Troublesome Scaup

Photos and text by David Roemer profess to illustrate how to differentiate between Greater (Aythya marila) and Lesser (A. affinis) scaup. Maybe so, but I'm still confused.

In light of my recent efforts to identify scaup in the field in southwestern Michigan, I've about reached the conclusion that separating these two species with any degree of confidence is nigh impossible under any but the most favorable viewing conditions.

My thanks go out to Roger Everhart, the self-proclaimed Minnesota Birdnerd, for bringing Roemer's contribution to my attention (here).

The LBG--Avian Life, Literary Arts

The LBJ, a new biannual literary publication being launched by the University of Nevada--Reno in June 2008, will be "dedicated to birds and creative writing." Excerpts from the journals Web site:

Its title is drawn from the acronym for "little brown jobs," used by birders to describe those difficult-to-identify species, such as many sparrows.

The LBJ is a uniquely literary venue, publishing creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, narrative scholarship, and literary journalism of the feathered variety. Additionally, the journal showcases visual art in a full-color insert.

One-year subscriptions are a very reasonable $15.

"an interesting adventure story"

In his review of Geoffrey E. Hill's Ivorybill hunters--the book about the purported discovery of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers (Campephilus principalis) along Florida's Choctawhatchee River--in the March 2008 issue of the Wilson Journal of Ornithology (120:232-233), William E. Davis Jr. makes the following comparison:

An interesting parallel exists between the ivorybills and the Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacinus cyanocephalus), a marsupial carnivore. The last tiger in captivity died in 1936, but sightings have been reported ever since, some by qualified biologists. However, no road-killed tigers have been found nor has indisputable photographic evidence been produced. In the absence of irrefutable evidence, and with the intrinsic problems faced by rare animals, much of the scientific community is likely to remain skeptical of the continued existence of either Ivory-billed Woodpeckers or Tasmanian Tigers [emphasis added].

Davis concludes his review as follows:

Hill's book is written for a popular audience and is not a scientific work. In any event, it chronicles an interesting adventure story, and I recommend it as a good read.

"Why Don't We Do it in the Road"

We were reminded of these lyrics from the Beatle's song of the same title this afternoon when, coming over a rise on Second Street Road heading west out of Galien, Michigan, we spotted several free-ranging Domestic Chickens crossing the secondary road. When we then noticed some wild flapping of wings directly ahead of us in the roadway, we realized, we realized that a rooster was, well, doing "it" with one of the hens. Right there in the middle of the road! That was preposterous enough, but when then he was reluctant to yield to our approaching car, instead puffing out his chest as if to say, "This is my territory, and I'll defend it against anyone or anything that intrudes on it, no matter how big." It is the season, after all, but this kind of behavior is not conducive to passing on the gene pool.

Crescent View Chronicles--March 18, 2008

This is the first of what I hope will be a continuing series of articles chronicling seasonal changes in the wildlife of Crescent View neighborhood and adjacent areas (i.e., Crescent Lake, deciduous woodlands, marshes, and scrubby habitats) of Buchanan Township, Berrien County, Michigan.

For the first time in a while, nighttime temperatures failed to dip below freezing. We awakened to fog, overcast skies, and light mist. Crescent Lake remains mostly frozen, save for a narrow fringe of open water around the perimeter. A somewhat more extensive area of open water exists at the extreme southern (presumably shallower) end of the lake.

There, I witnessed the first major waterfowl flight (more like grounding?) of the year on Crescent Lake, or at least the first that I have witnessed). In addition to the birds that have been present off and on throughout the winter--Mute Swans (2 counted today), resident Canada Geese (28 counted today, including four pairs staking out prospective nesting territories), and Mallards (a pair noted today)--there was a nice mixed-flock of Lesser Scaup and Ring-necked Ducks (10 scaup and 17 ring-necks) and a lone American Coot, all first-of-the-year sightings for the lake. I also heard a Belted Kingfisher chattering. Other waterbirds noted on the lake this month include Great Blue Heron (on the 16th) and Killdeer (on the 13th).

Addendum: A second hike to the south end of Cresent Lake at about 5 pm produced two additional species: a pair of Wood Ducks and a male Hooded Merganser, both first-of-the-year sightings for the lake.

I also neglected to mention the daily presence of Ring-billed Gulls over the lake enroute to and from a nearby sanaitary landfill. This evening, an unending string of gulls flew over the lake in a northerly direction between 5:15 and 5:30 pm.

Way Too Easy for a Life Bird

The directions to the Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus), as posted on the Berrien Birding Club listserv, read something like this (and I paraphrase):

From Three Oaks [Berrien County, Michigan] drive north on Three Oaks Road about three miles to the Riverside Cemetery. Turn right at the second (northernmost) entrance to the cemetery, turn right at the first crossroad, look for the water spigot on the right-hand side of the road and pull over at that point. Look for the orange traffic cone on your right. Walk about 20 feet to the orange traffic cone on your right [which had been conveniently place there by Kirk Schrader, who made the original discovery], stop at that point, and look straight up about 10 feet.

