Month: April 2020

Quarantine Chronicles Part 1: Michigan Birding

Because of the coronavirus pandemic my ability to go birding has been hindered so I have decided to write about some of my favorite birding adventures in a series called the Quarantine Chronicles. For the first post I am showing some of my favorite pictures and birds from two separate trips to Holland Michigan to see my grandparents. Although neither of these trips were primarily focused on birds they ended up being awesome Michigan birding adventures.

September 25-28, 2018

Bay-breasted Warbler
My lifer, Bay-breasted Warbler!
Lake Michigan
A cool lighthouse on the shores of lake Michigan, aptly named “Big Red Lighthouse”.
Warbler
Unidentified warbler in poor light.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. A lifer!
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron.
Great Blue Heron
Hopefully he was ready for his closeup.
Lake Michigan
Waves crashing on the shore of Lake Michigan. Can you spot Big Red Lighthouse?
Swainson's/Gray-cheeked Thrush
A Swainson’s or Gray-cheeked Thrush (leaning towards Swainson’s but poor lighting made it difficult to identify).
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Gray-cheeked Thrush, Lifer!
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe.

March 21-24, 2019

Our second trip to Michigan was quite different than the first. I seem to remember the temperature barely passed freezing our whole trip! Regardless of the weather I still added several species to my life list.

Long-tailed Duck
Male Long-tailed Duck.
Harlequin Duck
A female Harlequin Duck (bottom right) a lifer for me and a rarity in Michigan. Female Harlequin Ducks are chocolate colored overall with two white spots on their face. They usually winter along ocean shores (as you can see they should be nowhere near Michigan). They rarely wander to the shores of Lake Michigan. The three other birds are male Red-breasted Mergansers and a Herring Gull at the top.
Harlequin Duck
Common Goldeneye surrounding the Harlequin Duck.
Harlequin Duck
Common Redpoll. This bird was just one of the flock of about 35 we observed.
Harlequin Duck
Common Redpoll.
Harlequin Duck
Another shot of the Redpoll. What an incredible lifer!
Mute Swan
A pair of Mute Swans, another lifer for the trip.
Mute Swan
The Mute Swans in flight.
Muskrat
Muskrat

Two trips in different seasons gave us a great taste of Michigan birding!