9/26/12

Today was foggy. Presumably the fog kept me from being able to see the heavy migration that was happening.

71 CANG
6 CACG (little geese!)
2 ABDU
4 MALL
5 NOPI
4 GWTE
1 COLO
1 HOGR
107 DCCO
1 SEPL
1 AGPL
6 SAND
1 RNPH (juvie feeding ~100yds offshore)
5 FOTE
13 COTE

Also had 1 PEFA, 1 MERL, 2 BAEG, PISI, and 5 Bat sp. amongst other passerine types today.

I really need to stop leaving my digiscoping camera in the car.

This is one of the spiders that live on the pier.

9/25/12

Mostly cloudy, code 3 south winds and um. Yeah, north winds tomorrow should get things moving again (maybe?)

7 CANG
1 WODU
3 GADW
5 AMWI
1 MALL
3 NSHO
17 GWTE
57 BWTE
1 GRSC
2 COLO
2 DCCO
1 GBHE
1 AMCO
1 AGPL
1 RUTU (probably the last one of the season)
10 SAND
1 LBBG (adult on the beach south of the piers) 
1 FOTE
7 COTE

9/24/12

South winds increasing from 4 to a 5, and clear skies. And a paltry number of migrants.

3 CANG
2 WODU
5 GADW
3 AMWI
9 MALL
1 NOPI
13 NSHO
6 GWTE
3 BWTE
5 REDH
2 SUSC
2 DCCO
1 SEPL
10 SAND
1 LBBG  (a first year bird that soared by going north)

9/23/12

Cloudy, code 5 west winds lead to another fabulous "eh" day at Tiscornia. Low numbers, but the best duck verity of the fall.

39 CANG
10 GADW
14 AMWI
13 MALL
8 NOPI
18 NSHO
3 GWTE
2 BWTE
1 RNDU
5 GRSC
1 LESC
2 SUSC
1 RBME
5 RTLO
1 COLO
1 PBGR
143 DCCO
24 SAND
1 BOGU
1 FOTE
9 COTE

Another good PEFA day, with at least six different PEFA's seen throughout the count. At one point two juvies teamed up to attack a RBGU on the water. The gull survived their attacks, but only by diving into the waves everytime a PEFA took a dive at it!

9/22/12

Light rain, medium rain, some sleet, waterspouts, a rainbow, and a code 6 wind made today...interesting. 

9 CANG
1 GADW
1 MALL
13 NOPI
20 NSHV
9 GWTE
60 BWTE
1 RNDU
5 GRSC
112 DCCO
 2 AGPL
15 SAND
1 RNPH (flyby juvie)
3 BOGU
3 COTE

A total of 7 PEFA and a MERL kept things interesting, with several of the PEFA's spending multiple hours hunting the shoreline and taking passes at the gull flock, at dawn one was up the beach eating a BBPL. 

9/21/12

Increasing clouds lead to light rain in the last two hours, that along with south winds made for an excit...erm..slow day.

1 CANG
7 WODU
7 NOPI
12 NSHV
6 GWTE
156 BWTE (with today's count the season total is now over 6,000!)
1 REDH
2 GRSC
2 COLO
3 DCCO
1 PBGR
1 AMCO
2 BBPL
1 SEPL
21 SAND
29 COTE

Also had 3 PEFA go south at the end of the count.

9/20/12

Code 3 WNW winds, mostly sunny skies today, and the biggest duck flight in a long time today. Woo!

9 CANG
2 WODU
5 GADW
31 AMWI
8 MALL
72 NOPI
46 NSHV
109 GWTE
238 BWTE
1 REDH
1 PBGR
13 DCCO
1 BBPL
29 SAND
1 BASA
1 Phalarope sp
1 BOGU
1 SAGU (a distant but still gorgeous juvie going north at the bottom of the third hour)
1 CATE
2 FOTE
33 COTE

9/19/12

Heavy distortion and SW winds were the order of the day, along with the first Athya of the season.
The Indiana guys had 24 effing SAGU yesterday, Ugh.

