Spring Bird Count

Below is the Participant Letter for the Spring Migration Bird Count.

North American Migration Count

Mason County, Michigan: Saturday May 9, 2009

Welcome to the North American Migration Count (NAMC) ! If you haven’t participated on this count before, it is very similar to the Christmas Bird Count, except that all counts across North America occur on the second Saturday of May each year. Also, each count occurs within an entire county instead of a count circle. Attached is a list of bird species that can occur within the Northern Lower Peninsula (NLP), and note that all bolded and underlined species require completion of a rare bird form (also attached). The only exception to this would be piping plovers seen on their normal breeding grounds.

To ensure no duplication of counting, please restrict your count to your assigned area of Mason County, or your own property (keep feeder lists separate from the rest of your property). If you have not been assigned an area, please respond to this email or call me at the phone number given below.

Other count considerations include:

Field observers should be prepared for the weather, with appropriate footwear, raingear if needed, food & beverage, pencil & tally sheet, and binoculars &/or spotting scope.
Keep track of the number of participants and number of parties (should you break-up into separate groups), birding miles by foot and by car (or by canoe), and hours by foot, by car, etc. Also, for nighttime, keep track of miles by foot and car, and number of stops. Tapes of nocturnal bird calls and songs may be played to elicit responses. Keep notes of your beginning and ending times.
Scouting of your route a week or a few days ahead is highly recommended to ensure that there are no unexpected road or bridge closures, and to more quickly find those scarcer birds on the actual count day.
For consistency, try to follow the same census route each year, and preferably at the same times of day as well.
If you re-trace your route in some locations (back to your car for example), do not re-count birds (however, new species can be counted).
Feeder watchers should include birds seen on and adjacent to feeders, but only the maximum number of a species seen at one time (e.g., 4 chickadees total, not 32 chickadee visits !). Also, birds seen elsewhere on your property away from feeders can be counted, but on a separate list.
Sunrise is at 6:26 a.m. and Sunset is at 8:58 p.m.

As this is a transitional year for the count compiler, we will not have a tally after the count, but your results should be mailed to Dave Dister, 2365 N. Lakeshore Drive, Ludington, MI 49431, or emailed to me at david.dister@gmail.com. I will then compile all of the observer data for Mason County and forward this to Jeff Buecking, who is the state compiler. Should you have any questions, I can also be reached by phone at (231) 845-7574. The results of our count will be emailed to you in a few weeks and a summary will also be printed in the Ludington Daily News. Finally, my sincere thanks to Carole Olson who has been the count compiler for the last several years. Thank you again for your help in the Mason County Migration Count !

Respectfully,

Dave Dister

Below are the May 2009 Ludington Spring Migration Bird Count Results:


9 May 2009			County

	Total		Total		Total
Snow Goose		Broad-winged Hawk		Glaucous Gull
Canada Goose	90	Red-tailed Hawk	3	Great Black-backed Gull
Mute Swan	80	Rough-legged Hawk		gull sp.	112
Trumpeter Swan	1	Buteo sp.		Caspian Tern	21
Tundra Swan		Golden Eagle		Common Tern
Wood Duck	40	eagle sp.		Forster's Tern
Gadwall		American Kestrel	1	Sterna sp.
American Wigeon		Merlin		Black Tern	1
American Black Duck		Peregrine Falcon		Rock Pigeon	56
Mallard	49	Yellow Rail		Mourning Dove	167
Blue-winged Teal	8	Virginia Rail	2	Black-billed Cuckoo
Northern Shoveler	10	Sora	3	Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Northern Pintail		Common Moorhen		Eastern Screech-Owl
Green-winged Teal		American Coot	3	Great Horned Owl
Canvasback		Sandhill Crane	14	Snowy Owl
Redhead	2	Black-bellied Plover		Barred Owl
Ring-necked Duck		American Golden-Plover		Great Gray Owl
Greater Scaup		Semipalmated Plover		Long-eared Owl
Lesser Scaup	4	Piping Plover	2	Short-eared Owl
scaup sp.		Killdeer	7	Boreal Owl
Black Scoter		American Avocet		Northern Saw-whet Owl
Surf Scoter		Greater Yellowlegs		Common Nighthawk
White-winged Scoter		Lesser Yellowlegs	5	Whip-poor-will
scoter sp.		yellowlegs sp.		Chimney Swift
Long-tailed Duck		Solitary Sandpiper	1	Ruby-throated Hummingbird	16
Bufflehead	1	Willet		Belted Kingfisher	2
Common Goldeneye		Spotted Sandpiper	10	Red-headed Woodpecker	4
Hooded Merganser		Upland Sandpiper		Red-bellied Woodpecker	16
Common Merganser	1	Hudsonian Godwit		Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-breasted Merganser	5	Marbled Godwit		Downy Woodpecker	22
Ruddy Duck	39	Ruddy Turnstone		Hairy Woodpecker	13
Ring-necked Pheasant		Sanderling		Black-backed Woodpecker
Ruffed Grouse	2	Semipalmated Sandpiper	1	Northern Flicker	10
Spruce Grouse		Western Sandpiper		Pileated Woodpecker	4
Sharp-tailed Grouse		Least Sandpiper	4	Olive-sided Flycatcher
Wild Turkey	43	White-rumped Sandpiper		Eastern Wood-Pewee
Northern Bobwhite		Baird's Sandpiper		Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Red-throated Loon		peep sp.		Acadian Flycatcher
Common Loon		Pectoral Sandpiper		Alder Flycatcher
Pied-billed Grebe		Dunlin	1	Willow Flycatcher
Horned Grebe		Stilt Sandpiper		Least Flycatcher
Red-necked Grebe		Buff-breast Sandpiper		Empidonax sp.
Double-crested Cormorant	496	Short-billed Dowitcher		Eastern Phoebe	6
American Bittern		Long-billed Dowitcher		Great Crested Flycatcher	4
Least Bittern		dowitcher sp.		Eastern Kingbird	3
Great Blue Heron	3	Wilson's Snipe		Loggerhead Shrike
Great Egret	1	American Woodcock		White-eyed Vireo
Snowy Egret		Wilson. Phalarope		Bell's Vireo
Little Blue Heron		Red-necked Phalarope		Yellow-throated Vireo	1
Cattle Egret		Red Phalarope		Blue-headed Vireo	2
Green Heron	5	phalarope sp.		Warbling Vireo	1
Black-crowned Night-Heron		Laughing Gull		Philadelphia Vireo
Turkey Vulture	62	Franklin's Gull		Red-eyed Vireo	2
Osprey		Little Gull		Gray Jay
Bald Eagle	4	Bonaparte's Gull		Blue Jay	56
Northern Harrier	1	Ring-billed Gull	91	American Crow	89
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	Herring Gull	212	Common Raven
Cooper's Hawk		Thayer's Gull		Horned Lark	5
Northern Goshawk		Iceland Gull		Purple Martin
Red-shouldered Hawk		Lesser Black-backed Gull		Tree Swallow	311
	Bold species require complete documentation.
	Total		Total		Total
North. Rough-winged Swallow	13	Magnolia Warbler		Fox Sparrow	1
Bank Swallow	1	Cape May Warbler		Song Sparrow	56
Cliff Swallow		Black-throated Blue Warbler		Lincoln's Sparrow
Barn Swallow	35	Yellow-rumped Warbler	12	Swamp Sparrow	10
Black-capped Chickadee	54	Black-throated Green Warbler	1	White-throated Sparrow	29
Boreal Chickadee		Blackburnian Warbler	1	Harris's Sparrow
Tufted Titmouse	17	Yellow-throated Warbler		White-crowned Sparrow	36
Red-breasted Nuthatch	5	Pine Warbler	3	Dark-eyed Junco	5
White-breasted Nuthatch	16	Kirtland's Warbler		Lapland Longspur
Brown Creeper		Prairie Warbler		Snow Bunting
Carolina Wren		Palm Warbler	6	Northern Cardinal	49
House Wren	12	Bay-breasted Warbler		Rose-breasted Grosbeak	83
Winter Wren		Blackpoll Warbler		Indigo Bunting	13
Sedge Wren	5	Cerulean Warbler		Dickcissel
Marsh Wren		Black-&-white Warbler		Bobolink	27
wren sp.		American Redstart	1	Red-winged Blackbird	484
Golden-crowned Kinglet	2	Prothonotary Warbler		Eastern Meadowlark	15
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	Worm-eating Warbler		Western Meadowlark
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher		Ovenbird	8	Yellow-headed Blackbird
Eastern Bluebird	17	Northern Waterthrush	3	Rusty Blackbird
Veery		Louisiana Waterthrush		Brewer's Blackbird	1
Gray-cheeked Thrush		Kentucky Warbler		Common Grackle	101
Swainson's Thrush	4	Connecticut Warbler		Brown-headed Cowbird	97
Hermit Thrush	1	Mourning Warbler		blackbird sp.	22
Wood Thrush	5	Common Yellowthroat	9	Orchard Oriole	1
American Robin	314	Hooded Warbler		Baltimore Oriole	44
Gray Catbird	12	Wilson's Warbler		Pine Grosbeak
Northern Mockingbird	1	Canada Warbler		Purple Finch	27
Brown Thrasher	11	Yellow-breasted Chat		House Finch	36
European Starling	205	Summer Tanager		Red Crossbill
American Pipit	2	Scarlet Tanager	1	White-winged Crossbill
Cedar Waxwing	4	Eastern Towhee	12	Common Redpoll
Blue-winged Warbler		American Tree Sparrow	20	Pine Siskin	14
Brewster's Warbler		Chipping Sparrow	78	Amercan Goldfinch	216
Lawrence's Warbler		Clay-colored Sparrow	5	Evening Grosbeak
Golden-winged Warbler		Field Sparrow	4	House Sparrow	17
Tennessee Warbler		Vesper Sparrow	4
Orange-crowned Warbler		Lark Sparrow		Please document additional species:
Nashville Warbler	1	Savannah Sparrow	4	swallow sp.	50
Northern Parula		Grasshopper Sparrow	1
Yellow Warbler	14	Henslow's Sparrow
Chestnut-sided Warbler		LeConte's Sparrow
		Bold species require complete documentation.
				Starting time: 6:25 a.m. Ending time: 8:55 p.m.
Field observers & parties	15 /10	Feeder watching
Regular		Hours feeder watching:	56	Weather
Hours on foot:	13	# of feeder watchers:	20	Precipitation Temp	%cld *Wind
Hours by car:	34	# of feeding stations:	81	light-heavy, /duration
Hours by boat:				Dawn light /steady 50 100%		ENE 4
Hours other:				AM light/steady 48 100%		NE 5-10
				Noon none/ 41 100%		N 15-20
Miles on foot:	14			PM none/ 42 85%		N 15
Miles by car:	398			Dusk none / 41 100%		calm
Miles by boat:		# of parties using tape			* Speed and direction
Miles other:		playback to lure birds:		Compiler:
		(regular counting)
Night				Name
Hours night:		Please return completed form by:		Dave Dister
Miles night:		5 June 2009		Address
# Stops night:				2365 N. Lakeshore Drive
# Parties night:		Jeff Buecking
# Observers night:		1225 Dauner Rd.		Ludington, MI 49431
		Fenton, MI 48430
TOTAL # of SPECIES	126	(810) 629-7330		Phone # ( 231 ) 845-7574
				Email david.dister@gmail.com