Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge - Bohemian waxwing

[Steve_Kahl at fws.gov]

I took my weekly walk around Woodland Trail Saturday morning and turned up
a lone Bohemian waxwing calling from the top of a green ash sapling.
Interestingly, I found the bird shortly after observing that the common
buckthorn berries had dwindled through the winter and were almost gone.
Further, I had counted upwards of 340 American robins, 216 European
starlings, 68 cedar waxwings, and 12 eastern bluebirds in the area in
previous weeks feasting on the berries.  However, Saturday I found 0
robins, 19 starlings, 1 cedar waxwing, 1 bohemian waxwing, and 4 bluebirds.
Thus, the day that I counted the lowest total number of frugivorous birds
and found the fewest berries, was the day I found the rarest frugivore!  I
just wish the birds were not eating buckthorn berries.  This introduced
invasive species has pushed out native flora in many areas of the refuge.
I am sure that hundreds of birds eating berries for several weeks have
deposited innumerable seeds in new areas of the refuge.

I found 21 species total.  Bohemian waxwing was the only addition to my
Woodland Trail yearlist, bringing the total to 34.  The total list
submitted to eBird and the Great Backyard Bird Count included:

Common Merganser     18
Red-bellied Woodpecker     7
Downy Woodpecker     9
Hairy Woodpecker     6
Pileated Woodpecker     2
American Crow     5
Horned Lark     2
Black-capped Chickadee     12
Tufted Titmouse     9
White-breasted Nuthatch     11
Brown Creeper     4
Golden-crowned Kinglet     3
Eastern Bluebird     4
European Starling     19
Bohemian Waxwing     1
Cedar Waxwing     1
American Tree Sparrow     1
Northern Cardinal     9
House Finch     2
American Goldfinch     1
House Sparrow     3

Steven Kahl
Refuge Manager
Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge
6975 Mower Road
Saginaw, MI  48601-9783
P (989) 777-5930 ext 16
F (989) 777-9200
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/shiawassee/