3 CANG
2 WODU
1 MALL
5 GWTE
3 REDH
3 GRSC
1 RBME
6 DCCO
2 BBPL
1 SEPL
24 SAND
1 BASA
2 FOTE
56 COTE

The first DEJU off the fall was in the parkinglot today, along with the first LALO on the beach. And a MAWA was sitting on the pier early this morning.

9/18/12

Today was the day, the biggest cold front of the season! That would no doubt mean a excellent flight of waterbirds, something to really hang the season on.

Winds were NW 5-6, mostly cloudy skies, and heavy distortion for most of the day.

Here's the totals, its okay to be impressed.

47 CANG
1 WODU
1 GADW
1 MALL
16 NOPI
4 NSHV
4 GWTE
2 BWTE
2 COLO
64 DCCO
2 SEPL
63 SAND
1 RNPH (juvie attempted to feed on the beach with the SAND, unfortunately it hadn't mastered how to walk into a 30 knot wind and was quickly blown south)
15 BOGU
1 CATE
4 FOTE
106 COTE

Not photoshopped, there was actually a rainbow that lined up behind the lighthouse. Sadly, no skittles appeared.

9/17/12

South winds, clear skies, and a light duck flight made it a decent day.


3 CANG
7 NOPI
9 NSHV
5 GWTE
75 BWTE
1 DCCO
1 BBPL
4 AGPL
1 SEPL
14 SAND
1 BASA (same as yesterday)
2 BOGU
1 LBBG (2nd fall type. A young PEFA spent 20+ minutes chasing the gull flock, including repeated passes at the LBBG )
1 CATE
8 FOTE
85 COTE
1 BLTE (sitting on the beach. It could barely stand up, but had no issues once in flight)

The only other minor bird of note was a Osprey mid morning.

9/16/12

The slowest day of the season, but the weather was nice, and Rhoda brought donuts.

1 PBGR
6 DCCO
1 SEPL
18 SAND
1 BASA (same as yesterday)
2 Jaeger sp (one light morph PAJA type in the 2nd hour, 1 int. morph PAJA type in the 7th hour)
5 BOGU
20 COTE

This is how a SAND looks when its fully asleep.

  Busy freighter day, with the Sam Laud, Alpena, and Mississagi all arriving at the same time. 

9/15/12

Cool, clear, and SE winds today. No real flight to speak of either.

However in the third hour I heard a unfimiler call note in with the SAND flock that was a flying past the end of the pier, and a few seconds and many pictures later I was looking at my first Western Sandpiper at Tiscornia (and in MI). It spent the rest of the count feeding along both piers with the SAND flock. When I left it was sleeping and oblivious to the tourist traffic on the pier, or myself getting full frame photos of it. The last county record for WESA was in Aug. 1996, before that they were semi-annual (or bird reported as WESA were semi-annual). More photos are up over at Berrien Birder, or eventually on my picasa (link on left).





1 CACG 
30 CANG
1 WODU
1 AMWI
1 NSHO
11 GWTE
6 BWTE
1 DCCO
1 AGPL
1 SEPL
1 RUTU
23 SAND
1 WESA
1 BASA (limping around the pier)
3 Phalarope Sp (distant)
1 Parasitic Jaeger (11th PAJA, and 20th jaeger of the season!)
2 BOGU
3 CATE
11 FOTE
3 COTE

9/14/12

there was weather today. it was unimportant and stuff.

Depressing was that the 6 day Jaeger streak came to an end today, that was sad.

2 CANG
1 MALL
1 NOPI
2 GWTE
1 RBME (YES THE MERG FLIGHT WILL SOON BE UPON US!!!(hide yo kids)
11 DCCO
4 PBGR
5 BBPL
1 AGPL
1 GRYE
1 RUTU
31 SAND
1 SESA
23 BOGU
5 FOTE
266 COTE

This RBGU caught what looks to be a SWTH. Delicious!

More later

9/13/12

A cold front passed through mid morning!

There wasn't much moving before it hit, or after though. Shocking.

