49th Monroe, MI CBC - 16 Dec 2018

After yesterday's scouting trip I decided not to try owling this morning. Patricia (Rydzewski) was happy to hear that... We decided instead to get breakfast and start the 49th Monroe, MI Christmas Bird Count at first light.

As we left the Denny's in Monroe a pair of Cooper's Hawks flew over the car and gave us our first birds of the day. We probably should've quit after that. It would turn out that the weather was very cooperative, but the birds weren't. With temperatures reaching 46F and skies clearing the day was great for photography; the birds couldn't be found.

 

We drove the roads south of Kelly Rd, east of Dixie Hwy, and north of Erie Rd in Monroe Co. and all we could find were European Starlings. Lots of them. Horned Larks were absent, and our only real taste of birding came when we scoped hundreds of Ring-billed Gulls, Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye from the pier at Luna Pier. The rising Sun nicely illuminated the gulls roosting on the ice behind us so some digiscoping was welcomed.

Although the countryside was absent of birds we did have some success finding numerous Red-tailed Hawks that gave us something to photograph. Hopefully, our luck would improve this afternoon at the DTE Energy Monroe Power Plant. 

At noon Pat and I met Kristen LeForce and Tom Foxworthy (DTE Energy), Tim Walsh, Todd and Karen Palgut, Don Burlett and Mitchell Dziekan for the afternoon survey of the power plant. 200 or so Double-crested Cormorants greeted us from the trees lining the warm water discharge of the plant. Another 100 or so were lining the banks of canal and made for challenging counting in the midsts of the mist.

More challenging were counting the numbers of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls that were swarming the canal, Lake Erie and the coal piles. At least the Bonaparte's Gulls were easy to pick out.

The power plant would yield 58 Bald Eagles, but this number is about half of what was expected this time of year. Even though they were everywhere it is always a challenge to get photos. Shooting from inside the car is problematic due to convection currents messing with autofocus. Still, I managed to have a good day of shooting.

From the canal trail we headed inside the plant toward the Raisin River intake. Birds were few in this part of the plant, but an American Coot was a nice distraction. It was near the intake screens, and evoked memories of midnight fish counts I conducted here many years ago.

Lake Erie was covered with widely-scattered gull and a few rafts of Bufflehead and Common Goldeneye. The coal piles were covered with another 1000 mixed Herring/Ring-billed Gulls. Though I kept looking I couldn't find any Great Black-backed Gulls. Then, Pat and Tim pointed them out to me. 57 Great Black-backed Gulls were roosting on one of the roofs next to the coal pile!

As we returned to the plant proper the goal was to look for the resident Peregrine Falcons. The pair had successfully hacked 4 young this summer, so the odds for seeing one today was good. Sure enough, as the plant buildings came into view I spotted a dark bird high up in the blue sky. It was just starting to tuck its wings in, then go into a stoop straight down into a flock of Rock Pigeons above the roof of one building. The Peregrine Falcon did not pull up until just above the roof and disappeared from view. We found it atop the "Chopping Block" that Tom described as the location where they typically feed after a kill. I managed a short video and a few digiscoped stills from a very noisy mezzanine. 

We then headed over to the fly-ash basin off of E. Dunbar and Laplaissance Rds. Just inside the gate an American Kestrel was foraging next to the road. A nice 7-8 point buck greeted us on the trail below the burm and would be the first of many deer seen on our travels.

Passerines were nowhere to be found. We found a few American Tree Sparrows and a couple of Northern Cardinals and Downy Woodpeckers, but we did not see any juncos or Song Sparrows. I think I saw more Red-tailed Hawks than songbirds today. 

Here are some pics from Patricia Rydzewski who was kind enough to ride with me for the day!

As reports from other areas began to trickle in it would become apparent that this was a SLOW day everywhere. We would finish with only 63 species and 29,578 total birds.

Karen Wade submitted the following report from Area 5 of the count circle: Area 5 was very different this year. With temps above freezing, open water was everywhere and only 3 species of ducks were found - Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser and a few Bufflehead.  In areas where American Tree Sparrows were plentiful in the past, only a few were found. Our party had to search hard to find birds, except Bald Eagles! We had the most counted in Area 5 ever! Of course, the European Starlings and Ring-billed Gulls were plentiful.  The best birding place we found was a trucking company where we were stopped by security! The best birds of the day were a male and female Red-winged Blackbird on LaPlaisance Road!  Area 5 tallied 35 species for the day and a good time was had by all!

 Once again I am grateful for people like Frank Rand (Consumers Energy), Jessica Fletcher (USFWS), and Kristen LeForce and Tom Foxworthy (DTE Energy) for help getting permits to access portions of the count area. Thanks also go to all of the volunteers who gave time and miles to make this a special day regardless of outcome.

