Solitaire, Hoary, Rough-legged +

The past day and a half have been great for birds and photography. Yesterday afternoon, a Townsend's Solitaire was found at Fenner Nature Center. I got to the scene just in time to view the bird and snap a few digiscoped pictures in fading light.

Townsend's Solitaire- digiscoped

Today, Adam Byrne and I left Lansing VERY early, 3am in fact, to do some owling on the way to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We managed one Barred Owl at Maple River State Game Area, but it was just a bit outside the range for my flash. No pictures... of that individual.

Once we got to St. Ignace, just across the Mackinac Bridge, we re-found the previously reported Western Grebe. It was clearly an Aechmophorus grebe, but was too far to see the finer details. We even got to see the bird take off the water and fly 300+ yards, a sight not often seen in Michigan.

We had one finch while trying to re-locate the Grebe. Amazingly, this single finch was a male Hoary Redpoll! This was great luck, as Hoary Redpoll was one of my target species to photograph before leaving Michigan.

A nice male Hoary Redpoll, one of very few finches today

The weather started getting pretty nasty with blowing snow and high wind. We drove a few back roads hoping for finches, but no luck. I did finally get a Common Raven picture, but with the blowing snow, it turned out pretty horrific. I'll spare you the picture, but it can be found on the flickr sight.

The weather turned VERY bad, we were lucky to get south of the bridge alive. We worked many back roads and state parks but couldn't find anything of note. Finally, we spotted a Rough-legged Hawk along the highway.

Rough-legged Hawk

That highlight lasted for a bit, until we spotted another Barred Owl, this time right along the road in the daylight. I had better luck photographing this one!

Barred Owl

We made our way back to Lansing and so ended a good, long day of birding. Tomorrow I target Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs. Stay tuned...

Digiscoping

I mentioned in a previous post that I scored a very cheap Canon S90 off eBay and rigged up a digiscoping adapter for it to attach to my Kowa scope. It has been years since I last properly digiscoped and I am still coming to terms with the settings. Today was sunny for a while in the morning, so I gave it the first real-world run through.

I went to the ADM road in Grand Ledge, Michgian where Snow Buntings and Horned Larks have been reported. I found 0 Snow Buntings, but Horned Larks were around. One perched up not too far off the road and so started my digiscoping. I'm very pleased with the result.

Horned Lark

Obviously, not all of my future digiscoping pictures will turn out like this, but it does show the potential. I'm really looking forward to using this more and learning the finer functions of the camera.

Also, please remember that one of my goals for this photographic big year is to help the American Bird Conservancy raise money for bird conservation in Hawaii. A few people have already pledged, which is great (THANKS)! See the "Donate" tab in the top header for more information.

A Surprise Flicker

I've been working a lot lately, which has really cut down on my birding time. While packing my car this morning, I heard the unmistakable call of a Northern Flicker coming from somewhere in the yard. Much to my amusement, he was feasting on the suet. While I know there are overwintering birds in the state (and even in the general area), it was nice to see in the yard. Picture bird #55!

Northern Flicker, with the tongue

I won't be working much this week, so keep an eye out for updates. I also have all weekend to bird. Now to just find a way to get to British Columbia...

Local Birding

I haven't had time to get out of Lansing lately. However, I keep finding new birds to photograph right around home. I went to Fenner Nature Center without much hope, but managed to find a Pileated Woodpecker and a White-throated Sparrow. Pileated is good for the park, and White-throated is good for this time of the year.

White-throated Sparrow

Pileated Woodpecker- these are the pictures I hope to improve on. Anything is better than this one!

I then moved to Shubell Park along the Grand River and had a group of American Black Ducks, although they were quite far.

American Black Ducks

On my way out, I heard a Carolina Wren calling, so I tracked it down. Another one bites the dust.

Carolina Wren

I have been out owling the past two nights as well, scoring both Barred and Eastern Screech, but both eluded photography. Luckily, I have plenty of time to get these. Barred Owls are quite easy in Florida, and Eastern Screech can be had too. I'll probably try once again before leaving, though.