1 CANG
2 GADW
1 AMWI
1 ABDU
3 MALL
3 NOPI
10 NSHV
17 GWTE
217 BWTE
2 RTLO (both in breeding plumage, record early)
124 DCCO
1 RUTU
1 SAND
1 BASA
1 Phalarope sp (see below)
1 PAJA (a light morph juvie. It was working its way south when it flushed up the phalarope, it did a abrupt turn and proceeded to chase it down, force it onto the water then ate it in a couple gulps. This was a first for me)
14 BOGU
1 CATE
17 FOTE
37 COTE
2 BLTE

9/12/12

Another day of clear skies and south winds. Woo.

The first three hours and the last three hours really sucked, however the middle two were rather enjoyable.

17 CANG
1 MALL
13 NOPI
26 NSHO
382 BWTE (336 in the 4-5th hours. Today's flight puts the season total at 5,335!)
1 GBHE
1 WHIM (distant flyover in the 4th hour)
4 HUGU (came in from the NW in the 4th hour, as they neared the pier they quickly gained altitude until they were specs at 60X, then shot inland heading SE)
1 RUTU
19 SAND
1 Jaeger sp. (ho-hum, another day another jaeger. Distant PAJA type well out there)
11 BOGU
3 FOTE
3 COTE

There was nice mix of passerines in the parkinglot today, including 2 WIWA, 1 CMWA, 1 COYT, 1 BTNW, 3 PAWA, 1 YEWA, and 2 RBNU. And the first campus record of Dainty Sulphur, surprising only in the fact that I've been seeing them everywhere but here this year.

9/11/12

South winds were about the only change from yesterday.

Oh, and the lowest day count of the season!

5 CACG
1 AMWI
2 MALL
3 NSHO
7 GWTE
1 HOGR
4 RUTU
21 SAND
1 SESA
1 Phalarope sp. (the usual excuses on the lack of an ID, a whales spray got in my eyes while a Walrus was trying to eat my tripod-your typical midwest problems)
1 PAJA (intermediate juvie took one pass through the gulls and headed south in the 4th hour)
2 Jaeger sp. (1 extremely dark bird in the 2-3rd hours bombing gulls offshore, eventually headed south. 1 bird waaaaay out there in the 5th hour)
5 BOGU
4 FOTE
9 COTE

9/10/12

Clear, rather calm. Decent enough day, no dying shearwaters or anything exciting.

55 CANG (biggest flight of the season!)
2 AMWI
2 NSHO
5 GWTE
1 RNGR (record early)
4 DCCO
2 GBHE
1 RUTU
19 SAND
1 PAJA (intermediate juvie spent the last three hours of the count trying to rape the gulls offshore. Craptastic photo below)
7 BOGU
1 LBBG (missed it last fall)
2 CATE
12 FOTE
153 COTE (decent flight, now over 2,000 for the season)

 

9/9/12

um yeah. Birdz! Or not.

Day two of the cold front continued with code 3 N winds and mostly clear skies.

And a lack of birds.

29 CANG
1 GADW
1 AMWI
3 GWTE
40 BWTE
1 PBGR
2 DCCO
3 RUTU
27 SAND
1 BBSA (following SAND flock on the beach in the afternoon)
1 PAJA (int. morph juvie in the third hour, horrible crap non-id'able photo below. Enjoy!)
6 BOGU
8 FOTE
53 COTE

9/8/12

The first real cold front of the fall hit overnight, resulting in early morning showers and code 5 WNW winds. Naturally, there was no waterbird flight.

5 AMWI
2 NOPI
18 NSHV
3 GWTE
3 BWTE
2 PBGR
7 DCCO
2 RUTU
40 SAND
2 PAJA (a striking dark morph adult in the third hour, and a intermediate morph juvie in the last 10 minutes of the count)
23 BOGU
2 CATE
10 FOTE
163 COTE (small flocks trickling past all day)

idiot tourists.

9/7/12

East winds and solid clouds made the day less then appealing.But things were afoot with the long awaited first Tiscornia record of Stilt Sandpiper!

