler changes based on the age of the Jack Pines, but our trip leader Baxter knew exactly where to take us, and we were hearing and seeing warblers within a minute of getting our of our vehicles. 

Kirtland's Warbler

It's getting pretty tough for Teri and I to find life birds (birds that we've never seen before) in North America, but this one was easy!  The group walked up a gravel road for about a mile, and then returned to the cars. Along that stretch we saw and heard around a dozen Kirtland's Warbler males singing. 

We headed back to Hartwick Pines State Park after the walk, and birded around the visitor center and on the trails for an hour or so. 

Inside the visitor center.

We saw another nice Rose-breasted Grosbeak male, and I couldn't resist taking more pictures!

Rose-breasted Grosbeak male

There was an Eastern Phoebe (a species of flycatcher) nesting under the eaves of the visitor center, and one was usually perched nearby.

Eastern Phoebe

We had lunch and returned to the Cozy Cabin for a bit of an afternoon break, and then headed west to Sportsman's Park in the town of East Jordan. The park was next to a nice lake and we saw plenty of water birds, many leading youngsters. 

Canada Goose with goslings

Hooded Merganser female with chicks

We'd seen quite a few swans in northern Michigan, and enjoyed close-up looks at this Trumpeter Swan. They are huge!

Trumpeter Swan

Visible on the far side of the lake was a large nesting platform with an eagle's nest.  We watched both adults feeding a nestling, and saw one of the birds carry a large fish to the nest. 

Bald Eagle bringing a fish to the nest

Red-winged Blackbirds seem to be common around most bodies of water, and this location was no exception. 

Red-winged Blackbird male

Another pleasant day in Michigan.

Next time: Another Great Lake and midges.

Michigan - The Upper Peninsula

We wanted to visit Michigan's Upper Peninsula at least once during our trip, so we were in the car at 6:30 and headed north. It took us about an hour to reach the famed Mackinac Bridge, which connects the lower and upper sections of Michigan. The bridge was opened in 1957 and is five miles long, with the center suspension portion spanning 3,799 feet. It was a beautiful sunny morning and we enjoyed the crossing. 

$4 to cross each way

Just on the other side we stopped at Bridge View Park, which offers fantastic views of the bridge. 

Mackinac Bridge

We then drove a short distance to Pointe LaBarbe which is an excellent birding area that projects out into the Straits of Mackinac. Much of the habitat is marsh and short trees along the water.

Mackinac Bridge in the background.

Our very first bird was a Sandhill Crane feeding right beside the road. 

Sandhill Crane

The marsh was full of singing birds, including this Alder Flycatcher. This flycatcher is one species in a genus of very similar, very difficult to identify flycatchers. Unless they are singing, which this one was. Their songs are distinctive enough to allow confident identification. 

We also saw Common Yellowthroats, Yellow Warblers, and Red-eyed Vireos, all on their breeding grounds and singing away. 

Common Yellowthroat

Yellow Warbler

Red-eyed Vireo

After spending an hour or so at Point LaBarbe, we once again headed north, this time to Whitefish Point. 

Whitefish Point is the furthest northern point on the east side of the UP, and sticks way out into Lake Superior. There is a lighthouse and a shipwreck museum on the point, along with some walking trails and a protected beach where members of the endangered Great Lakes population of Piping Plovers nest.

We headed out to the beach, not sure what to expect.

Lake Superior

In some places nesting birds can be so numerous that you can't miss seeing them, but Whitefish Point turned out not to be such a place. We came across a young man hired by Michigan Audubon to walk the beach, looking for and monitoring nests.  We asked about the plovers, and he indicated that there were a few pair on the (vast) beach.

In talking with him we learned that this particular sandy, gravelly point had formed only in the last ten years, and that the plovers had been slowly returning to nest. Most of the past years had seen only a single pair, but this year looked like there could be as many as five pairs. He took us to show us one of the nesting sites. 

Protected Piping Plover nest

The entire nesting area is cordoned off to prevent people from entering the area, and once a nest is found it is "caged" to protect the nest from gulls, crows, foxes, and domestic off-leash dogs. The little plovers can come and go through the wire, but the larger predators are kept away from the nest. 