Also, I just got a great digiscoping camera for dirt cheap on eBay. I rigged up an adapter and am very anxious to use it. Now I'm just waiting on the memory card to arrive...

The First 50

Yesterday saw my big year reach the 50 birds photographed mark. Not that this is an impressive number, but for Michigan in winter, it isn't too bad.

I birded Rose Lake area where a local birder has an Evening Grosbeak coming to his feeder. Apparently the bird only comes once in a while, so while waiting I had fun photographing a few other species. My first Purple Finches of the year were coming to their feeders.

Purple Finch (female/1st year male type)

A Hairy Woodpecker enjoyed some suet after chasing away a Downy.

Hairy Woodpecker

And finally, the Evening Grosbeak dropped by for a few minutes.

Evening Grosbeak (female)

There were reports of Bohemian Waxwings in the area, so I looked for them also. I had a nice flock at Burke Lake that only stuck around for a few minutes. There were probably at least a dozen birds. I then drove around and found a big waxwing flock on the corner of Stoll Road and Peacock Road, just west of the intersection, on Stoll Road. There were at least 40 Cedar Waxwings with a few Bohemian Waxwings mixed in. There are a lot of berries here and it wouldn't surprise me if they stick around for a while.

One of the Bohemian Waxwings

What to do next? I could go over to Muskegon and target a few birds over there. I could go to Berrien and look for the Townsend's Solitaire. I could head east to Lake Erie Metropark for ducks. Stay tuned...

More Progress

Yesterday I attempted to see the Varied Thrush that has been hanging around Nashville, Michigan, but had no luck. However, some birding in the area resulted in a few more birds photographed, so I chalked it up to a minor success. While grabbing some Tim Horton's in Lansing, a Cooper's Hawk sat up nicely on a billboard. I've seen some decent sized Cooper's, and this was one of them.

Cooper's Hawk

We also came across a few berry trees hosting an American Robin.

American Robin

One of the fields we drove by had a hovering American Kestril. I have had the worst luck photographing this species, and I'm not talking about just this year. Every time I drive up to one, riiiiiiiiight before I come to a stop, they fly away. I'll have to outsmart one, but this picture will do for now... I guess.

American Kestrel

And last, and certainly least, the ever present Rock Pigeon. But hey, it had to be done.

Rock Pigeon

So, this brings the 2013 birds photographed list to 46. I'll be birding a bit this week, trying to track down a few Michigan winter specialties. I "accidentally" won a decent digiscoping camera on eBay that I thought I had no shot at, so no more crummy iPhone digiscoped photos in the near future! It should come in handy in Florida.

If you are wondering, I have only enticed one other person to donate to the American Bird Conservancy, besides myself. I thought this would be more of a hit, especially after the ABA making a big deal about the need for conservation in Hawaii. I guess we will continue to see how it shakes out!

A Little Sun Goes a Long Way

It was a beautiful day today. Unfortunately, I was unable to venture far from home, so I focused on photographing a few more feeder birds that eluded me thus far. House Finch, House Sparrow and Blue Jay finally met their match. It was a lot easier getting a decent photograph when there is a little light!

Just a House Sparrow

Blue Jay

House Finch

A surprise was a Sharp-shinned Hawk flying high overhead against the blue sky. I quickly snapped off a few pictures, but the bird was very high and distant. Still, you can tell it is a Sharpie.

Tomorrow, depending on my work schedule (I'll find out tonight), I may try to get to one of the big lakes. If I can't, I may just do some owling and try to photograph a few more easy ones around Lansing.

Northern Michigan Birding

On January 3rd, I escaped Lansing for a couple days and started my birding in Rudyard, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula. I drove from Lansing very early, driving through the dark to arrive at sunrise. I noticed two Pine Grosbeaks along the side of the road, so I turned around to photograph them. It was then I noticed a feeder. On this feeder was where I noticed a bird that threw me off... big time. I finally recognized it as a Greenfinch, and a quick Google search from my phone identified it as a European Greenfinch. Cool!

European Greenfinch in Rudyard, MI

Unfortunately, this will go down as an escaped cage bird and will not count on my official "big year", but it was something different, anyway. After photographing the Greenfinch, I finally got around to photographing the Pine Grosbeaks.