Included in the table is the 49-year average for the Monroe, MI CBC for each species. The last column shows percentage relative to the average for each species. Cells highlighted blue are species who's numbers are greater than the average, and those highlighted red are below the average. Bob Pettit added 10-year and 20-year comparisons to these values:

Pre-CBC Scouting - 15 Dec 2018

I drove around Monroe Co. this morning to see how conditions were for tomorrow's 49th Monroe, MI Christmas Bird Count. Forecast is for partly clear skies and temps in low 40's. Lake Erie is open. Inland ponds are mostly frozen w/ some open patches. No snow on the ground. An otherwise gray day here...

A pre-dawn stop at Sterling State Park yielded 6 Bald Eagles and several Great Black-backed Gulls on the inland ponds. This pair was roosting along the Lake Erie shoreline before one lifted off.

I found 6 Wild Turkeys at the corner of Laplaisance and E. Dunbar Rds.

At the foot of E. Dunbar Rd a small herd of White-tailed Deer were running around outside the fence surrounding the DTE Energy Fly-Ash Basin. One yearling was running along the fence trying to reunite w/ members on the other side of the fence. Another car was up ahead watching it, so I photographed a doe to my left from the driver's side window.  The yearling found a hole in the fence and was soon trotting off w/ its group.

A stop by the Consumer's Energy Whiting Plant (decommissioned) yielded no Peregrine Falcon.

The county roads were pretty quiet. I would find a pair of American Kestrels several miles apart perched on wires along the roads (Erie Rd. and N. Dunbar Rd.)

Monroe, MI Christmas Bird Count is Sunday, 16 Dec 2018

The 49th Monroe, Michigan Christmas Bird Count that coincides with the 119th National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count will be held here on Sunday, December 16, 2018. See side bar for more information about the Monroe CBC.

48th Monroe, MI Christmas Bird Count - 16 Dec 2017

Saturday, 16 December 2017marked the 48th Monroe, MI Christmas Bird Count in conjunction with the 118th National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count. The day was marked by early morning clouds and light snow, but gave way to afternoon sun and temps near 40F. Inland ponds were frozen. 4-6" of snow blanketed the area. Lake Erie was a mix of open water and ice with some locations having frozen shoreline while other locations had open water near shore and ice farther out. Twenty-five hardy souls tallied 85 spp. and 69,408 total birds.

Highlights of the count included 4 count week Turkey Vultures, a Snowy Owl fly-over, four Eastern Meadowlarks, and an epic Canvasback migration over Lake Erie that yielded 18,000 birds in approximately 30 minutes time. 

My day started at 4:30 am when Patricia Rydzewski and I headed down to Sterling State Park to look / listen for owls. We lucked out when a soft whinny responded to our Screech Owl calls behind the boat launch. Unfortunately, it was far back in the trees and would not come close for any potential photos. 

We then drove over to LaPlaesance Rd to try behind the DTE Onsite for more owls. Unfortunately, a Border Patrol car was parked in the very spot we'd hope to owl, so we had to abandon that idea. Back to Sterling State Park failed to yield any more owls, so we headed to Denny's for breakfast and wait for the skies to lighten enough to bird Area 4-south. Just before 8 am we watched ~2000 Red-winged Blackbirds stream out of the phragmites patch just across the street.

We drove down to Erie Rd to work our way back north and drove side streets and dirt roads looking for birds. European Starlings were the dominant species of the morning, but we did get into small patches of Northern Cardinals, American Tree Sparrows, and Dark-eyed Juncos. A pair of American Kestrels and several Red-tailed Hawks were the only raptors in the area.

Luna Pier had some open water near shore, and ice farther out into Lake Erie. 800 Canada Geese gave me something to count, as well as several hundred Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneye. A dozen Bald Eagles far out on the ice were a nice find.

Our highlight bird of the morning was a (presumed) Eastern Meadowlark at the end of a dirt road near corn stubble. The pale meadowlark posed nicely for some pics from the car, and even offered a short video.

This bird shows a slight bill deformity. Its bill is supposed to point slightly down, but the upper mandible is slightly upturned, leaving a small gape. I tried to see some yellow in the lower malar region, and there is some evidence of a yellow blush, but I don't think enough to squeeze a Western Meadowlark out. 

ID of Eastern/Western Meadowlarks is difficult, especially in winter, when the birds are less-sing-y. This bird was silent. According to the Cornell site differentiation is extremely difficult. Eastern birds have a whiter lower malar region, while the yellow throat extends up into the malar of Western birds. Western birds are generally paler, with thinner barring of feathers in the back and tail region, but much overlap occurs. The best differentiation is through song.

We then headed to the DTE Energy Monroe Power Plant for a noon meet-up with Kristen LeForce and Tom Foxworthy (DTE Energy), Tim Walsh, Todd Palgut, and John Flora. I managed to flush a Black-crowned Night Heron from the trees next to the warm water discharge prior to entering the site. A Snowy Owl had been reported a week earlier at the plant's Fly-Ash Onsite, so we were anxious to get over there to look for it. In the meantime, we had birds to count at the foot of Front St. 

