NW Michigan Shorebirding

[Brian A]

Doug Cook and I checked as many shorebird spots as possible from Bnzie to Mason Co. on Sunday.  Doug started at Elberta Marsh and met me at Arcadia Marsh.

The Avocet is no longer present at Elberta but there are good mudflats and loads of shorebirds viewable from the bike path and the parking lot of the M-22 bridge over the Betsie River in Benzie County.

Arcadia Marsh in Manistee County is a bust for shorebirds with the low water lots of emergent vegetation, but it was great for the American Bittern that stood out in plain view fishing at the water's edge.

The Farr Center at Onekama is fairly good now with some mud flats and between 20-40 Lesser Yellowlegs over the last two days.  This is in the village of Onekama just across the Marathon Gas Station on M-22.  The Onekama Sewage Ponds had quite a few birds about 45 Lesser yellowlegs, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, I Stilt Sandpiper, 8 Spotted, 6 Solitary, 2 Pectoral, 4 Semipalmated, 30 Killdeer, and 50 Least Sandpipers.  This facility unfortuantely is gated and locked and if you want to visit it you'll have to check with me.

The Manistee State Game Area mudflats are visable from US-31 in Manistee.  The best spot now seems to be behind the Little River Motel near the new condo development (Joslin Cove). We had 7 Dowitcher Sp., 3 Semipalmated Plovers, 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Bairds, and 7 Least Sandpipers there.

The First St. Beach Pier in Manistee had a dozen birds including 3 Bairds.

Down to Ludington and the south pier.  Not much there, two Sanderlings, and some Least Sandpipers but had them foraging on the pier along with a Yellow Warbler!

At the Ludington Waste Water Treatment Facility there were good numbers of birds but not much variety.  The far western cell on the Dow Property was dry.  The wester cell of the LWWTF was good with about 30 LY, a Bairds, 5-6 Pectoral, 30+ Least,  The upper ponds had more LY, some Spotteds and loads of Killdeer.  This LWWTF is on Sixth St. just 1/2 mile west of Old 31 and south of US 10 in Ludington.

BA
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