Purple Sandpiper, Allegan Co. 1/2/07

[Rick Brigham]

<p>Greetings,</p><p></p><p>This morning, during the Holland CBC, we found a <b>Purple Sandpiper</b> at the foot of the breakwall at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River. This is the south side of the river and it is approximately a 1 mile hike along the Lake Michigan shoreline north from the Oval Beach, Saugatuck. The bird was feeding on the rocks on the outside of the wall. After about 20 mins of birding from atop the pier we could not relocate the sandpiper. However, as is typical for this species, it could have been well hidden right under our noses in the rocks. Be forewarned that if you choose to check the north side of the river mouth for this bird it is even more of a walk through Saugatuck Dunes St. Pk. It is worth the trudge as this is the most brightly marked adult bird I have seen here in MI. The bill is orange alomost half way from base to tip and the whole of the bird's back shines nicely with the grey/purple gloss it gets it's name from. </p><p></p><p>Not far from !
 the aforementioned and also worth checking out is the <b>Red-throated Loon</b> sitting in the harbor at the west end of Lake Macatawa, Holland, Ottawa Co. (See previous post for directions.) It is a great bird to study, cooperatively swimming perhaps 100 yards out. It shows vestiges of chestnut color on it's throat.</p><p></p><p>Good birding,</p><p>Rick Brigham</p><p>Douglas</p>
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