3 GWTE
22 BWTE
5 PBGR
4 DCCO
3 GBHE
1 GREG (landed on the beach and was then attacked by the gulls until it eventually headed south. Oddly enough, the BOGU spent most time chasing it)
19 BBPL (one flock of 18!)
4 WHIM (good count)
3 RUTU
15 SAND
1 LESA
1 SESA
1 STSA (flew past with a tern flock!)
21 BOGU
1 CATE
7 FOTE
56 COTE
1 BLTE

9/6/12

A east wind, heavy fog and high humidity greeted me this morning, visibility was barely 200 meters to start the count. Eventually visibility was restored and the lack of waterbirds even more apparent. Oh yeah, had another LITTLE GULL.

1 GADW
1 AMWI
13 MALL
7 NOPI
15 NSHV
23 GWTE
144 BWTE
1 PBGR
2 DCCO
1 AMCO
2 SEPL
8 AMAV (on the beach at dawn in the fog, eventually flew north and lost them in the fog. By the 8th hour the fog had cleared enough to see them well north on the beach)
1 GRYE
3 RUTU
6 SAND
1 LESA
1 Jaeger Sp. (a light, blonde headed contrasty non adult PO/PAJA type. the mantle and under wing seemed to be more adult feathers which would suggest it to be a sub adult. When the tail flared I couldn't see any extensions, it did have a ton of white on the top and bottom of the wing.)
1 LIGU (a second year bird, hooked over the pier and went south) 
12 BOGU
1 hybrid Gull (the bastard of a dark mantled thing back in the area for its 6th fall. See HERE if you really want to learn about it. I would appreciate it if someone could explain to me if it would be possible for two pink legged parents could turn out a green legged offspring)
50 FOTE (mixed in with the COTE, huge count)
392 COTE (afternoon flight, with 208 in the last hour)

There was also a huge passerine flight in the night. There was a nonstop chorus of SWTH for the first four hours of the count, along with a minimum of 75 Palm, 3 Maggie, 1 B&W, 4 Wilson's, 2 CYT., 10 Tennessee Warblers, 2 Am. Redstart, 1 Warbling Vireo, 4 RBNU, 1 SEWR (on the pier), 1 COHA, and 1 BAEG feeding on the beach.

   

9/5/12

A weak front went through in the second hour, which heralded winds going from E-WSW and winds clocking upwards of a code 6! As the storm arrived I decided that standing next to a 26ft tall metal object ~300yrds out in the lake, or on top of a dune next a tree was a poor choice when you can see lighting striking the groud, so I vacated the count for 30 mins until the storm had passed. After the front things calmed down. There wasn't much movement other then BWTE though.

2 NOPI
20 NSHV
13 GWTE
1772 BWTE (872 in the third hour, new record day count.)
2 DCCO
1 SEPL
1 GRYE
1 SPSA
3 RUTU
5 SAND
1 BBSA 
2 LTJA (a striking dark juvie flew past just as the winds shifted. Shearwatering nearly the entire time I could see it, I thought for sure I had finally scored the first mega of the season. Unfortunately it soon gave several excellent views wherein the tail extension etc were seen, crushing my hopes for something oceanic. The second was a light juvie that was working its way south with the PAJA, this one gave excellent prolonged scope views and was a state bird for nearly everyone in attendance. This is a county high count, and a record season count)
1 PAJA (a intermediate morph juvie, all cinnamony with lotsa white on the upperside of the wing those central rects extending just a bit and neatly pointed. In otherwords your average juvie PAJA)  
10 BOGU
3 CATE
11 FOTE
76 COTE

 

9/4/12

Early rain moved out by the second hour, just in time for me to chum in a smashingly good looking juvie LIGU, the third of the season.

6 GADW
4 AMWI
10 NOPI
17 NSHO
17 GWTE
168 BWTE
4 DCCO
1 SEPL
3 RUTU
5 SAND
1 LESA
1 SESA
1 PAJA (intermediate immature, loafing offshore in the last 20 minutes of the count. The 6th jaeger of the fall, or three times what WPBO has had thus far this fall)  
1 LIGU (BOOM)
22 BOGU
2 CATE
8 FOTE
34 COTE
15 BLTE

Also, (likely due to the early morning rain) when the Monitowoc came in in the 7th hour there was a cool passerine flight from it including; 1 NOWA, 1 AMRE, 1 MAWA, 2 PAWA, and 15 un ID.

The question is though, do ship assisted birds count on the Great Lakes? 

 composite