We were lucky enough to encounter a pair of Piping Plovers out on the shoreline, displaying to one another. You can tell that these birds have been well-monitored by all of their leg bands!  

Piping Plover

We had intended to visit the shipwreck museum, but end-of-school-year field trips were in full swing and the entire place was swarming with kids. So we decided to head south. 

We enjoyed lunch at the Berry Patch in nearby Paradise, Michigan, and then followed the instructions given to us by the Piping Plover monitor to a nearby road hoping to find Spruce Grouse. But by this time it was 2:00 in the afternoon, sunny, and incredibly buggy in the marshy area that we were exploring, and we didn't find any hint of the grouse, so we continued south. 

We made it home to the Cozy Cabin and relaxed for a while, and then headed to nearby Hartwick Pines State Park for the evening. We found the bird feeders hanging behind the visitor center, and waited so see what was coming to them.

Our first visitor was a Black-capped Chickadee, which look identical to our Carolina Chickadees from Texas, but sing a different song. 

Black-capped Chickadee

We enjoyed looks at both male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. They are very different looking birds, but share their large, pink beak!

Rose-breasted Grosbeak male

Rose-breasted Grosbeak female

A Red-breasted Nuthatch was feeding nearby, in the typical nuthatch "upside down" fashion. 

Red-breasted Nuthatch

And a Hairy Woodpecker visited, one of several woodpeckers that we would see and hear in this state park. 

All in all, a good first full day in Michigan for us. 

Next time: The star of the show and the main reason for our trip.

Michigan - OUR 44th state - A Long-Delayed Visit

Teri and I had plans to volunteer at the Jordan River National Fish Hatchery in Northern Michigan for the summer of 2020. All of the paperwork was filled out and signed, and we were looking forward to spending the summer in a new state (our 44th state). Then came COVID, and everything changed!!  The volunteer gig was cancelled, we eventually bought a home and sold our big RV, and ended our days as full-time RV volunteers. 

However, we still wanted to visit Michigan, so we made plans to hop on a plane, rent a car and a cabin, and we headed off to Michigan on June 1st of this year. There is a non-stop flight from San Antonio to Detroit, and we arrived at 9:30 a.m., got our car and headed north. We had about a 4.5 hour drive to our cabin in Gaylord Michigan, but broke it up by stopping at a couple of state parks along the way. 

Our first stop was at Bay City State Park, on the shores of Saginaw Bay.

The main draw of the park was the large sandy beach, but there was also a nice nature trail with a boardwalk that went through some forested areas, a marsh, and alongside a pond. A nice variety of habitats. 

Saginaw Bay

The first bird we saw was a Common Grackle. In Texas we have huge numbers of Great-tailed Grackles, and only see Common Grackles as winter birds. It was fun to see them up on their breeding territory. 

Common Grackle

The State Bird of Michigan is the American Robin, and we saw plenty of those as well. 

American Robin

We saw several Bald Eagles at the park, mostly flying out over the bay. This one had caught quite a nice fish. 

Bald Eagle with Fish

After spending a couple of hours at Bay City SP we headed north once again. Our next stop was Hartwick Pines State Park, only about 20 minutes south of where we'd rented our cabin.  

This was a gorgeous park with sections of old growth forest as well as second-growth forest, a nice visitors center with a set of feeders, and great trails. We would return here nearly every day while we were in Michigan as it was such a special place.

The trees were tall and fully leafed out, so we heard about 20 birds for every one that we actually saw!  

One bird that I did manage to get a picture of was a Great-crested Flycatcher, calling from way up in a tree. 

Great-crested Flycatcher

We headed up to Gaylord to locate our home for the next week, the "Cozy Cabin". 

 

Front of the "Cozy Cabin"

Garage

We decided to try something other than a hotel, and used Airbnb for the first time. The Cozy Cabin is a cabin located just south of Gaylord Michigan, on the shores of Otsego Lake. We were given instruction on how to find the cabin, as well as a keypad combination and some specific information about items like the fireplace, where to put garbage, etc.  It was a very easy "check-in" and the cabin was indeed, nice and cozy. 

Next time: The UP