Mary Lee Johnson
06-11-2008, 06:13 AM
FWAS just returned from a great field trip to Michigan (6/4-6/8). Our target birds were: Kirtland Warbler, Connecticut Warbler, Black-backed Woodpecker and Spruce Grouse, etc. Twelve of us flew to Detroit, rented 3 full size cars and drove to Grayling. There we went to the Hartwick Pines State Park in Grayling and found the following species: evening grosbeak, ovenbird, white-breasted nuthatch, red-breasted nuthatch and purple finch. The next morning we took the Kirtland Warbler tour offered by the US Fish and Wildlife (free). We got some great looks at this bird that was on the brink of extinction but has made a wonderful recovery thanks to good habitat management.
We then drove to the Upper Peninsula and stopped at the Seney NWR. There we saw: trumpter and mute swans, black-billed cuckoo and alder flycatcher. We joined our guide, Caleb Putnam, who is the IBA Coordinator for the state of Michigan, in Paradise. He did an absolutely fantastic job at a reasonable price and I would highly recommend him. On our first evening with him we saw a yellow-bellied flycatcher and got our first look at the Spruce Grouse. An early start the next morning found us hiking through the bogs around Trout Lake, MI, in search of the Connecticut Warbler where we got our target bird and a palm warbler. Throughout the remainder of the morning he took us to see the black-backed woodpecker, gray jay, black-throated blue warbler, ruffed grouse (heard only) and back to where we saw the Spruce Grouse for an absolutely stunning close-up view of the bird. We went to Whitefish Point Bird Observatory and found thousands of blue jays preparing to cross Lake Superior. An amazing sight. While there Caleb recieved word that a Northern Wheatear had been spotted. We made a mad dash to Grand Marias, about 1.5 hours away and saw a bird that no one, including our guide, thought we'd see anywhere near Michigan. It was absolutely amazing. We found out later the bird was not seen again after that day.
We headed back down south and around Ann Arbor, in the Waterloo Recreation Area, we found henslow and grasshopper sparrows, bobolink, blue-winged, cerulean, chest-sided and magnolia warblers, acadian flycatcher and a veery.
Although we parted ways with Caleb in the UP, via cell phone he directed us to all of the other locations throughout the entire trip. I would recommend him to anyone and will gladly provide contact info if interested, off-line.
If you go be prepared for mosquitos like you've never seen. We needed to where hats with mosquito netting - it was the only way we could stand it. That and many bottles of bug spray with DEET. But if was definitely all worth it!!
Mary Lee
We then drove to the Upper Peninsula and stopped at the Seney NWR. There we saw: trumpter and mute swans, black-billed cuckoo and alder flycatcher. We joined our guide, Caleb Putnam, who is the IBA Coordinator for the state of Michigan, in Paradise. He did an absolutely fantastic job at a reasonable price and I would highly recommend him. On our first evening with him we saw a yellow-bellied flycatcher and got our first look at the Spruce Grouse. An early start the next morning found us hiking through the bogs around Trout Lake, MI, in search of the Connecticut Warbler where we got our target bird and a palm warbler. Throughout the remainder of the morning he took us to see the black-backed woodpecker, gray jay, black-throated blue warbler, ruffed grouse (heard only) and back to where we saw the Spruce Grouse for an absolutely stunning close-up view of the bird. We went to Whitefish Point Bird Observatory and found thousands of blue jays preparing to cross Lake Superior. An amazing sight. While there Caleb recieved word that a Northern Wheatear had been spotted. We made a mad dash to Grand Marias, about 1.5 hours away and saw a bird that no one, including our guide, thought we'd see anywhere near Michigan. It was absolutely amazing. We found out later the bird was not seen again after that day.
We headed back down south and around Ann Arbor, in the Waterloo Recreation Area, we found henslow and grasshopper sparrows, bobolink, blue-winged, cerulean, chest-sided and magnolia warblers, acadian flycatcher and a veery.
Although we parted ways with Caleb in the UP, via cell phone he directed us to all of the other locations throughout the entire trip. I would recommend him to anyone and will gladly provide contact info if interested, off-line.
If you go be prepared for mosquitos like you've never seen. We needed to where hats with mosquito netting - it was the only way we could stand it. That and many bottles of bug spray with DEET. But if was definitely all worth it!!
Mary Lee