Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow musings for fall 2008

As we move through the "off-season" for Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow in Michigan, I have been thinking more and more about how to hone my search for this species this fall. I had heard through the grapevine a few years back that researchers back in the 1950s did some work in Livingston County on this species, and had quite a bit of success in finding (and even collecting) some specimens. I have finally tracked down this research, and it is very interesting indeed. The paper detailing the work was published in Wilson Bulletin in Sep 1958 (Volume 70, No. 3, pp. 284-286). The authors were scientists at or associates of the University of Michigan, namely Russell Mumford and Dale Zimmerman et al. The article can be accessed in full here.

The findings of this article astounded me, especially given the current status of this species in our state (less than annual, and basically considered unfindable except as a rare vagrant). The authors secured *ten* specimens (housed at the Univ. of MI Museum of Zoology) and saw many more individuals of this species during the falls of 1955, 1956, and 1957, all at one location in SW Livingston County. The location is McIntyre Lake; more specifically, the grassy marshes and dry meadows along the margins of McIntyre Lake. This is a place I have never heard of, let alone visited. Nor have I heard of birders going there. A little research showed that it is located in the Gregory State Game Area in extreme southwest Livingston County, about 0.2 miles north of the Washtenaw County line, and 0.8 miles east of the Ingham County line. Here is the current aerial imagery of the site.Public ownership (Gregory State Game Area) is here shown in red, with areas of meadow or marsh habitat striped with yellow.
Here is the map I used to adduce ownership, taken from the DNR's website, and purported to be current as of 2002, with gray indicating DNR ownership.Lastly, here a map layering public ownership with proper Nelson's Sparrow habitat. In other words, the areas that can be searched for Nelson's Sparrow are in blue. In order to enter the property without trespassing, you will have to park on Worden Rd on the east border, or on Bowdish halfway between Leeke and Jaycox, or near Kane and Green Rds on the west. Here I'll summarize the main bullet points of this important paper, then wrap up with what this means for my upcoming search in 2008. Your thoughts and comments would be appreciated in the comment line.

-Nelson's Sparrows were observed at McIntyre Lake on the following dates (# individuals):
9/24/55- 1
9/28/55- 2 (1 specimen)
10/08/55- 3
10/9/55- 2 (both mist-netted and released)
9/16/56- 1
10/7/56- 4 (1 specimen)
9/21/57- 2 (2 specimens)
9/28/57- 2 (2 specimens)
10/5/57- 4 (4 specimens)

-Nelson's Sparrows were **not** observed at McIntyre Lake during visits on the following dates:
10/15/55
9/23/56
10/14/56
10/21/56
1957 (dates not indicated)

-Thus, the searchers detected the bird on 4 of 5 visits in 1955 and 2 of 5 visits in 1956. Dates for 1957 are not specified.

-Up to four individuals were seen daily.

-McIntyre lake has both wet, boggy marsh, and dry upland meadow, and the sparrows used both but *preferred the dry meadow*.

-The Sparrows preferred extensive 1-2 ft high vegetation and avoided cattail unless flushed there.

-Most of the Nelson's Sparrows observed were easily observed!

-After the initial flushing, the birds were seldom flushable a second time, but did respond to pishing by perching high and in view. (this is consistent with word from Wisconsin and Indiana)

These results are really extraordinary in that no one since has even observed 2 Nelson's Sparrows at the same location in Michigan! Further, all or nearly all individuals have shown up at vagrant traps as single birds, not at preferred habitats where the birds appear to be lingering. If this species really is as rare as it seems in Michigan, this paper's results deserve explanation. Perhaps the authors experienced a once in a lifetime fluke for three straight years, or perhaps the species has declined in abundance so that it simply doesn't occur in these numbers anymore. Or perhaps birders since haven't entered appropriate microhabitats during Sept 20-Oct 15 with this species in mind, walking through the sedge and watching for Ammodramus to flush.

Starting around 9/20/2008 I (and hopefully some of you reading this) will visit this site as often as possible, starting at dawn, and coursing all through the meadows and marshes. I would really like to know whether this species continues to occur there, or whether the habitat has grown up to any degree. Perhaps the species will be as easy to find as it was during 1955-1957. I won't pretend to be certain of the answer, but I know where I'd put my money.

