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2009 Field Trips
(Last update: August 12, 2009)
2009 Bird Blitz at
Arcadia Dunes and Arcadia Marsh
On Saturday, June 6th, 20 birders representing the Grand Traverse, Benzie, and Manistee Audubon clubs participated in the 2nd annual Bird Blitz at Arcadia Marsh and Arcadia Dunes, a C.S. Mott Nature Preserve. Beginning as early as 5 a.m., birders walked (or paddled) through their pre-assigned 100 to 275-acre territories, trying to come within hearing distance of as many birds as possible. All singing and seen birds were counted. At 10 a.m. blitzers gathered for snacks and to share findings and stories.
Total number of species counted: 106 (111 with flyovers and outside area birds)
Total individual birds counted: 2,605
Top 3 birds counted:
Red-eyed Vireo 261
Ovenbird 212
America Redstart 202
MI species of Special Concern:
Grasshopper Sparrow 29
(photo on right of nest from Area #11)
American Bittern 4
Marsh Wren 15
Hooded Warbler 1
(25 yards outside area)
MI Threatened Species:
Least
Bittern 3
Red-shouldered
Hawk 1
Some Highlights
Brian Allen attributes being able to count bitterns to this year's earlier (5 a.m.) start. Least Bitterns, a Michigan threatened species that’s one of the most secretive marsh birds, hadn’t been observed at Arcadia Marsh since 1987.
Another Michigan threatened bird, the Red-shouldered Hawk, was a new addition to the Arcadia Dunes bird list. According to Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Red-shouldered Hawks are “closely associated with mature forests in or adjacent to wet meadows and swamps.” This is a perfect habitat description of the parcel on Hunt Road where the hawk was found.
In 2008, the song of the Cerulean Warbler was heard during the week following the Bird Blitz. A few birders tried to confirm the presence of this bird (a state Special Concern species that would have been a new species for Arcadia Dunes) but could not. In 2009, a Cerulean-like song was again heard in the same area on the morning of the Bird Blitz. A recording of the Cerulean’s song was played, but a Black-throated Blue Warbler responded. During the following week, Tim Granger spent some time searching out the birdsinging the Cerulean-like song. He saw two birds, but they were both Black-throated Blue Warblers doing a good Cerulean Warbler imitation!
One Hooded Warbler, a Michigan species of special concern, sang just 25 yards outside Arcadia Dunes, but couldn’t be persuaded to cross the property line, even with some persuasive “pishing” by Bryce Dreeszen. Hooded Warblers nest in dense, low shrubs that grow in open gaps within mature beech/maple forests. A private forest adjacent to Arcadia Dunes was heavily logged in 2007 and the small saplings and shrubs that have grown up there have provided perfect Hooded Warbler habitat.
A surprising number of cuckoos (61) were counted this year. Does it have anything to do with this year’s explosion of cuckoo food: Eastern and Forest Tent Caterpillars? We don’t know for sure, but future Bird Blitz results (after the tent caterpillar peak passes) may provide the answer.
Habitat complexity yields more bird species, as was shown at the Arcadia Dunes parcel on Hunt Road. This parcel is small (100 acres) but contains a mixture of mature hardwood forest, grassland, and wetland habitats. On the morning of the Bird Blitz, 53 species were counted there (the highest species count area), and 5 of those species were new to the Arcadia Dunes bird list. Of course, it helped that an experienced birder like Carl Freeman surveyed the Hunt Road parcel!
How data will help birds
Results from the Bird Blitz will give staff at the Grand Traverse
Regional Land Conservancy a better picture of the relative abundance and
distribution of birds at Arcadia Dunes and Arcadia Marsh during the breeding
season and will help them make management decisions for these properties. The data from the 2008 Bird Blitz
has already been used by conservancy staff. Arcadia Marsh bird count data was
used extensively in a restoration grant application. In the long term, Bird Blitz data
from the marsh may help measure whether the restoration work is boosting bird
populations. At Arcadia Dunes, conservancy staff is already using last year’s
data to help formulate management prescriptions for non-forested
parcels. Having a second year (and more) of data will be extremely helpful.
--Paula Dreeszen
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2009 Big Day Count
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In spite of the crummy weather at the beginning of the day, and thanks to some scrambling by everyone in the afternoon, we ended the day with a very respectable 149 species of birds (and two new Benzie Audubon members!). Carl and Ginny Freeman introduced Sally and me to the east side of Benzie County, and we were all rewarded with a calling white-winged crossbill at one point late in the afternoon. We also found a lone gadwall at the Honor Sewage Ponds. Brian Allen went back and picked up the western meadowlark, and Bryce Dreeszen turned in a soggy black-billed cuckoo sitting in a canoe in the rain on Grass Lake all morning. After recruiting Stacy O'Hair and Judy Porte in Arcadia, Keith Westphal chased down red-shouldered and red-tailed hawks in the afternoon. Mr. Reliable, John Ester turned in the usual piping plover and prairie warbler from the north end of the county. The warbler
crop was good overall, as representatives of most species showed up. A lack of
ducks and good shorebird habitat prevented us from really cleaning up, but I
don’t think anyone really minded. It was a very interesting day and proves the
point often made by old time birders that rain only bothers the birder not the
birds.
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