My first target bird for the day was Kirtland's Warbler, which almost died out at one point, such is its reliance on jack pines of 3-12 ft tall for breeding. I had been told that the adults had already left to migrate south but that there might be some juveniles hanging around. Amazingly, after three hours and with the early-morning activity starting to die down, I found one foraging with a Nashville Warbler. So I took my photo and quickly left the area so as not to disturb him any further.
In the same area pre-Kirtland, I also managed to find a Clay-colored Sparrow, another lifer, and one that saves me picking through thousands of sparrows in Maryland, looking for an odd one.
So, with two lifers and a three-hour drive under my belt by 10, I consulted BirdsEye for what good birds had been seen recently between me and Ann Arbor. Two that jumped out were Black Terns and Sandhill Cranes at Houghton Lake. At Houghton Lake Flats, I found a very large marshy area with a billion swallows and at least two Black Terns. I was amazed how small they were, only having seen them before in Montreal and at distance through heat haze on Hart-Miller Island.
I didn't see any cranes there, but someone else did put me onto a Sora picking along the edge of the reeds, a much better look than I got of my lifer in Nevada. The app seemed to suggest that the best next stop would be Shiawassee National Wildlife Preserve, having cranes, but also bitterns, gallinules, and terns. It turned out to be an amazing place, with an out-and-back hiking trail up the middle and a longer driving trail around the outside. I did manage to catch the cranes, but also Common Gallinule, more Black Terns, Caspian Terns, and some juvenile Hooded Mergansers that really had me confused. A beautiful place. And I got back to Ann Arbor for a BBQ!
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