Lastly, how does this relate to my search of 2007? First, I am struck by the mentioning that the sparrows preferred 1-2 ft tall dry meadows. Most of my time was spent in 3-5 ft tall wet marshy habitats like Hofma Preserve. This may make the bird, if present, harder to locate. Or it may be less preferable habitat which they avoid. If either supposition were true, then my search image would need honing.

I am also struck by their observation that the birds were easily observable once pished up. I didn't spend a lot of time pishing this year, and again I may have been in the wrong habitat types, but I don't often think of this species as easy to observe and was always paying very close attention to anything that flushed.

This paper at least gives me hope that our chances are good. I look forward to seeing what fall 2008 may bring. I will also add that there are spring records, including many mentioned in this paper (none from McIntyre, however) as early as late April, but mostly around the last 10 days of May. So it may not be entirely a waste of time to search in this manner during this time period as well.

Year of the Irruptives

This winter started off with a bang. There were early reports of Evening and Pine Grosbeaks, both crossbills, Redpolls, and Pine Siskins well south of their usual northerly haunts, including even Ohio. By midwinter, however, several of these species seemed to have put on the brakes, with the huge invasion we were envisioning never quite coming together.

Fortunately, another irruptive, the Bohemian Waxwing, did come south far farther than normal. Dave Slager yesterday found 50 or more of these beauts at Huff Park in Grand Rapids, and there were additional reports from Berrien County MI and even Indiana. So, of course I had to take a quick jaunt over to Huff to see the madness. It didn't disappoint:
If the Cedar Waxwing is a prince, this species surely is the king. They really are stunningly gorgeous.

You may notice that the above photos appear edited. They are. I removed the vignetting caused by digiscoping of very close birds, as well as the uneven background, and even the chromatic abberations, by several clicks of the mouse. For comparison, here are the originals in the same order:

Niagara River trip

Curtis Dykstra, Sean Fitzgerald and I visited the Niagara Falls area on 14-15 December. This gull "mecca" has long been a favorite birding destination of mine, and it never seems to disappoint. Best bird for me was my long-awaited life Black-headed Gull, the longstanding bird at Fort Erie, Ontario. We arrived to find a flock of 4,000-5,000 Bonaparte's Gulls sitting there, and miraculously within 3 minutes I noticed a lone bird in flight which turned out to be our target! When the birds were on the water with heads tucked (the majority of our visit), this bird is very difficult to pick out. This was a typical look (note the paler nape and mantle, while any size difference was barely evident).
Once it lifted its head things got a little easier:Mid-day we stopped at the Sir Adam Beck HydroPlant overlook, where we had at least 7 Iceland Gulls at the same time, which included 1 Thayer's adult on the 14th. Here are three of them together (1st winter left of center, 2 adults above and right of center). No California Gull was present at this spot, despite a predictable bird from the last few years.
Amazingly, we dipped on Glaucous Gull both days (!), and so only had nine gull species for the trip. This is the same number I've had on every Niagara trip so I seemed to have reached a celing of sorts. Long-tailed Ducks were very evident along the river, including right next to shore:
The entire Lake Ontario system just has a different feel than that which I am used to on Lake Michigan. Not only did we get King Eider at Stoney Creek (no photos, unfortunately), but diving ducks were numerous right near shore, unlike what I am used to in the shallower waters of Lakes Michigan and Erie. At Queenston dock we had our only Little Gulls of the trip, a 2nd winter and an adult winter. Here is a video clip of the latter. If it looks like the clip isn't there, it IS. Hit the button with the small triangle below and it will appear.

