Kay’s Birding Blog

On Friday, SBTH member Judy Gass and I hiked the trail on Charter Sanctuary to see what birds were still hanging around.  There were still hordes of sparrows in the prairie grasses.  The only problem is that there is now so much cover that we were unable to identify any of them except for the Vespers when they flew away from us.

The pond was quiet, except for a single Song Sparrow bouncing around in a brush pile at the west end.  Even he didn’t stay long.

There was a lot of activity along the trail just east of the wetland, north of our home.  A couple of young hummingbirds took nectar from the remaining Joe-pye blossoms and two warblers – a young yellowthroat and a Nashville – were hawking insects from various wetland plants.  Chickadees called from the woods and Cedar Waxwings foraged in black cherries across the creek from where Judy and I stood.  Heard, but not seen, were scolding catbirds in the brush.

Brown Thrasher by Jeff Kingery

That night we had our first frost, and the next day we figured that most of the rest of our Neotropicals had been kicked out by the frosty air.  But that did not prove to be the case as several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and at least one catbird were still eating ripened black cherries.  Then, as I had my lunch, a Brown Thrasher moved in through the serviceberries outside the kitchen window.  It was the latest we’ve ever seen this bird on the property, and it was a very exciting find.  The beautiful bird with the rusty back searched for food in the leaf litter under the cherry trees and serviceberry bushes next to the house…a good reminder about how helpful it is to our birds not to be too uptight about leaf raking at this time of year.

It is now the middle of September and most of our Neotropical birds (those that head to the tropics for the winter) have finished nesting and are on their way south.  But a few species remain in significant numbers; nearly all are young of the year.  Lots of hummingbirds are visiting feeders in the area, and here on Charter Sanctuary they are nectaring on spotted touch-me-not.

Common Yellowthroat by Dave Brunell

Catbirds are calling as they pass through our wetland, and we still see the occasional Rose-breasted Grosbeak plucking black cherries from the trees outside our living room window.

Two days ago I was out with a group on the trail and we heard a Common Yellowthroat singing.  The latest we have seen yellowthroats feed young here was in early September.

Veery by Jeff Kingery

But the best sighting this month was a Veery, foraging on the ground under the large serviceberry just off the kitchen deck.  We saw few of these delicately-hued thrushes here this year, and never once heard their signature song – a downward spiral of flutelike notes.

Several years ago, we qualified for a pond, constructed with funds from the Federal Government.  The funds were part of a grant awarded for wetland restoration to benefit migrating birds.  This pond has been a bird, frog, turtle and dragonfly magnet.  Each year, its diversity has increased as the habitat has improved.  We’ve had numerous sandpipers in spring, hooded mergansers in late summer and great blue herons at all times of the breeding season.

Recently, Rick and Deb Kreiger, who manage Michigan Audubon’s Lake Bluff Bird Sanctuary in Manistee, came to visit Saving Birds Thru Habitat and Charter Sanctuary.  They were especially interested in seeing the progress we’ve made on our prairie.  Their interest stems from the fact that they hope to find a way to replace some of the mowed areas on the Lake Bluff property with prairie plantings.

Pied-billed Grebe by Robert Epstein

While here, we hiked the trail on Charter Sanctuary.  Our first stop was the pond where we found a pied-billed grebe – an exciting discovery, as it was the first ever on our property.  As we watched the little bird swim around on the far side of the water, a green heron jumped up from the cattails and flew onto the branch of a dead aspen.  We left the birds soon after, not wanting to frighten them off.  It’s enough to know that they are taking advantage of the habitat provided for them; we didn’t have to harass them by hanging around to see what they did next.

The Kreigers were also impressed with the numbers and variety of birds foraging in the serviceberry bushes, laden with ripe fruit.  There were catbirds, rose-breasted grosbeaks, a brown thrasher and a couple of orioles.

Green Heron by Jeff Kingery

While both Rick and Deb are beginning birders, they are dedicated to the cause of conservation, and they understand that creating a healthy habitat begins with replacing non-native plants with natives.  It will be exciting to watch the positive changes taking place at Lake Bluff as they work toward that end.