Bulletin 177 - other birds, wildflowers, and butterflies in Michigan

I had a birding trip to northern Michigan in early June. I was accompanied by my stepson Seth for his first birding trip and we had a good time birding and photographing together. Also, we met some friends (Dutch and Bonnie Zonderman) from Northern Michigan and birded with them the first day to see the Kirtland's Warbler.

I employed a guide in the Upper Peninsula, Skye Haas. He doesn't have a web site yet, but his email is here. I would highly recommend him to anyone heading that way.

This bird was a lifer for me. I had spent probably 3 entire days looking for it previously, first in the Sierras of Northern California and then in Duluth, Minnesota in winter. Finally I got it. The third time was the charmer. This bird is the Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus). This woodpecker prefers trees killed by forest fires. Fortunately for me, there had been a small fire last year, and Skye found several pairs nesting in the burned forest. So here is the male. It has an all black back, black head and white stripe below the eye.

Black-backed Woodpecker - male

And he then flew to the nest hole that was only about 4' off the ground. Notice how he chipped off the burned bark below the hole.

Black-backed Woodpecker - male

This bird has 2 features not seen in most of the North American woodpeckers. Can you find them?
The male has a yellow patch on his head rather than red. Also, there are 3 toes on each foot, rather than the usual 4. The female would be similar, but she lacks the yellow patch on the head.

Another lifer was the Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis). This tiny (4") hyperactive bird stayed deep in the brush, frustrating our attempts to get any photos.Finally, he popped into a small clearing among the branches and was spotted by Seth. I got off a couple of photos. As you know, this bird was split into Winter Wren and Pacific Wren several years ago. I had only seen the Pacific form in California. Thus I needed to see the eastern form as it was now a full species. It is IDed by the brown overall color, whitish spots and the short cocked up tail.

Winter Wren

The Bobolink (Dolichonyx orizyvorus) is a (7") member of the icterid or blackbird family. Its range is southern Canada and northern USA, east of the Rockies. It migrates through eastern USA with Houston being on the extreme western edge of the route. I remember this attractive bird from my childhood in Canada, but had seen it only twice in 20 years in Houston. It tends to be a late migrant in early May.

The male shown here has a black body, white rump and wing patches and a distinctive yellow occipital patch. The female and winter males are streaked brown like a large sparrow. He still has a few brownish feathers on his face, so has not completely finished molting.

Bobolink - breeding male

Seth got a great photo of him flying which shows the field marks.

Bobolink - breeding male
Photo by Seth Kelly
 

We found several species of flycatchers. The first is the Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi). This is a medium sized (7.5") flycatcher of the northern woods. It likes to perch on the tops of trees. It has one a memorable song "Quick..3 beers" and that is exactly what it sounds like!
It is IDed by the dark vest, no eye ring and faint or no wing bars.

Olive-sided Flycatcher

The empids are small flycatchers that have both eye rings and wing bars. Many of them are difficult to ID by appearance and can only be IDed by voice. The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris) has yellow underparts.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Two closely related species were formerly lumped together as Traill's Flycatcher until split about a decade ago. The Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum) is a small (5.75") flycatcher of the north woods of Canada and eastern USA, preferring alders as its name suggests. I had seen this bird in Houston in fall migration.

Alder Flycatcher

The second one is the Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii). It is the same size as the alder, but it range is south of the Alder above, but ovelap occurs. It likes to be near water in willows. Our guide, Skye Haas, said this bird didn't occur on the Upper Peninsula, but told us of a place to check on our way back to the airport.

This location was Shiawassee NWR outside Saginaw Michigan. So Seth and I got up early and were able to take the 1 hour driving tour through the refuge. At the first group of willows we came to, we stopped and played the tape. Out popped several of the birds. This was another lifer for me. How easy to find the birds in the right location! Notice he has almost no eye ring, compared to the two empids above.

Willow Flycatcher

Other flycatchers seen were Eastern Kingbird, and Great-crested Flycatcher.

As this was spring in the north woods, there was a profusion of butterflies, wildflowers etc, all awakening from the long winter. We saw 2 species of wild orchids.

The first is the Pink Lady's-Slipper or Moccasin-Flower (Cypripedium acaule).

Pink Lady's-Slipper

There was also a similar yellow orchid, but I wasn't able to find the ID on line.



Yellow Orchid - upper peninsula Michigan

 

Several interesting butterflies were seen. The first is the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio canadensis). The range is Alaska, Canada and USA along the Canadian border.

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail

The next one occurs all over the USA and Canada, althought I don't recall ever seeing it before.
It is the Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa).

Mourning Cloak

The Eastern Comma (Polygonia satyrus) has very indented wings.

Eastern Comma

Lastly a tiny. thumbnail sized butterfly, the Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon). This tiny butterfly has azure blue upper wings, but when perched has its wings closed, so only the spotted underside is visible.

Spring Azure

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald davidkmcd@ymail.com

Lisa Kelly-McDonald lisajanekelly67@yahoo.com

photos copyright 2013 David McDonald and Lisa Kelly-McDonald

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LaFitte's Cove Bird Report 9-11-11

It was only a fair day at LaFitte's Cove this morning. No drips were running.

There were 4 species warblers - the usual Black-and-white and Canada, but also an American Redstart, and an Orange-crowned (seemed pretty early for the OC). Here's the Redstart.

