B. Waxwings Mason Co., other Mason/Manistee Co. birds; photos uploaded

[birdeland at pasty.net]

Greetings fron the NLP of MI! Don't know if this message will go through from up here in Kalkaska county on a borrowed laptop.
 Yesterday the 30th in our area we did for the Antrim/OldMission CBC we had an astounding 300+ BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS at one location about 2 miles north of Bellaire along Orchard Hill Rd. These birds were hanging around a large Christmas tree plantation. I checked carefully, -Not a Cedar among them! Did have Cedars at another location though.
Also a NORTHERN SHRIKE in the Antrim county Airport property. Notable also in the same area a beautiful Dark Phase ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK! The White contrasting underwings were stunning!

  Today at our cabin feeders we had about 5 Common RedPolls.

Tomorrow is our Kalkaska/Mancelona CBC. Without open water and LOTS of snow, I wonder how we will do!
Russ Emmons up in Kalkaska MI-- Happy New Year everyone!



Parula100 at aol.com wrote :

> Steve Santner and I birded Mason and Manistee Counties yesterday (Sunday). 
> In Mason Co., south of Ludington, we found 2 Bohemian Waxwings mixed in with a 
> large (100+) flock of Cedar Waxwings along Iris Road about 1/4 mile east of 
> Lakeshore Road. We watched the birds fly back and forth across the road for 
> about 1/2 hour until a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew in and scared all the birds away. 
> Because of the excellent berry crop at this location, it's possible these birds 
> may return. For those of you who have yet to see Bohemians, it might be helpful 
> to note that the larger size of Bohemians is readily apparent when both species 
> are seen together either in flight or perched--they stick out like a sore 
> thumb.
>  
> Elsewhere in Mason Co., we found a Glaucous Gull at the pier in Ludington, 
> a Northern Shrike near 1563 Tuttle Road between Hansen Road and Decker Road, and 
> 9 Common Redpolls at a feeder on Custer Road north of Hoague Road.
>  
> In Manistee Co., we found a Horned Grebe and large flocks of Long-tailed 
> Ducks at the city of Manistee lakefront. Despite Pine Grosbeaks having been 
> reported all over the place, we found our only one of the day along Cedar Road 
> northeast of the city of Manistee. Late in the day, Steve spotted a Barred Owl 
> sitting on a telephone pole, a nice end to our trip.
>  
> I posted two (poor) photos of the Bohemian Waxwings and one of the Barred 
> Owl on the photo-sharing website:
>  
>  

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