I flew into Myrtle Beach Airport in sunny-but-cold (37F, calm) Georgetown Co. South Carolina this morning to spend four days with Janet and Jack Volker. They are wintering in nearby Pawleys Island until April, and have invited me to come down and chase birds. Who could resist? Arriving at 10:30 am they picked me up and we immediately headed to nearby Old Kings Highway and Pond Road to visit the yard of a friend of their's. Irene and Lex Moser have some 85 acres of trees and ponds. After chatting with Irene for a few minutes we headed to their feeders and quickly picked up Carolina Chickadees ..read more

  I headed down to hawk watch this afternoon under cloudy skies and cool temperatures (45F). As expected for this time of year things were slow. Great Blue Herons outnumbered the raptors today as dozens crossed the channel in front of us. A few Red-tailed Hawks were flying. As were Red-shouldered Hawks. The last bird of the day (for me) was an interesting one. Don spotted a presumed Red-tailed Hawk flying west over the Sycamore tree to the north and we put our scopes on it. Its flapping and gliding was typical for a Red-tailed Hawk but its size and dark profile had us su ..read more

Bobby Irwin had reported a dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk at the Antennae Farm yesterday. This was on the heels of Justin Labadie reporting a Rough-legged Hawk at the Rockwood Quarry nearby on Saturday. So this morning I decided to take a ride to look for them. Skies were dark, and drizzle was forecasted for the day. Temperature was a cool 47F. I drove down Haggerman Road east past the Antennae Farm just before 9 am and found the dark-phased Rough-legged Hawk perched one of the tower lines on the other side of the fence. I was able to get some pics w/ the 600/4 from inside the car. I att ..read more

  I took a drive down to Pt. Mouillee SGA this morning and decided to swing by the Antennae Farm. As I approached Labo Rd. I spotted an American Kestrel rise up out of the grass and dive bomb a larger bird of prey sitting on the ground. I initially thought that it was a Northern Harrier but it was a Cooper's Hawk with a fresh kill.  The bird was on the south side of Haggerman Road so I had to photograph it through the passenger window.  It flew a short distance with its prey (a Mourning Dove, I believe) and landed to wait for the unfortunate soul to pass. I took the opportunity ..read more

Three blue-morph Snow Geese were reported at the Cabela's pond in Dundee, MI on 17 Nov 2024. This morning I decided to look for them. Skies were cloudy and overcast, and a steady downpour would greet us as Robin and I drove M50 west to Dundee. Temperature was 37F. As we arrived at Cabela's I could see a large flock of Canada Geese in the pond in front of the store. We drove to the back parking lot next to the pond where I was able to spot a pair of blue-morph Snow Geese on the far bank (near the bank). We drove over to the bank so I could photograph the geese on the bank. :) When I walked the ..read more

I drove down to JP's Waterfront restaurant this morning to look for the continuing pair of Little Gulls.  They were last seen flying south yesterday afternoon so they might have left the area. I did not seen them at 8:30 this morning so I spent some time photographing the many Bonaparte's Gulls foraging among the docks just west of the restaurant and in front of the Humbug Marina. A dense fog had blanketed the downriver area with visibility just a quarter mile as I drove to Gibraltar but was already lifting by the time I reached the marina and restaurant. A pair of Fors ..read more

Last week Bobby Irwin and Justin Labadie reported a pair of Little Gulls at the Humbug Marina in Gibraltar. For some reason I was under the impression that it was the boat launch at the refuge and dipped on my only attempt to relocate them. This morning Karen Markey reported a Little Gull continuing at Humbug Marina across from JP's Waterfront restaurant off Middle Gibraltar road. I'd been looking in the wrong place. I drove down Gibraltar Road to JP's this cloudy, cool (50F) afternoon to look for the Little Gull. Karen had reported it flying in the canal west of the restaurant, so I slowly c ..read more

I made a short birding excursion through s. Wayne Co this morning. Skies were cloudy, but starting to get progressively clearer while temperatures were hovering near 42F. Winds were NE at 10 mph so conditions at Detroit River Hawk Watch were considered ideal for a good flight (that didn't happen). My first destination was Elizabeth Park in Trenton. I drove the loop to the east side of the island to scope gulls on the Detroit River just north of the Grosse Ile Free Bridge. Of the 450 gulls most were Herring and Ring-billed Gulls but I did see 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls among them. No pics tak ..read more

Forecasts called for E winds this morning that would hopefully induce a nice flight of raptors over Lake Erie Metropark and the Detroit River Hawk Watch. It did not disappoint. I arrived at the count site around 9:30 am and found Michael Patrikeev by himself. Minutes later Don Sherwood joined us, and a bit later we were joined by Johannes Postma. Red-tailed Hawks were flying by the 2's and 3's with most birds crossing to the north of the count site. We had a few raptors fly over nearby including this juvenile Cooper's Hawk. American Crows were migrating by the 100's. We'd finish ..read more

The past couple of days have seen strong S-SW winds, warm temperatures and low raptor movement at Detroit River Hawk Watch. Today the winds were to swing around more to the W and NNW so there was promise of a rebound flight. Skies were clear, temperatures were lower (50-60F) and winds were calmer (5-10 mph).  I arrived at Lake Erie Metropark at about 1 pm and joined the group of Michael Patrikeev, Jo Patterson, Don Sherwood, Frank Kitakis and Johannes Postma. Rosemary Brady joined me as we walked from the parking lot to the count site next to the Boat Launch. Already the group was scop ..read more