There were 2 pecies of vireos - White-eyed and Warbling. Here's the White-eyed.

There were several species of Flycatchers - Great Crested, Eastern Kingbird, several empids and an Olive-sided. The Olive-sided was perched at the top of a dead tree as is his custom.

He darted out and snagged a large bug and returned to the same perch.

After eating the bug, he flew to another tree and allowed a good photo of his olives sides.

This is an uncommon bird for me to find. I had one at LaFitte's in the same tree this spring, but these are the only 2 sightings so far this year.

Other birds were Brown Thrasher, 1 Chuck-will's-widow (seen only because he was harassed by a pair of Mockingbirds and flushed),  and several Baltimore Orioles.

Bulletin #121 – misc summer and fall birds

David McDonald Photography
Friendswood Texas
September 6, 2010



Bulletin #121 – misc summer and fall birds

There were only a few birds that I photographed over the summer, as it was just too hot to be out in the field.


However, 2 birds were particularly noteworthy. The first was a Sooty Tern (Sterna fuscata). This species is strictly pelagic, occurring over open tropical oceans. They nest on offshore islands in the Gulf of Mexico, and rarely are seen on shore. However, this bird was found among a large breeding colony of Black Skimmers at Rockport Beach, Texas. He was found in early June, but I didn't have a chance to go to Rockport prior to my Alaska trip.



After I got home from Alaska, a hurricane went through that area and he disappeared for a few weeks. Finally, he was relocated and I went to photograph him on July 24th. Subsequently, a pair was found, so maybe they will begin breeding there with the skimmers. That would be a great treat for birders to be able to see this bird in a readily accessible place. It was not a life bird, as I had seen it once before on a pelagic trip in 1993.



This is an attractive black and white tern with white forehead. This pose in grass with some blue wildflowers is an added bonus for a pelagic species.

The other bird was a Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus). My wife and I had gone to Galveston the next day July 25th. As we were driving along the Galveston seawall to watch the ocean, I noticed a large bird swimming just at the base of the seawall. I thought at first it was a pelican, but later realized the bill was wrong, so I pulled over and got out. It was obviously a gannet or booby, but I didn't have binoculars, camera or bird book with me. It climbed out of the water onto the boulders at the base of the seawall and just lay there. It was obviously sick or injured. We went home, and I got my camera and went back to Galveston. He was in the same place and fortunately it was still light enough to take some photos. I climbed down onto the rocks at the base of the seawall and was able to walk right up to him.


It is a second year bird as the head and neck are white, mottled with brown. There was some concern that he might be oiled from the massive BP well explosion, but there is just a smudge of staining on the breast in the first photo. Texas Parks and Wildlife were called and rescued him the next day. I hope he is able to be rehabilitated and released back into the wild. This is only the second Northern Gannet I have seen, and the first in Texas. At 37" in length, this is a huge bird.

Molting birds that are missing feathers can give some unusual appearances. I'm sure that we have all seen some birds with no tail feathers, or just a couple. However, the cardinals in my yard molted all their head feathers simultaneously and thus were crestless. I'm sure this happens every year, but I had not noticed it before. His beak appears to be huge!

Fall migration is underway. I have about a half dozen hummingbirds in my yard now and they will continue until early October. So if inclined and you live along the Texas coast, get your hummingbird feeders up and keep them filled and cleaned. You can have the pleasure of these aerial jewels in your yard.


I went to LaFitte's Cove in Galveston to check for songbird migrants the last couple of weekends. Fall migration gives us the opportunity to see other plumages (juveniles) that we don't find in the spring. Also some birds are already in their winter or basic plumage.



Sibley list 3 plumages for the Canada Warbler (Wilsonia canadensis). This warbler seems to be more common here in fall migration. I saw 3 of them on Saturday - all 3 plumages! This is known as the necklace warbler. It is gray above with some black around the face. There is a distinctive white eye ring. The underparts are bright yellow and there is a necklace of black streaks on the breast.



Here is a male from the spring, as I didn't get a photo of the male Saturday.Notice the black on the face and how dark the necklace streaks are.

The adult female has a little black on the face. The streaks are more gray then black.

The juvenile or 1st year female has no black on the face and just a hint of streaks.

This bird got into the drip and bathed. She was soaked and disheveled. Sometimes making an ID of a wet bird like this can be a challenge, as the breast streaks cannot be seen. However, the plain gray upper and yellow below with the large eye ring should still enable one to make the correct ID. She has some serious preening to do!

The other juvenile warbler was a male American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). The adult male is distinctive black and orange.

The adult female is gray and yellow.

The bird guides list the juvenile male as similar to the female. This is true, but the yellow at the shoulder is more orange than yellow as shown in this bird yesterday.

By the next spring, the male is starting to show some black feathers on his head, neck and breast, as seen in this bird during spring migration this year. At the end of the 1st summer, the males molt into their adult plumage.

The juvenile male Am. Redstart above also enjoyed a bath in the 90 degree temperature.

The other bird of note this weekend was an Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi). This medium sized (7.5") flycatcher is IDed by the dark streaked 'vest' that he seems to be wearing. His song is distinctive as well and is quoted as "Quick three beers". This is listed as an uncommon bird on the upper Texas coast in spring and fall. As best as I can remember, this is only the second one I have seen here in 20 years of birding.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
email: davidkmcd@comcast.net
photos copyright 2010 David McDonald

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