A Slow Day at the Point

On Saturday, Kirk, his dad, and I headed over to WPBO. On the way we cruised by 10-mile Rd. and found the Sharp-tailed Grouse still on the lek, and added Bobolink to the yearlist.

WPBO was pretty slow, due to the cold temps and strong west winds. I did add Evening Grosbeak, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Eastern Bluebird to the yearlist though. When 10 am. came around and only 3 species of warblers (5 individuals) had come out to eat, we figured we'd be better off heading inland. Our suspicions proved correct, and at the Tahquamenon Rivermouth campground we had quite a few warblers, including Blackburnian, Orange-crowned, Magnolia, Pine, and Canada. Blue-headed Vireos were also around, and we found 2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, a rarity in this part of the state. Then we headed off to Trout Lake to try our luck at finding Spruce Grouse (my nemesis bird, although I have seen a pair back in 1999). Of course, we didn't find any. People say there are reliable sites, I've been to them at least 10 times each and never seen a SPGR. Maybe sometime... Anyway, we found some other good birds, and added Cape May Warbler and Vesper Sparrow to the yearlist. Then it was back home via 10-mile Rd. again (found Eastern Kingbird), and the Locks (added Chestnut-sided Warbler and Clay-colored Sparrow). We finished the day with 99 species, and I added 12 year birds.