Northerly Treks: What Else Is In Crawford?

The date was June 1st, 2020 and it was getting close to being mid-morning.  I had just completed the biggest goal of my trip in getting great looks and observations of the Kirtland's Warbler.  And considering the date, my trip was still in it's very early stages.  I was pumped, and I still had plenty of targets left to see.  The addition of Kirtland's Warbler made it official that the last regularly occurring warbler that I had left to see and photograph in North America was the Cape May Warbler.  By looking at the Cape May's range map, they occur in the northern boreal regions of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.  As I got my Connecticut Warbler in Wisconsin and Kirtland's Warbler in Michigan, I thought it would be pretty cool if I got Cape May Warbler in Minnesota.  Although Minnesota would hold the greatest opportunities, getting one in Michigan was thought to be awesome too.  I also had good potential in getting Mute Swan as a life bird in Michigan, if I put the effort in for it.  Mute Swan is an established introduced bird, not native to North America.  As they are more widely established and have more numbers further east in North America, I decided that they were not a priority.  If I happened to encounter some of them by chance, that was thought of to be cool!  As it was mid-morning, it was time to bird around Crawford County.  I had close to ten more hours of birding time, and what I liked about it was that the locations were close to one another.  It would be a day of more birding and less driving, hardly any driving at all!  I asked myself, "What else is in Crawford County?"

I went to the Crawford County main overview page on eBird and looked at hotspots and species of interest.  One of the species of interest that I had in mind was Alder Flycatcher.  I figured that with all of the remaining ground that I had remaining to cover throughout the rest of my trip that Alder Flycatchers would be extremely common.  But I was still craving to see my first one, as well as go to a productive birding area on top of that.  I found a recent report from a location called Dyer Swamp, which is northeast of Grayling and was a 15 minute drive from Staley Lake Road.  Dyer Swamp seemed like a good location to see a variety of birds, and a guy had reported four Alder Flycatchers a few days prior.  I went for Dyer Swamp, parked at the entrance to the road that goes along the location, and walked for about a mile through swamp and bog habitat, as well as mixed deciduous and coniferous forest.  My efforts lasted for 1.5 hours, and I hiked for over a mile.  I didn't have any problems finding Alder Flycatchers.  There were at least eight of them detected, and I obtained solid views of them, and I really got to listen to their distinctive song and several different calls.  Alder Flycather looks almost identical to Willow Flycatcher, and the two species used to be one.  But Alder Flycatcher averages more of a greenish tint to it's back than Willow Flycatcher, and some Alders may be identifiable based on that.  In the long run, most birds have to be safely identified by voice where there is range overlap.  Alder Flycatcher's range is further north than that of Willow Flycatcher, and Willow would be absent from most of the areas I would be covering on the trip.

Throughout their range, Alder Flycatchers prefer bogs, alder thickets, damp brushy habitats, and wet woodland edges as the habitat choice.  I also took video of them vocalizing, give them a listen.

Other than Alder Flycatchers, I recorded a total of 37 species at the Swamp.  An Eastern Kingbird was another bird that I photographed.

Lastly, here are a few pictures of Dyer Swamp, which turned out to be a fun location to bird at.

Up next, I looked on eBird again at hotspots that were close by.  The next spot that caught my attention was another neighboring location called Wakeley Lake.  I thought that the location seemed to be a promising one by looking at eBird data.  When I pulled up to the parking lot to the area, it was a walk-in only area that had miles of interconnecting hiking trails.  I was pumped about all the different trails, and it was a location that was "my kind" of location.  By looking at the trails and glancing at the habitat, it seemed to be a spot where one could spend an entire day.  Quickly after starting to walk on the main trail through the woods and to the lake, I heard a Winter Wren singing.  I managed to get a view of the tiny songbird.

As I continued to the lake, a variety of birds were present, mainly detected by their many songs and calls.  When I got out to Wakeley Lake, I could see that there was a flock of swans out on the water.  When I raised my binoculars up I thought that they were gonna be Trumpeter Swans, but when I looked through my binoculars, I could see that they were a flock of Mute Swans.  This was a lifer that I was not expecting to get on the hike!

Mute Swans are a European species who have been introduced into North America.  The northeastern United States along the Atlantic Coast is a strong area where the species has become established, and so has the Great Lakes region.  When looking at a Mute Swan, it's curved necks and orange bills with a black base to them are distinctive.  These swans are known for being aggressive and protective in their territories.  They will attack most intruders who come near nests or territories, and those intruders do include humans.

I caught sight of the Mute Swans immediately upon accessing Wakeley Lake.  Once I viewed the lake, I saw that it was beautiful and added a lot to the hike.

