Miscellaneous Tiscornia Frigatebird Notes

Male Magnificent Frigatebird, Tiscornia Sept. 20-22, 2010

   There are now three MAFR records for Tiscornia (Sept. 26,  2008, Sept.20-22, 2010, July 9-12, 2015) along with two more records for Berrien County away from Tiscornia (Sept. 30 and Oct. 2, 1988 from the Bridgman area). It should come as no surprise that Tiscornia records are all within the last ten years as coverage at Tiscornia has increased dramatically in that period.

The 2008 MAFR was a result of Hurricane Ike that hit the Texas coast on Sept. 11 and dissipated on Sept. 15 with a track close to southern Lake Michigan. Ike resulted in multiple Frigatebirds in the Great Lakes. 

 

The 2010 MAFR was likely a result of Tropical Storm Hermine that hit the Texas coast on Sept. 7 and dissipated over Oklahoma on Sept. 9. Interesting was a male MAFR found in Kansas on Sept. 14 that was missing the right innermost/longest tertials like the Tiscornia MAFR.

 
This most recent MAFR was likely a result of Tropical Storm Bill that hit the Texas coast on June 16 and dissipated on June 23 with a track that took it through Ohio. 

All three MAFR at Tiscornia were seen coming in from offshore and moving up the pier, most likely they were initially following the river water in from offshore (a common occurrence at Tiscornia with other species). The last two spent several days following the pattern of working in from offshore and drifting over the channel and inland up the river. I know for certain the last two (and I think the '08 MAFR) were last seen heading inland. Couple this with the dates when the storms have went inland to when the MAFR have shown up, along with the odds that the Kansas bird showed up at Tiscornia and it suggests that these birds can survive for sometime inland, may use random bodies of water as stop over sites before reaching the Great Lakes, and may make flights over land to and from the Great Lakes in an attempt to navigate back to the ocean. 
 

Male Magnificent Frigatebird, Tiscornia Sept. 20-22, 2010

I don't have a good theory as to why the last two spent multiple days at Tiscornia (most Midwestern frigatebirds are rarely seen for more then a couple hours), maybe coming off a tropical storm and the resulting slower winds then a hurricanecaused them to spend more time flying over land before hitting Lake Michigan. And with the lack of storm winds on Lake Michigan they spent more time reorienting themselves? 

Female Magnificent Frigatebird, Tiscornia July 09-12, 2015

It does suggests that one shouldn't give up so easily after a storm moves inland. I would think that the increased number of frigatebird reports in the fall has as much to do with the fact that birders spend more time at the beach in the fall then in the summer as it does with storms moving inland in that period. It also suggests that we should give the same level of effort to these smaller tropical storms as we do to the Sandy's and Ike's. Also spending time where rivers enter the lake could increase your odds, and pay attention to the fisherman if they start talking about odd birds.

Male Magnificent Frigatebird, Tiscornia Sept. 20-22, 2010

Lastly, More Time= More Birds. Lakewatching is all about the hours invested. The more you're at the lake the more you're going to see. It doesn't matter the time of day or year, go to the lake. The last few years I was averaging close to 250 visits to Tiscornia a year and running around ~1,200 hours of lakewatching time (doing a fall waterbird count made it easy to maximize the hours at Tiscornia). The increased hours have directly resulted in more rarities.

Male Magnificent Frigatebird, Tiscornia Sept. 20-22, 2010