Monday, August 22, 2011

Pics from Northern Michigan

These are my favourite bird pictures from our recent trip to Alpena and Mackinac Island.  I saw a few other life birds (see previous posts), but I didn't get pictures of everything.  There are also a couple pictures of ducks that I haven't identified yet...I will post those when I figure them out :)  As always, if I have misidentified a bird, please let me know....
Bald Eagle soaring over the Alpena Harbour

Turkey Vulture...literally about 10 feet in front of where I was standing!

Double Crested Cormorants, Mackinac Island

Double crested Cormorants, Lake Huron, off Mackinac City

Ring billed Gull, Mackinac Island

Double crested Coromorant, Mackinac Island

Spotted Sandpiper, Alpena Harbour

Ring billed Gull, Mackinac Island.  Have you seen one perched in a tree before?  I hadn't :)

Common Mergansers, Mackinac Island

Turkey Vulture, soaring over Alpena Harbour

Caspian Tern, Bayview Park, Alpena

Gull towing a dead fish by its entrails :S, Alpena Harbour

Thursday, August 18, 2011

More in Northern Michigan....

Well, today was a thrilling day for me! I can add to my life list a Bald Eagle and a Spotted Sandpiper :) I managed to get photos of both!

Although not a first, I got the most amazing picture of a turkey vulture! It landed on a pile at the marina we were parked at, right in front of our truck. In case you didn't know....they are HUGE!

All pictures will follow upon my return home.

Oh yeah....the mergansers I saw were common mergansers.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Summertime in Northern Michigan!

We are currently vacationing in Alpena, Michigan, on Lake Winyah. It is a nice, calm lake with beautiful sunsets and lots of marshy areas. I am unable to post pictures (only brought my iPad with me) until I get home, but here are some life birds for me so far:

Double-Crested Cormorants: Lots of these everywhere! A local on the boardwalk of the Alpena Harbour identified these for me. We have seen at least a dozen or more daily! On our way out to Mackinac Island, there were at least 20 of them mixed with some gulls on the rocks near the docks.

Caspian Tern: Through out the majority of the day, you can find one or two of these birds perched on logs in the water...in the same spot, all day. They fly off if a boat or paddler gets to close, but ultimately returns.

Northern Flicker: Finally! I got to see three interacting together. First let me tell you how I came to find them.....I was having a dream that I had to pick up a superworm (don't ask..) and in my dream, when I grabbed it, it started squealing like a ginuea pig. It startled me out of my sleep, but I still heard the sound. I grabbed my binoculars, still in my pj's, and headed outside to see what on earth was going on. I thought for sure some poor animal was in harms way. Following the sounds, I see three flickers in the trees, making all kinds of squealing sounds without opening their mouths! I have seen them every morning since :) Watching them interact was quite amusing!

Woodpecker: I am not sure what kind of woodpecker I saw this morning...It may have been a Hairy Woodpecker. I got a fairly brief view of it before it flew off.

Merganser: I saw several mergansers swimming together, but until I take my pictures off my camera, I cannot tell which kind.

That's it so far....I am not actively birding (my family finds it dreadfully boring), but I am keeping my eyes and ears open. I have heard what sounds like loons, but haven't seen any yet. There are lots of bird sounds I don't recognize, so I am hoping to add a few more before the week is up:)