I continued along the trail after looking at the lake and photographing the swans further.  Two Ruffed Grouse flushed off a clump of logs and went further back into the woods.  I wanted to follow them further, but bushwhacking in any eastern forest is a lot more difficult than bushwacking in a western forest.  After letting them be, I continued on the trail, and deciduous forest had become the dominant landscape during a stretch.  Things got exciting when I heard the call of a Black-billed Cuckoo.  In 2017, I had this bird for the first time right by Gretchen's cabin, and it was a heard only bird.  As I walked quickly up the trail for this bird, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of my second Black-billed Cuckoo detection.  When I got in the area, the bird vocalized some more, and I was able to see it move and therefore, locate it!

For starters, the Black-billed Cuckoo is well named, and it has a black bill.  I've seen a share of it's cousin, the Yellow-billed Cuckoo.  Like the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, the Black-billed Cuckoo is a secretive bird that lurks inside forests.  If the bird doesn't vocalize, it is hard to locate.  As you can see here, this bird also has a red eye-ring, and a grayish tail that has small white tips on it.  The Black-billed Cuckoo does have a smaller and thinner bill than  the Yellow-billed Cuckoo does.

Nest parasitism is the way of life for most Old World Cuckoos, as they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds for the other birds to raise their young.  While Black and Yellow-billed Cuckoos incubate their own eggs and raise their own most of the time, they will at times but rarely lay eggs in the nests of other birds, including each other.  Young cuckoos rear quickly and it doesn't take long for them to appear adult-like.  Seeing a brood with both species in it would be interesting.

Getting a visual of this species for the first time and a detection of the species for only the second time was a huge accomplishment for me, and before the trip started, seeing a Black-billed Cuckoo was one of my major trip targets.

After the cuckoo, I started to head back to the truck and had about a mile ahead of me.  I didn't have lunch with me and decided to go back to Grayling to get Subway.  When I got back to the parking lot and trailhead of Wackeley Lake, I noticed another trail that went along the south side of the lake.  This trail would bring me to the lake much more quickly than the other trail did, and I decided to check it out.  Something remarkable about the trail was it's change in habitat.  The understory was thicker and there were more coniferous trees, and even somewhat of a boggy area.  In this area, the trail turned into a boardwalk.

As I officially started to head back to the trailhead to drive to Grayling for lunch, I ran into one more neat bird.  And that was the awesome Canada Warbler!

After lunch, I didn't photograph many birds, but I went to several more awesome places near Grayling.  The weather became cloudy and overcast, and at times rain would come at a light drizzle.  I explored an area called Mason Tract, which had the AuSable River nearby.  I didn't know what I was doing when I birded this area, but it was still fun.  One stand of aspens had what I thought was a young Northern Goshawk calling from, and I entered the stand.  I couldn't find a Goshawk, but I did find a few Porcupines instead.

I hiked up a road near Mason Tract, and it was awesome.  With thick stands of woods in all directions that had regular openings to the forest in the mix, it reminded me of a place where I could find wolves on the hunt.  Even though it's rare to get lucky enough to see a Gray Wolf, my eyes were always on the lookout for my favorite animal.

The next place I went to was this place called Hartwick Pines State Park, which is one of the top birding hotspots in Crawford County.  While the overcast conditions continued as I entered the park, I could see that the park was awesome.  I decided to hike this epic loop trail called the Old Growth Forest Trail.  This trail went through impressive stands of old growth forest, which in Michigan is one of a few remaining stands of such forest.  It was worth the hike.

Near the entrance to the trail and at the park headquarters where a pair of Great-crested Flycatchers.

A stop at two small lakes within the park gave me a singing Northern Waterthrush, and more scenes to enjoy.

In the last hour of light, I stopped at Goose Creek Road west of Grayling.  This was one of the roads that I had mapped out for Kirtland's Warblers.  Like Staley Lake Road, Goose Creek also has a lot of Kirtland's Warblers.  By this time rain was coming down periodically, and there wasn't much left for birding.  A stop along Goose Creek itself was fun to bird for a few minutes, and driving out of Goose Creek Road I stopped and listened along a young stand of jack pines.  It didn't take me long to hear my last Kirtland's Warbler of the trip sing a couple more times, and it was a good conclusion to the day.

Crawford County was a fun place to bird and explore for a day and a half.  The following day, June 2nd, was planned out to be a travel day back to Spooner.  But the day would include a few stops in Michigan's upper peninsula, and one of those stops would be very good!  Northerly Treks will have more of that story next time.

GilaCopers

Sunset at Roosevelt Lake..

Cool, huh.  I think so.  This post has a name that's a little weird, and it's a good weird.  It means I've lifered in both Gila and Maricopa Counties as of late.  Recently, I've still been doing quite a bit of birding throughout Gila County.  I'm over 300 in Gila now, and every addition keeps on adding more fun to the fun.  And I didn't expect to get a Maricopa County lifer in these last months of 2018, but unexpected things can happen anytime.  This post will summarize some of my recent adventures and additions to the counties in which I have birded the most.