We drove around to the Raisin River to scope Common Mergansers, Double-crested Cormorants, Hooded Mergansers, and count Bald Eagles overhead. Ice was in the river and dozens of Herring Gulls were enjoying fresh-caught gizzard shad next to a large tanker offloading coal to the plant.

Out at the mouth of the river and Lake Erie we finally hit the big numbers of eagles, gulls and waterfowl that had been absent the past several CBC's. The lake was open near shore due to the warm-water discharge, but was frozen farther out. Large rafts of Common Mergansers (600) and Lesser Scaup (250) were floating out in scope range, while mixed Herring/Ring-billed Gulls (4000) covered the ice flows. Among them were Great Black-backed Gulls (38) and Bald Eagles - 70 of them!

We would end up counting 147 Bald Eagles at the plant, and end the day with 234 total for the count circle! 

We stopped long enough to scan the shoreline and pick up a lone Killdeer foraging among the frozen shoreline. We were about to leave when the Canvasback came. Large V's appeared in the distant skies, and scope views were required to ID the ducks as groups of ~100 birds flew past. We spent the next 30 minutes or more counting groups of 100 pass by until 18,000 Canvasback were tallied! Impressive was an understatement.

Before leaving I paused long enough to digiscope this (presumed) first-cycle American Herring Gull with post-juvenal scapular molt. This bird caught my attention as having a relatively stout black bill with a pinkish base that is good for both AMHG and Lesser Black-backed Gull. The dark shade around the eyes is suggestive of LBBG, but a more experienced gull person would need to provide evidence of this being something other than another Herring Gull. Below is another, similar-looking bird with a lighter head.

We then came upon 350 Mallard roosting in the inland ponds near the discharge canal. Among them were several Gadwall, and a surprise Wilson's Snipe! A Northern Harrier even flew in and roosted atop a clump of cattails/phragmites. Another 25 Bald Eagles were sit-in on the ice in the background.

The warm-water discharge was relatively gull free, but held a pair of Belted Kingfisher, several hundred Double-crested Cormorants, and 7 Great Egrets. Great Blue Herons lined the shoreline by the dozen, but we would fail to see the hundreds that past CBC's promised. Todd picked up a female Wood Duck in the canal, and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker among the Downy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Cardinals and American Tree Sparrows flying ahead of our vehicles.

We failed to see the Peregrine Falcons that were roosting on the plant near the stacks.

Over at the onsite we drove the roads above and below the burm looking for the Snowy Owl, but failed to find it. We had to settle for more Bald Eagles, Tundra Swans, 3 more meadowlarks, and a kiting Rough-legged Hawk. White-tailed Deer were everywhere, including several 8-10 point bucks. They were no help in flushing the Snowy Owl, although there were plenty of them running through the fields and atop the burm.

We had a full contingent at Michigan Bar and Grill for the tally at 5 pm. There we would share stories of the day's successes from other Areas.

Winter Wren - Allen Chartier

Allen Chartier, Will Weber, Spence Vanderhoof and Guadalupe Cummins reported 24 Bald Eagles, 9242 Common Mergansers, and 550 Common Goldeneye at J.R. Whiting Plant (I had photographed a Peregrine Falcon there a day earlier). Over at Erie Marsh 957 Gadwall and 1215 Mallard were found. A late season hawk movement included 2 Red-shouldered Hawks, 6 Red-tailed Hawks, and a lone Rough-legged Hawk. One Killdeer and 2 Wilson's Snipe were found, as well as a late-season Marsh Wren and 18 Swamp Sparrows. Allen's eBird checklist for the day can be found here.

Dennis and Kathleen Rohmeyer with newcomer Christine Eitel had 7 Wild Turkeys as their highlight in Area 3.

Ann Smith, Karen Potts, Rita Montague, and Jackie Copeland reported another 8 Wild Turkeys, a single Purple Finch, and 60 Snow Buntings in Area 5.

Area 6 and Sterling State Park yielded the day's only owl, an Eastern Screech Owl. Jack and Janet Volker and Dan Schwab also reported another 3000 Common Mergansers and 2500 Ring-billed Gulls. This area also had all of the American Robins (74), American Goldfinches (64), and House Finches (55).

Bob Pettit, Andy Parsons and Larry Ludwicki had a fly-over Snowy Owl at LaSalle Rd  just west of Telegraph Rd before Reinhardt Rd. They also had 4 Rough-legged Hawks. 20 Black-capped Chickadees were half of the count circle.

John flora had 4 Turkey Vultures fly over the quarry at Dunbar and Telegraph Rds in Area 8 yesterday, which count as count-week birds. Terri and Joe Janssen had most of the Horned Larks (70) and Brown-headed Cowbirds (235) in the count circle.