Queenston also turned out to be great for wintering passerines, as there was a small ditch with moving, unfrozen water and plenty of cover. In addition to Golden-crowned Kinglet, 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers, Tufted Titmouse, Song Sparrow, American Robin, Black-capped Chikadee, and Carolina Wren, we also had this cold Northern Mockingbird.On the 14th, we went to the evening "flypast" at Niagara-on-the-Lake. We were treated to a large flight of at least 4,500 Bonaparte's Gulls heading out to Lake Ontario for the night. I counted them by tens and I believe this to be a fairly accurate count. We were unable to pick out any rarities, but interestingly, we did have one of only 3 (yes, that's right, THREE) immature Bonaparte's Gulls during the entire trip! What this may mean is not yet clear to me, but perhaps productivity was very poor this year, or perhaps youngsters winter at different latitudes or different sites (seems unlikely to me...), but it was very striking how absent they seemed. There were also a few nice waterbirds at Niagara-on-the-Lake including this Red-throated Loon.Lastly, we of course had heard about the remarkable Northern Hawk Owl southeast of Hamilton, Ontario, found last week. This location is about the same latitude as my hometown of Grand Rapids, MI. For reference, this species just doesn't show up closer than a 3-4 hour drive north of us (exception: once one was in Manistee, about 2 hours north of us) . Anyway, we showed up and walked NW down the train tracks to get where this bird was being seen. It turned out to be the most cooperative Hawk Owl I've ever seen, as evidenced by this photo showing it no more than 10m from several photographers. (For the record, we first stood at a distance and *the bird flew closer* to us, not the other way around.) Unbelievable! And here is undoubtedly the best digiscoped photo I've ever taken of this species, and a video clip showing it preening.

Nelson's Sparrow Wrapup

I finally have had time to pull together my thoughts on this season's unsuccessful quest to find Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow in MI. I will here attempt to summarize my findings and prepare for the 2008 search. One of the things I wanted to do this year was to visit and photograph the habitats in surrounding states/provinces to get a feel for the search image our neighbors use when they look for this bird. I was able to get to two such places and have information on many others. Let's start with Dundas Marsh, Hamilton, Ontario, which I visited in mid-October. This is essentially located at the far western tip of Lake Ontario. The pond just left of center had completely dried up as of the time of my visit, but most years it and the reedy meadow on its east border (blue circle) are wet underneath.The meadow was dominated by a plant I do not know, nor have knowingly seen in Michigan. It is a knee to thigh high reed, V-shaped in cross section, which created a very thick monoculture. It was tough to walk through and repeatedly snagged my boots nearly tripping me:There was also a small amount of cattail and other grassy plants, and the dried pond (left) created a large opening. The sparrows seemed to like the thickets right on the edge of the opening, and I flushed a small dark Ammodramus which was almost certainly a Nelson's (it was very windy, and the bird immediately retreated into the thick grass) right here: Next, I had the opportunity to visit Mentor Marsh, Ohio (just east of Cleveland) also in mid-October. A large push of sparrows had hit the week before, and lucky birders at this location found 2 Nelson's amongst hundreds of Swamps and Songs with a smattering of Lincoln's, White-throated and White-crowned and other species. This is a small linear patch of grasses and smartweeds along a boardwalk nestled within a huge marsh of Phragmites:Here is what the habitat along the boardwalk looks like:And here is what the local smartweed (it appears to be a different species than any I found in Michigan this fall) looks like:Now, I want to do a satellite imagery overview of sites at which this species is found annually in numbers in the Great Lakes region. First, the sites directly on the shore of Great Lakes:

Hillman Marsh, Ontario (the birds are in a wet grassy/weedy unit in the NW corner of the marsh and are found by walking through 2-10 inches of standing water, but are rarely seen from the adjacent dike):
Toronto Islands (birds often reported in apparently inappropriate habitat [sparsely grassy areas on dry soil], but only for a short time [i.e. they do not linger like those at Dundas Marsh])Northerly Island, Chicago (birds often in grasses at south end)Montrose Harbor, Chicago (birds in grassy patch [not Marram Grass as in SW Mich] east of marina)Hammond Bird Sanctuary, near Whiting, IN. Birds are found in thick grassy areas near the back of the beach. Note the industrial nature of the entire surroundings.Here is a closeup shot of the habitat provided by Byron K. Butler (his copyright)
Lorain harbor, Ohio (birds in round dredge spoil)Milwaukee, WI Coast Guard Impoundment (birds in square dredge spoil) Lastly, the location of Skye Haas's vagrant Nelson's Sparrow (red arrow) from October in Marquette. This site seems to have much in common with the previous sites: small patch of grassy habitat near or on a peninsula on a Great Lake, surrounded by unsuitable habitat (in this case, forest or park).Summary: It is clear that small peninsulas jutting out into any Great Lake and covered in thick grasses or sedges, and especially those located in areas dominated by a landscape of unsuitable habitat such as pavement (e.g. Montrose, Northerly Id., Lorain harbor) or agricultural fields (e.g. Hillman Marsh) are very good places to look. Let's have a look at the coasts of lower Michigan, starting with Lake Michigan:
It is abundantly clear that we simply do not have any peninsulas here. Also, the dunes we do have are covered primarily in Marram Grass, a species apparently absent or at least not dominant on the west shore of the lake (more information please!) and probably unsuitable for Nelson's Sparrow. The best chance for us in this area might be at Grand Haven's Harbor Island. The breakwall at the rivermouth does "break up" the coastline a bit, and just 1 mile or so inland is an appropriate grassy patch which could attract the species, and has had at least one report to date. Here is the map (red arrow showing the patch):
On to Lake Erie's coast:
There are clearly more peninsulas here, including from south to north, Woodtick peninsula (bottom left), Stony Point (just above center), and Pointe Mouillee (top center). The first two are apparently wooded (Woodtick) and residential (Stony Point), but Pointe Mouillee is a marshy State Game Area with interesting potential. Indeed, Adam Byrne, who regularly surveys the property, has located an appropriate wet grassy field near the west boundary of the property (just east of the Mouillee Creek entrance) which could prove to be one of the state's best strategic spots for Nelson's. This fall he had his first ever Monroe County Le Conte's Sparrow in this exact location. Of course, it may be risky to check after Oct 6, the start of the waterfowl season.

Lastly, here is the Lake Huron coast:
The east side of the thumb clearly lacks peninsulas, but Saginaw Bay seems to offer a few possibilities. The islands at Wildfowl Bay (NW tip of thumb) seem appropriate but are covered in cattail, and the adjacent Point Charity is covered in woodland. A very interesting possibility is the Contained Disposal Facility (aka Channel Id or Shelter Id), a dredge spoil on an island off of Bay City:
*If* it turns out that this island is covered in grassy habitats (and is accessible to the public- please post a reply if you know), it may be worth a search next fall. Other possibilities might be Nayanquing Point (not a peninsula, but containing some marshy and grassy units right on Saginaw Bay). Elsewhere, from my limited knowledge, I believe that the majority of the Saginaw Bay coastline is managed for cattail wetland and may be less suitable for Nelson's overall. Certainly, the peninsulas north of Au Gres are mostly forested, not marshy- though again I would like more information on this. One last thought: being that the thumb is so dominated by agricultural fields, if an appropriate field or marsh could be located amongst that landscape it would definitely be worth checking next fall.

And now a few inland sites. First, Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment facility in Madison, WI. There is a smartweed thicket in the southeast portion of the unit which apparently is the best spot to watch for Nelson's and from which this video comes. The area is very thick and difficult to walk through (apparently, the more it hurts to walk through [nettles?, thorns/pickers?] and the more seeds you have stuck to your clothes, the better).This is the Lebanon Business park in Lebanon, Indiana. The birds here (annual, often several in a day) spend most of their time in the Barnyard Grass spp. along the edges of the wet impoundments.The next two shots are from Pennsylvania's best location for this species during migration: the lower Susquehanna River near Lancaster and Bainbridge. The birds are found on the grassy islands in the middle of the river each October.So, I end by summarizing my thoughts on these sites, and how it relates to Michigan. First, in the Great Lakes Region, the bird appears to be found in the following categories of sites:

1) small, grass-covered peninsulas jutting out into Great Lakes
2) relatively small patches of grasses, sedges, or other forbes amongst landscapes of unsuitable habitat such as metropolitan areas, agricultural fields (i.e. Hillman Marsh), or rivers (i.e. lower Susquehannah)
3) small patches of grassy habitat amongst larger patches of Phragmites or cattail (i.e. Mentor Marsh or Muskegon State Game Area at Lane's Landing (the site of 2 recent May sightings).