And it was that incredibly easy! Roosting there in the lower-most branches of an ancient conifer at about 1:30 pm on Friday, March 14, was a sleepy-eyed Northern Saw-whet Owl. This little owl has been using this roost site for some time judging from the accumulation of droppings and pellets on the ground. And don't dare ask me what number this species is on my life list, 'cause I have no idea. Does this make me a bad birder? No, just a lackadaisical one.

Peenting and Winnowing

The first known occurrence of the American Woodcock (Philohela minor) in Berrien County, Michigan, in spring 2008 was a bird reported by Dick Schinkel (via the Berrien Birding Club listserv) that was heard peenting briefly behind his house at 8:15 pm on Sunday, April March 9.

Monday, April March 10, saw temperatures warm into the mid 40's, melting most of the snow that had remained in open areas. Prompted by Dick's report, Marj and I took a late-evening crepuscular walk down the top of the earthen dam (and abandoned right-of-way of the New York Central Lines) that forms Crescent Lake. We left the house at 8 pm, by which time temperatures were hovering around 32 degrees. The clear skies gave us nice views of a smiling crescent moon and stars, but the hoped-for woodcock and owls did not materialize in the half-hour we spent outside.

Tuesday evening, April March 11, was uncomfortably cold with a stiff, raw wind blowing, affording little likelihood of hearing woodcocks or owls.

Wednesday evening, April March 12, was warm (with temperatures hovering around 40 degrees at 8 pm) and calm. A perfect evening for listening for night birds. This night, we decided to carry folding lawn chairs a couple of hundred yards to a shrubby area on the edge of a swamp that I thought had much potential for woodcocks. We enjoyed the calls of late-departing Canada Geese and Ring-billed Gulls as they flew over in the fading light, and marvelled at the silhouettes of the scraggly and misshapen branches of scraggly shrubs against the dark-blue night sky, but we again struck out on hearing woodcocks. Chilled, we walked back to the house at 8:30 pm.

Thursday evening, April March 13 was perfect, with an 8 pm temperature of about 50 degrees and virtually no wind. After two strikeouts, I decided to listen for woodcocks this evening from the comfort of our own deck. Eureka! At about 8:10 pm, I heard a woodcock peenting in a brushy area not too far behind the barn. I quietly walked to the far corner of the barn. From that vantage point, I could also faintly hear the winnowing sound made by air rushing through the bird's feathers as it tumbled slowly back to the ground after reaching the apex of it's flight display. The bird continued peenting and winnowing until about 8:25 pm. How cool to hear a displaying woodcock from the convenience of our own deck!

Addendum: It appears that the early switch to Daylight Savings Time, in concert with unseasonably warm and sunny weather, lured me into thinking that we had jumped ahead to April!

Migrant Waterfowl

The following message was posted to the listserv of the Berrien Birding Club on Friday, March 7th:

About an hour ago [i.e., about 11:30 am], I stopped to check some open water at the outlet of Pike Lake, which is located on the south side of U.S. 12 about 1 mile east of Dayton Lake in southern Berrien County [Michigan].

Amongst the numerous resident Canada Geese and Mallards, I found about a half-dozen Wood Ducks, a pair of Northern Shovelers, a pair of American Wigeon, at least one [American] Black Duck, and a Mute Swan.

Of special note was a "Canada-type" goose that appeared no larger than the nearby Mallards. It would behoove someone with a decent spotting scope to check this bird more closely for the possibility of Cackling Goose.

The Early Spring 2008 (Volume 12, No. 1) issue of The Berrien Bird Observer, the newsletter of the Berrien Birding Club notes that five Cackling Geese were recorded on the Niles Christmas Bird Count. Niles is located about 5-7 miles east of Pike Lake.

When I check the outflow this afternoon, only the resident Canada Geese, the pair of Northern Shovelers, and the Mute Swan were present. The amount of open water available was much reduced from yesterday.

My February BiGBY List

This report continues my monthly tally of species observed on a BiGBY (Big Green Big Year) being conducted in Buchanan, Michigan. It consists of species seen from my house or yard or while engaged in Walking or other modes of Self-Propelled transportation that originated from my house (i.e., no fossil fuels were burned in recording any of the species on this list). In the following list, species recorded for the first time this month are indicated by an asterisk (*), while those not seen in or from the house or yard are italicized:

Canada Goose
Great Blue Heron
Cooper's Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker*
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker*
Northern Flicker*
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tufted Titmouse
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Eastern Bluebird*
European Starling
Northern Cardinal
SPOTTED TOWHEE (5th Michigan record)
American Tree Sparrow
Song Sparrow*
Dark-eyed Junco
House Finch
Common Redpoll
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

February BiGBY List = 27 species.
February Yard List = 25 soecies.
2008 BiGBY List = 30 species.
2008 Yard List = 27 species.