Thanks to all Area Leaders for helping to coordinate and cover the count circle. Also to FWS for permission to bird the Lady of the Lakes Woods. Once again ESBA is grateful to DTE Energy and Consumers Energy for allowing us permission to bird the Monroe and Whiting power plants, and to Michigan Bar and Grill for hosting us for dinner afterward.

Jerry Jourdan, Compiler

Monroe, MI Christmas Bird Count

(More images will be added to the post as folks send in their best pics of the day)

First Monroe, MI CBC - 1965! - 12 Nov 2017

Russ Schipper sent me some old CBC records of the Erie Marsh portion of the Toledo, OH Christmas Bird Count. In that packet included a letter penned by Dean Fisher, who indicated that 22 December 1965 was the first attempt at Monroe, MI Count Circle. In previous years, the Toledo, OH CBC Circle included the area of Erie Marsh Preserve and efforts were concentrated there and the immediate Lake Erie shoreline.

The count circle for the newly-formed Monroe County CBC was a 15-mile diameter centering on the junction of highway US 25 and Kelly Road southwest of Monroe, including the west end of Lake Erie from Monroe to the Ohio state line, and inland agricultural areas to Ida and Temperance.

Six observers in 3 parties birded for 13 hours and generated 55 Species and 12,888 Total Birds.

A quick look at the results shows that a Goshawk was observed! And collected... Ouch.

Dean Fisher's submission to the state compiler can be seen here.

Some Old, Old, Erie Marsh CBC Records - 11 Nov 2017

Russ Schipper, long-time state-compiler for Michigan Christmas Bird Counts, sent me some old records (1968, -65, -64 and -48) from the Michigan portion of the Toledo, OH Christmas Bird Count. The Michigan portion consists mainly of the Erie Marsh Preserve that is now part of the Monroe, MI CBC Count Circle. Incidentally, Erie Marsh has, and continues to be a part of the Toledo, OH CBC Count Circle as well as the Monroe, MI CBC. What is neat about these records is that they were submitted by the renowned Ornithologist Harold Mayfield, who invented the Kirtland's Warbler. Ok, maybe not invented, but Mr. Mayfield was well-known for his efforts in studying and understanding the ecological needs of the Kirtland's Warbler, and largely responsible for their recovery.

Notable sightings from the 20 December 1968 Monroe, MI Christmas Bird Count were:
1 Cattle Egret
37 Ring-necked Pheasant
1 Virginia Rail
15 Bobwhite
180 Great Black-backed Gull
1 Saw-whet Owl
27 Swamp Sparrow

Ring-necked Pheasants and Bobwhite are two species that are almost never found on our CBC today, so seeing such large numbers is very interesting...

Harold Mayfield, John Mayfield, John McCormick, John Stophlet, Paul Toppin, John Turner, and Robert Turner conducted the Erie Marsh and adjacent Lake Erie shore on 27 Dec 1964 as part of the Toledo, OH CBC. Temps were in the 20-30's Fahrenheit, and 29 spp. were recorded. Notable sightings of the 1964 Erie Marsh count included:
1500 Common Black Duck
10 Rough-legged Hawks "The most I have ever seen at one time and place" - H.M.
46 Great Black-backed Gull - "A new high for this species here" - H.M.

Perhaps most interesting of the documents I received was the Erie Marsh report from 1948!!
Lou Campbell penned the following note to George (I'm assuming Dr. G.J. Wallace, Zoology Dept., Michigan State University, Lansing, MI) dated 1-24-49:

Dear George,

   Harold has gone to the Bahamas with Van Tyne. His secretary called me and told me about your request. Enclosed is the complete census and the Michigan portion. 
   Whether it was because of the sudden cold spell or not, our results were very disappointing. For the first time in very many years, even Cleveland topped our list. In parts of the territory song birds were very scarce and apparently few out-of-season species remained. Last year we found many more.
   Laurel Van Camp (address Genoa Ohio) saw an ivory gull in the Detroit River somewhere around Jan 12. He was with Fred Brint (federal man) and John Anderson of Winous Pt. marsh Ohio. Van Camp is first class observer. 

Yours,

Lou Campbell
4531 Walker Avenue
Toledo, OH

Here is the Toledo, OH CBC List for 1948.  Highlights of the count included:
2 Great Black-backed Gulls - note how their numbers have increased since
90 Ring-necked Pheasant - note how their numbers have decreased since
3 Barred Owl - nice

Wow! An Ivory Gull was apparently seen ~12 Jan 1949 on the Detroit River. I checked the Michigan Rare Bird Records for Ivory Gull and this observation was either never submitted, or was unaccepted due to incomplete documentation. A bit more research put me on Julie Crave's Net Results website where more information has been uncovered. Thanks, Julie!