Gisela is a small town in Gila County.  Tonto Creek runs along the east side of town, and the adjacent habitats and riparian where Gisela is is a great spot for birding.  Since last year when I've explored this area via Gisela, it has treated me respectfully.  One of my recent visits produced an overdue Gila County bird, the Winter Wren.  I've birded riparian areas quite often within Gila County that hold suitable habitat for Winter Wrens over the last year.  That habitat consists of clumps of fallen trees, logs, sticks, and wood in general.  Bar X has a ton of the called habitat, and that was where I had my money laid down for Winter Wren.  Hearing one calling at Gisela was a good way to start my day off in the first week of November.  The call is usually heard before the bird is seen, a double-noted, "kimp-kimp".  Each note of the double sounds similar to the single call note of a Song Sparrow or in my opinion, a Western Kingbird.  Pacific Wren, a recent split-off from Winter Wren, also gives a double-noted call, but it's a "jip-jip" like a Wilson's Warbler.  One time a bird, one of the two was calling in the field, and I thought Winter Wren.  Another said, "No, it's a Pacific Wren, I heard a 'jip-jip'".  While it was an argument I knew I wouldn't win, I still regret not saying, "No, I heard a kimp-kimp".  Here's the "kimp-kimp" from Gisela, and a neat micro bird at that!

This is Bar-X Riparian Area, my favorite riparian in Gila County.  This is also Tonto Creek, and this riparian stretch runs adjacent to the town of Tonto Basin.

Back in Maricopa County, Melanie Herring found and photograph a statewide-Arizona-rare Iceland Gull of the Thayer's subspecies at Lake Pleasant, November 13th.  As I was thinking about doing a big Gila County round for two days, I decided to go for the Iceland Gull on the following day.  I teamed up with Dara, Jeff, and Laura, and it was a fun day from the start.  We scanned from the south side of Lake Pleasant where Melanie detected the bird on the previous day.  It took awhile, and we passed time by by looking at Horned Grebes and skipping rocks on the lake.

After an amount of time, we decided to go to a different side of the lake, still along the southern perimeter but a distance away from the boat ramp where we were at and where Melanie had found the bird.  Bird life seemed dismal, and then Jeff stopped and said he had it.  It was amazing, the bird was barely peaking it's head up over this rocky shoreline near some campers.  Jeff freaking Ritz man!  I spy....

The picture above doesn't do Jeff's detection justice.  Before the picture, I had to elevate myself and get closer.  Looking through Jeff's scope revealed the bird's head.  The four of us went down and got much closer to our Maricopa County lifebird.  Actually, I think it was an official lifer for Dara, Jeff, and Laura.  My first Iceland Gull was in Minnesota, back when there was Iceland Gull and Thayer's Gull.  If the split didn't happen with the two now subspecies, than this bird would still be called Thayer's Gull.

While we watched the Iceland Gull walking around along the shoreline for some time, we wanted to see it in flight some too.  Dara contributed to these pictures in an awesome way.  With young gulls like this, getting flight shots is very important to to see key identification features.  I don't feel like describing all of the ID features right now, just know that it is a young-first-year-first-cycle Iceland Gull...

The gull flew right towards a boat, and a lady on the boat started taking some great flight shots of the Iceland Gull.  She couldn't have been more happy that the bird she wanted to see flew past their boat with eye level views.  Turned out it was Mary and Chris McSparen driving the boat, two birders who work at Lake Pleasant and take boats out on the lake often.  Mary finds interesting birds quite often.  We were immediately invited by Mary to come aboard her boat and she took us on a tour of the entire lake and to lunch at Scorpion Bay.  It was the quickest yes I've heard a group of four people say upon her asking us.  Seeing Lake Pleasant for the first time from that view of things was incredible.  Thanks Mary, your awesome!  The boat ride also provided more neat looks at the Iceland Gull, my 391st bird for Maricopa County.

The awesome day was concluded as I showed Dara, Jeff, and Laura around Morgan City Wash for their very first visit to the location.  Birdlife was a little slow for it being later in the day, but it seemed like they all enjoyed Morgan and it's perennial stream.  Also turns out that Mary is gonna coordinate the Lake Pleasant CBC this year, after it has gone off the radar for a CBC for 30 years.  It will be interesting to see what it produces after a 30 year absence.  Cool, huh!

Two more trips to Gila County were rather slow for birds and targets that I was hoping for.  But one bird prevailed me, my latest Gila County lifer in a White-throated Sparrow.  On two trips to Roosevelt Lake via the boat launch area at Windy Hill Recreation Site, this bird was present both times.  I was pleased to find it, and this bird is a first-year individual.

The good ol' Reddish Egret relocated to the southern side of Roosevelt Lake, as of November 29th.

The White-throated Sparrow was my 305th Gila County bird overall.  What a fun August through November it was for birding Gila County.  I might not be able to do any more birding until 2019 (hopefully that's not the complete case), as things have gotten complex after Thanksgiving.  But so far, a solid 2018.  If I can make another Gila trip or two, stay tuned...