Pine Grosbeak

I then moved to the now-famous Northern Hawk Owl spot on the corner of S. Dryburg road and H40. The Owl was not hard to spot hunting from the top of a tree alongside the road.

Northern Hawk Owl

It was shortly after I turned my car around I noticed these Sharp-tailed Grouse sitting in a tree just off the main road. This is too easy, I thought.

Sharp-tailed Grouse, photographed with an iPhone through scope.

Heading back into Rudyard, on Centerline Road, finding a Snowy Owl was a piece of cake.

Snow Owl, also digiscoped

Having cleaned up the main targets, I moved to the Dafter Landfill which was full of gulls. There was a semi-ridiculous amount of Glaucous Gulls of all ages. An adult Great Black-backed Gull was also easy to pick out. I found one other white-winged gull that appears to be a quite "dark-primaried" Iceland Gull, but I need to study it more.

Great Black-backed Gull

Glaucous Gull

I also managed a very poor iPhone digiscoped photo of a Northern Shrike in fading light.

Northern Shrike digiscoped in fading light

I decided to drive back south of the bridge and stay the night with my grandparents that live in Rapid City. After a good sleep, I spent the day birding in Elk Rapids where there was open water. I photographed a smattering of ducks in the harbor.

Hooded Merganser

Common Goldeneye

I spent some time driving back roads looking for finches but didn't find much. I then went back to my grandparents house and photographed feeder birds. I won't bore you with the basics, but here is possibly my favorite photo from the trip. A cooperative Brown Creeper!

Brown Creeper

Of course, if you want to see some other images of varying quality of the more common stuff, they can be found on the flickr page that is a work in progress.

Keep checking back for more updates. I don't have anything too crazy lined up for the next few weeks, but in late January I depart for Florida. I'll keep photographing around Michigan until then. One of these nights I'll focus on some more owls.

Tickin' the Easy Ones

The easy ones count too, right? I didn't have much time to bird today, but did get out around residential Lansing. Believe it or not, Lansing does have a few birds in the winter, just nothing like Texas or Florida. And these few species need to be photographed.

White-breasted Nuthatch

I started at Fenner Nature Center where I got better pictures than yesterday of a White-breasted Nuthatch (above). The place was essentially dead. I managed to find one Northern Cardinal that posed, but a bit further away than I would have liked.

Northern Cardinal

Frustrated with the lack of birds, I moved to the Mt. Hope Cemetery hoping for Crossbills, or anything really. I finally found a flock of birds that contained Downy Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinches, Eastern Bluebirds and Cedar Waxwings! So I got to shooting.

Cedar Waxwing

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Eastern Bluebird

Downy Woodpecker

American Goldfinch

My last stop was along the river at Potter Park Zoo where I poorly photographed an American Crow. I'll do better eventually.

American Crow

It is becoming obvious that photographing 500 birds in one year is going to be a serious challenge. Right now it is slim pickings around Lansing. I'm leaving bright and early for the Upper Peninsula which promises to be more interesting. In a few weeks I will be in Florida. That when the getting will be really, really good.

The First of Many

American Tree Sparrow

 Today kicked off my photographic big year. Conditions were not what one hopes for when taking pictures; dark gray clouds draped the sky and allowed little light to trickle through. However, I was still able to take a few pictures to get the ball rolling. I will be posting pictures to the flickr site, even bad pictures. Throughout the year, I'll replace those horrible pictures with better ones of the same species.

Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge was a bit slow today, although we found an "Oregon" flavored Dark-eyed Junco, a rare bird for Michigan.

We also had Tundra Swans and Snow Buntings fly over. We then worked along the Grand River by Moores Park in Lansing. A chilly-looking Great Blue Heron was only slightly unexpected. The Peregrine Falcon below was photographed at quite a distance.

On Thursday I'll venture to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Rumor has it that a Northern Hawk Owl, Great Gray Owl, and a few Hoary Redpolls can be found around the Soo and the rest of Chippewa County. With a little luck, I just might be able to track a few down.