Problems with sites searched in Michigan during fall 2007:
1) Hofma Preserve: although apparently suitable, this site is quite large, inland over 2 miles, and full of very tall plants. I believe the few individuals which reach our region may be unlikely to occur here, and those that do will be tough to locate with the large search area and tall vegetation.
2) St. Clair Flats: two things: size and bulrush monoculture. This place is so vast that the few birds which occur there may be very dispersed. Second, the bulrush monoculture we experienced may not be the preferred habitat for those that do arrive. However, if small patches of grassy or sedgy habitat could be located amongst the sea of unsuitable bulrush, this site could be perfect. Moreover, it is located due north of Hillman Marsh Ontario, where Al Wormington has found this bird nearly every fall he has checked it in recent years, so the flats are geographically well-placed as well.
3) Roselle Park: too far inland, grasses too thick. Same problem as Hofma.

So, where to look next fall? At this point, the following sites are the ones I believe the bird most likely to be found:

1) Pointe Mouillee SGA: grassy, wet area just east of the Mouillee Creek entrance (rubber boots required).
2) Bay City Contained Disposal Facility (CDF Island). Access needs to be determined, and would require a boat.

3) Harbor Island in Grand Haven. See map above.

Lastly, if you have read through this post, I ask you to post your comments as to what I have wrong, what I have right, and especially any other sites in Michigan which sound like the ones just described. Please use the "comments" link below to leave your thoughts.

interesting Redpoll

Sean Fitzgerald reported a frosty male Hoary Redpoll near the Celebration Cinemas at Knapp and E. Beltline on Thursday amongst about 200 Common Redpolls foraging in a weedy vacant lot. Within 5 minutes the entire flock had disappeared. Follow up chases found only a smaller flock of about 70 birds, which included an interesting Redpoll (perhaps 2) which was clearly paler than the rest of the flock suggesting Hoary, but also had a few characteristics which looked right for Common Redpoll as well. First, the Hoary marks: paler underparts including limited flank streaking and no noticable streaking on the undertail coverts, pale white rump lacking noticable streaking, very limited pink blush to the breast. Common features: cap large and approaching the bill as closely as those of other Commons, scapulars lacking white edges, secondary and tertials not having noticably wider white edging than Common, no obvious "bull-headedness" to the forehead. Indeterminate marks: bill at times looked just like neighboring Commons, but at other times seemed a bit smaller and more pinched in. Here are my best photos of the bird.

with Commons for comparison of overall color, secondary and tertial edging, etc.
and lastly, a nearby Common Redpoll

Now, what are we to call my mystery bird? Pyle (1997) indicates that some Common Redpolls may appear to be intermediate between the two species, and that hybrids are not yet known but are expected to occur. There are also 2 subspecies of each species which can occur here, as well as extensive variation in the four age and sex classes.

Sibley's blog and links therein provide an excellent summary of Hoary Redpoll ID. He surmises that after first locating a pale individual within a flock, you should proceed to look for any of 6 characteristics which should all or mostly line up before you call your bird a Hoary. In my case, the pink on the breast should establish the bird as a male (although Sibley fails to mention Pyle's (1997) comment that some adult females may occasionally show pink here). Three of Sibley's six characters (sparse flank streaking, no streaking on undertail coverts, rump mostly white) line up with Hoary, two with Common (scapulars and wing coverts and secondary edging), and one indeterminate (bill).

In my assessment, we simply do not have enough to call this bird a Hoary, so I am leaving it unidentified. Although this bird could be a hybrid, it may well be within the normal variation for Common Redpoll (scary, huh?), a fact which underscores the need for a high level of scrutiny and conservatism in IDing redpolls.

I'm holding out for a bird showing 5 or 6 of Sibley's characters for Hoary. With recent reports of this fall's upper peninsula Hoary Redpoll stock having largely cleared out over the last week or two (per Skye Haas), it's possible we'll have plenty of chances this winter!

Lastly, for comparison of my birdwith a good female Hoary from Indiana Dunes State Park this week, see PGrubes's Flickr photos. Note particularly the bill and face structure and size of the "poll

Berrien County Say's Phoebe, 21 Nov

Here are a couple of quick shots and a video clip I got of Tim Baerwald's excellent find from Berrien County. All were taken at Jean Klock Park in 20-30 knot north winds with driving rain. For updates on the status of this bird see Mich-Listers.