UP Rare Bird Report for November 30, 2007

[theowlranch at aol.com]

UP Rare Bird Report for November 30, 2007

 

 

In his book on Birds of the Keweenaw Peninsula, Laurence Binford added a fifth temperate season to the usual four. He designated the period from November 8th- December 31st as “early winter” to account for several species that often stay into late November and December, but do not over-winter. “Late winter” starts on January 1st and goes to March 25th, when spring migrants finally start to return. Certainly this system could be attached to the entire UP and sightings reported as of late have been reflective of species that typically linger in the area, but will undoubtedly slip away over the next few weeks. It is starting to look like a long bird-less winter in the North Woods. As compared to last year, numbers of waterfowl and divers (loons, grebes) remaining in bays and harbors are down. There is very little in the way of cone, seed and fruit crops over much of the UP, and finch numbers are low away from feeders and residential areas and are comprised mostly of Redpolls & Pine Grosbeaks. It should be interesting to see what the encroaching Christmas Bird Counts turn up. 

 

 

Highlights

 

Golden Eagle

Iceland Gull

Sabine’s Gull

Snowy Owl

Short-eared Owl

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Northern Mockingbird

Cape May Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Harris’s Sparrow

Hoary Redpoll

 

 

Ontonagon County

Kitt Wulf reports 2 HOARY REDPOLLS at her home in Topaz on November 30th.

 

Keweenaw County

Joe Kaplan received photos of an “Oregon” Junco at a home in Eagle River taken this week.

 

Houghton County

David Flaspohler reported a flock of 60 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS on the MTU campus in Houghton on November 19th. 

 

Baraga County

Joe Youngman reported that the only birds of note in the Keweenaw Bay were 3 TUNDRA SWANS on November 23rd. 

 

Dickinson County

Greg Cleary had an immature GOLDEN EAGLE at Fumee Lake on November 24th. 

 

Marquette County

The RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD at Dan Barrington’s home in Marquette was last reported on November 26th, and not seen after a powerful blizzard the next morning. This is a record-late date for this species in Michigan; even more impressive considering the bird has survived freezing temperatures, several snow storms and remaining within a half a block from Lake Superior! Scot Stewart had up to 2 HARRIS’S SPARROWS at his feeders with only one remaining until November 22nd. A weakened SNOWY OWL was picked up at the mouth of the Dead River on Marquette in November 19th. A flock of 8 TUNDRA SWANS at Presque Isle Park was a rare sighting for the county. 4-5 GLAUCOUS GULLS, 1 GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL & 1 THAYER’S/ICELAND GULL were in Marquette on the 30th, as was a late SAVANNAH SPARROW. 

 

Alger County

Scott Hickman had a nice find with a juvenile SABINE’S GULL at Sand Point on November 23rd. Scott also reported a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD at Shelter Bay on the 26th. A GLAUCOUS GULL was in Munsing on November 30th. 

 

Schoolcraft County

Ron Annelin had a SHORT-EARED OWL along the Lake Michigan shoreline at his home in Manistique on November 17th. Bruce Ventura reported a HOARY REDPOLL at his camp on Gemini Lake on November 29th. 

 

Chippewa County

Chris Neri is maintaining the sightings blog at www.WPBO.org and has recently reported several notable birds including the lingering PRAIRIE WARBLER as of November 24th. 2 HOARY REDPOLLS were present at the WPBO feeders along with several PINE GROSBEAKS. A very late CAPE MAY WARBLER was seen on November 22nd. Chris also notes that other interesting sightings include SHARP-TAILED GROUSE, NORTHERN GOSHAWK, and BOHEMIAM WAXWINGS. Kirk Zufelt had 2 ICELAND GULLS and 2 GLAUCOUS GULLS at the Dafter Dump on November 30th. 

 

 

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All birds marked with an asterisk “*” in the report are review species in the State of Michigan and should be documented with photos or a written description. Please send documentation to Adam Byrne at the Michigan Birds Records Committee at either 11771 Rachel LN, Dewitt, MI, 48820 or by email at Byrnea”AT”msu.edu

For further information about the Records Committee, please visit: http://www.michiganaudubon.org/mbrc/mbrc_home.html

 

 

To report rare birds, please email me at the TheOwlRanch at aol.com or to Birdnet at UPBirders.org if you are a subscriber. If you are not on the net, call the Marquette Hotline at (906) 225-3886. For more information on Birdnet, or UP birds, please visit www.UPBirders.org

 

Till next time,

 

~Skye Haas

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