Yellow-billed Loon (photos) - Sault Ste. Maire power plant

I just received these 2 photos of a Yellow-billed Loon taken by Don Martin. The bird was seen at the Sault Ste. Marie Power Plant on 31 Dec 2009 at 8:40AM. Here is the Mich-listers post detailing the sighting:

"Yellow-billed Loon at the Soo power plant.  We had views at 20 yards.  
When we left at 8:40 it was 75 yards south of the southern property 
line where theblue fence ends and construction fence begins.  I don't 
have the ability to post.  Thought you may want to post the 
sighting.    Don Martin"

Wastewater gulling (& Blue-winged Teal in Dec!)

Had a chance to check the wastewater briefly this morning, and was pleased to find my first ever December Blue-winged Teal for Michigan along the center dike, a drake.

Also was treated to six gulls species including Glaucous, Bonaparte's (only 1, a youngster), Herring, Ring-billed (still 350+), Iceland type (not seen well enough to be positive thayeri was ruled out), and Thayer's. The Thayer's was a nice adult seen at close range near the dump, allowing for close study:

Note the black subterminal markings on p5, a sure sign of thayeri in any adult kumlieni/thayeri candidate.

Finally, I also had a strange Ring-billed Gull adult with a black bill with a small yellow tip. Not sure what to make of this.

Arctic Tern in Berrien Co.

Ancient Murrelet

Well, Tim Baerwald has done it again, with an Ancient Murrelet at the now famous Tiscornia Park. Much to my amazement this bird stuck around long enough to allow me to get it (1.75 hr drive!). Plus, it lingered at least until 2PM when I left. Simply amazing.





In this clip you can hear the bird's call note twice (at 6 sec, and 7 sec) just before I say "called".

Franklin's Gull at Muskegon Wastewater

Dave Slager called this morning to report a young Franklin's Gull (he suspected it was a first summer/2nd calendar year bird) out in the middle of the east lagoon. I made a quick run for the bird and was eventually treated with some very distant views as it floated with Bonaparte's Gulls and Ring-billed Gulls. I now think the bird is likely a juvenile, based on the suggestion of brownish tones to the mantle and scapular area, a lack of large white primary tips and the lack of any white between the dark primaries and gray/brown wing coverts, and the apparent lack of any molting flight feathers (inc. tail). I am still looking into the possibility of a delayed 1st summer (second calendar year) which had a very incomplete 1st prealternate molt (which occurs Dec-May, and can include none to all of the primaries) and is still yet to begin its 2nd prebasic primary molt, though this option seems like more of a stretch. The obviously darkish centers to the bird's tertials also seem to suggest a young of the year more than a 1st summer.

As far as viewing the bird is concerned, a good place to start is from the north dike of the east lagoon- looking south to east into the middle of the lagoon. Additional views were had from the west end of the dump on the south dike of the east lagoon:

Banded Semipalmated Sandpiper!

Today I found a rarity. Not a rare species, but a rare banded individual shorebird, an adult Semipalmated Sandpiper at the Muskegon Wastewater Complex. The bird was hanging out with a large group of Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, and other than its 2 yellow color bands on its left tibiotarsus and aluminum band on its right tibiotarsus, it did not stand out. Here are the best photos of the bird I could manage, given the late afternoon overcast skies and distance.

I anxiously await hearing of this bird's origin, and will report back once I learn it.

Other highlights from today's visit include the following:

-Melanistic Ruddy Duck (1): 1 with 217 normal Ruddy Ducks birds in the east lagoon viewed from the center dike. Presumably the same bird seen on and off for months now. Photo:

-Pectoral Sandpiper- 1 adult, south central infiltration basin. Photo:

-Semipalmated Sandpiper- 15 adults, mostly in south central infiltration basin

-Least Sandpiper- 15 adults, south central infiltration basin and aerator basins

-Lesser Yellowlegs- 15 adults, south central infiltration basin and aerator basins

-Semipalmated Plover- 3 adults, south central infiltration basin

- juvenile Horned Lark- 2 in westmost aerator. Strange plumage, often mistaken for Sprague's Pipit. Photo:

A Non-Avian Post

Over the July 4th weekend, with bird singing behavior beginning to subside and the resulting long hot afternoons, I spent quite a bit of time catching dragonflies at Pine Lake in the northern Manistee National Forest. I am a decided beginner when it comes to these creatures, but it is really fun to not know what I am holding and be forced to figure it out.

The clear highlight was my first ever Dragonhunter (long-awaited), which I had in th

e net within 1 second of spotting. What a beast!

The Prince Baskettail was quite common, most individuals appearing much less heavily marked than those in my books (someone please correct me if the ID is wrong).

As often seems to be the case with clubtails, I was unable to arrive at a confident ID with this one. It was dying (cause unknown), and was quite small (about the size of the body length bar for Least Clubtail in "Dragonflies of the North Woods"), but did not seem to match up with any of the species in that book. Does anyone know what this is?

Finally, on a kayaking trip near Cleveland OH (Cuyahoga River) the weekend prior I caught my first ever mosaic darner and was pleased to identify it as a Cyrano Darner. Its flight pattern was more obliging than most others I have seen. The book seen in the background is the fantastic Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeast Ohio, a must have title for those in our region.