UP Rare Bird Report for September 26, 2007

Wed Sep 26 22:55:46 EDT 2007

UP Rare Bird Report for September 26, 2007

The equinox has past, the leaves are near full color, the
nights are cooler, and hordes of birds are leaving the north country. Several
large passerine flights have brought many notable reports to the UP this week,
including reports of 12 Harris’s Sparrows in 6 counties. Large flocks of Blue
Jays have been noted along the Great Lakes
shorelines and the number of ground foragers observed (Pipits, Larks, Sparrows,
& Longspurs) have gone up. Numbers of warblers and thrushes are quickly
fading and diving ducks like Aythya & Scoters are more prevalent at
waterbird counts. 

Highlights

PACIFIC LOON*

LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE*

Snow Goose

Whimbrel

Sabine’s Gull

Black-legged Kittiwake

Parasitic Jaeger

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Black-backed Woodpecker

Western Kingbird

Yellow-throated Vireo

Harris’s Sparrow

Keweenaw
 County

Joe Youngman had good birding on Manitou Island
highlighted by a HARRIS’S SPARROW and a male BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER on
September 20th. 

Houghton
 County

Joe Kaplan reports a HARRIS’S SPARROW at his home on Quincy
Hill north of Hancock on the 26th. Joe also reported good numbers of
AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS at the Houghton/Hancock Airport. 

Baraga
 County

Joe Youngman had 9 BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKERS in the
Covington/Baraga Plains burn area on September 23rd.

Marquette
 County

3 HARRIS’S SPARROWS including 1 adult were found at the
Presque Isle Bogwalk on the 25th. 1 continued on the 26th
at the MooseWood Nature Center
feeders. I had an additional adult HARRIS’S SPARROW at my feeders in Marquette on the evening
of the 26th. Also on the 26th, a late WHIMBREL and 24
AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS were at the mouth of the Dead River.
A RED-THROATED LOON was seen migrating by the Big Bay Lighthouse on the 20th.
David Pavlik had 10 SURF SCOTERS fly past the Presque Isle Park Black Rocks on
the 26th. Mark & Joanie Hubinger reported a LE CONTE’S SPARROW
and a YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO at the Presque Isle Bogwalk on September 23rd.
Also on the 23rd, Louie Taccolini reported a SNOW GOOSE in Skandia
along US-41. A blue-phased SNOW GOOSE and 13 CACKLING GEESE were at the
Marquette Golf Course on the 25th. An additional 24 CACKLING GEESE
were seen migrating over Marquette
on the 25th.  

Menominee
 County

David Bell reported 3 GREAT EGRETS along M-35 on Green Bay on the 22nd.

Delta
 County

A 1st winter BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE was at
Peninsula Point on September 26th. Providing a rare report for
September, this is most likely a 1st county record for this species.
Other notable sightings from the point on the 26th included 2
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS, 10 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS, 1 BAIRD’S SANDPIPER and a
rare find in migration, a MARSH WREN. Mike Berg had a HARRIS’S SPARROW in the
last week at his home in Gladstone.
Kirk Zulfelt reported a white-phased SNOW GOOSE along US-2 just west of Ensign
on September 24th. A GREAT EGRET was in the Escanaba River
on US-2 on the 22nd. 

Alger
 County

Mark & Joanie Hubinger reported an adult HARRIS’S
SPARROW at their feeders in Shelter
 Bay on September 26th.
Also on the 26th, Scott Hickman had a 2 HARRIS’S SPARROWS including
1 adult at his feeders on Laughing Whitefish Point. 

Schoolcraft
 County

Max Henschell found a YELLOW-THROATED VIREO at Seol Choix
Point on September 23rd. 

Luce
 County

3 GRAY JAYS were observed along M-123 near Murphy Creek on
the 22nd. 

Chippewa
 County

A couple of notable passerines have been found at Whitefish
Point in the last couple of days. Providing the first UP report since 2003 was
a LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE* found by Chris
Neri on September 24th. A WESTERN KINGBIRD was observed at Whitefish
Point on September 22nd. Waterbird Counter Cory Gregory recorded an
alternate plumaged PACIFIC LOON* on
September 25th. Other highlights from Whitefish Point this week
include an amazing flight of 360+ SURF SCOTERS, 1 PARASITIC JAEGER and 1
HARRIS’S SPARROW;  1 BLACK-BACKED
WOODPECKER, 1 YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO and a HARRIS’S SPARROW on the 25th;
1 SABINE’S GULL and 2 unidentified JAEGER species on the 23rd, 1 PARASITIC
JAEGER and a large waterbird flight with over 500+ AMERICAN WIGEON and 1600
RED-NECKED GREBES on the 22nd; 1 SABINE’S GULL, 1 JAEGER species, 50
RED-THROATED LOONS and 2 FORSTER’S TERNS on the 21st; and 1 SABINE’S
GULL and a BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER on the 20th. There have been
CACKLING GEESE, WHITE-WINGED & SURF SCOTERS, RED-THROATED LOONS and
AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS seen on the waterbird count on various days this week. 

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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

________________________________________________________________________
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com
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