[Mich-listers] Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - no recent sightings

[byrnea at msu.edu]

Greetings,

I thought it would be helpful to share some information regarding the recent Black-bellied Whistling-Duck record.  First, as far as we can tell, the bird has not been seen for at least 3-4 days (maybe more).  It was first observed around July 8th, beyond that, the length of its stay is still unclear.

Yesterday afternoon, Caleb Putnam and I kayaked the entire stretch of the Indian River between Burt and Mullett Lakes, including every off shoot canal along the way (we actually hit most areas more than once).  While the bird may still be in the area, it wasn't along that stretch of the Indian River yesterday.  

While we were working the waterways, Brad Murphy and Don Jennette were covering things from land.  Unfortunately, if the whistling-duck reappears, it seems very unlikely that it will be seen from land - there are simply too few places to view the water and most of those access points don't allow views of the places that held most of the Mallards.  

Good birding,

Adam M. Byrne
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