Inspired to bird, Manistee Co.

[Brian Allen]

Inspired by Doug Mchwirter and Pat Deventer's winter birding as well as Russ Emmons "backyard count" I ventured out spending most of the morning Saturday birding from Manistee to Onekama.  This was one of the first days in the last couple of weeks that the risk of facial skin destruction was downgraded from red to orange level.

At Manistee harbor the entire inner harbor was frozen including the river channel and ice extended about 1/4 mile off shore.  The only species present were Herring Gulls in the parking lot and Crows all looking for donuts.

Manistee Lake is frozen.  Perhaps the population of Mute Swans will decline a bit?  Wishfull thinking.

Portage Lake is frozen, more wishfull thinking.

No hawks anywhere.

I walked out on the pier at Williamsport with my ice cleats as there was open water just a hundred meters offshore from the end of the pier.  The light at the pier was encloaked with a fabulous shroud of ice that refracted a pale green color that contrasted with a cyclopean eye of orange at the top.  The orange sign was covered by about 1 foot of translucent ice.  The whole thing was a bit creepy, like a ogre warning me to stay away.  I climbed up to it and kept into its shelter and was able to spot a Long-tailed Duck, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 2 Goldeneyes and a Horned Grebe.  These are the first waterfowl I've seen in a couple of weeks.

Back closer to home walking down Bar Lake Rd. and Schoedel Rd. I covered about 4 miles on foot and found 10 species, the best of which were a Brown Creeper and a Winter Wren cheeping along a steambead and flying in and out of the small snow-caves the stream had created.

BA

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