GRAND TRAVERSE AUDUBON CLUB
March 2019
Bird Notes
Although Shirley continues to do what work she can as Past President of Grand Traverse Audubon, we need people to step up if the club is to continue to provide the enjoyment that it has in the past. Here is the current Board situation:
- President – open
- Vice President – open
- Treasurer – Ed Kaminski
- Secretary – John Mesch
- Member at Large – Sharon Benjey
- Newsletter – David Stringer
- Michigan Audubon Society Rep – Jerry Freels
- Past President – Shirley Mesch
- Carol Towar – Webmaster (not a Board position)
Please . . ..
–David Stringer
Some Schedule Dates for 2019
February
28 – Regular Meeting, 7 p.m. Ed Kaminski will do a presentation on bird identification. If you know Ed, you know it will be fun.
March
16 – The Nest Box Building Workshop will be held at the Boardman River Nature Center on March 16. We had a good turnout last year, and this year we will be working with new designs – blue bird, chickadee, screech owl/kestrel, and a loon platform. Tentatively scheduled from noon to 4 p.m. Contact Ed Moehle at (231) 947-8821
28 – Regular Meeting. Speaker to be decided.
April
13 – Field Trip – Dance of the Woodcock, led by Ed Kaminski (231) 932-9148
20 – Field Trip – Arcadia Marsh. Meet at 7:00 a.m. at the north section of Meijer’s parking lot off Franke Rd. (next to car wash). Will caravan to Arcadia and Onekama with a couple of stops along the way.
25 – Regular Meeting. Speaker to be decided.
May
13, 14, 15 – Field Trip – Magee Marsh and Ottawa NWR, Howard Preserve, Metzger Marsh. John and Shirley Mesch (231) 499-1318
17, 18, 19 – Field Trip – Tawas, with Tuttle Marsh on Friday evening and Bird the Park on Saturday and Sunday. Cindee and Larry Dubey – Phone number (231) 839-2758. Once on site, their cell phone number is (231) 878-8775.
25 – Field Trip – Boardman River Clean Sweep. Kayak/Canoers, shuttle drivers and some river bank clean-up. To sign up, volunteers should contact John Mesch at (231) 946-3624
Summer Moth Nights
Bob and I would like to invite folks to join us for Moth Nights to watch and try to ID moths that come to regular and black lights, flowers, and/or fermented fruit. Saturday’s from 9 to 11 PM on June 8 & 22, July 13 & 20, August 10 & 17, and September 7 & 21. Please RSVP on or near the day: 231 835 2185. Steady rain and/or strong wind = no program. Please bring a flashlight; we will provide magnifying glasses, ID books, & Mounted specimens. If you have a moth guide please bring it. BYO snacks; we will provide beverages.
Location: 5599 S. French Rd. (County Rd. 645) between Cedar & Lake Leelanau village in Leelanau County.
–Sharon & Bob Benjey
A more complete 2019 Calendar will be available in the Brochure to be mailed out soon.
Name the Bird
Taken from “the Bird Watcher’s Quiz Book” by Henry Hill Collins, Jr., 1961
What bird is being referred to in the following clues?
Here’s a sample:
A dunce – Booby
- A gurgitation
- A ladle
- Disease of horses’s hoofs
- Gauge of craziness
- Gay cloth for decoration
- Girl with red hair
- Gold coin of Chile, Columbia, Ecuador
- Gone with the wind
- Hat (slang)
- Instrument for opening nuts
- Jack’s mother
- Light piece of ordnance (15th-17th century)
- Mechanism for lifting
- One easily cheated
- Prince of the Church
- Split by Lincoln
- Talebearer
- Ten dollars
- Bar with which Archimedes might have raised the earth
(Answers are at the end of the newsletter. No peeking!)
In Memoriam
June Mason and Bob Carstens
We are sad to report the recent passing of two of our former Audubon presidents. June Mason was president of our organization in 1982 and 1983, when it was called the Walter Hastings Audubon Club. The club’s annual May field trip to Northport became a friendly challenge between June and Leonard Graf. Members pledged monies per species seen to raise funds for Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. She was active in preserving the Brown Bridge Quite Area, sharing her expertise and oversight of the oil and gas drilling going on in the region during that time. Also, during June’s watch a Junior Audubon Club was formed, led by naturalist Betsy St. Pierre. June, fondly referred to as “Mother Nature,” shared her knowledge with students at Northwestern Michigan College, and she led bird and plant tours throughout the world.
Bob Carstens, who took up birding in his 40s, was president of the Grand Traverse Audubon Club in 1997, 1998, and 1999. He also served as vice president in charge of environmental information, after which he went on to become more environmentally active in other community and governmental groups. Bob led, or completed himself, surveys of bird and other wildlife in a number of area properties, including the State Hospital Grounds, Maple Bay Natural Area, and Cedar Run Creek, among others. He also participated in the Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas. He also worked as a lifeguard, volunteering as a “victim” for lifesaving classes.
2019 Sault Ste. Marie Field Trip
While few people registered to attend the February Soo trip, fewer actually went. We usually go early to scout out the birds. The weather turned miserable when we reached Kinross, MI, on Thursday afternoon. Fortunately, Kinross is fairly close to Sault Ste. Marie and we were able to reach the motel and get cozy while the snow and sleet blew in. Larry and Cindee DuBey had a little later start and encountered the poor weather a little sooner. However, we were able to find a place open for dinner and all was fine.
Friday morning, Pat and Marlene O’Connor called and decided not to attempt to travel on the poor roads and were needed at home for childcare for the Snow Day. We birded on Friday, Leonard giving in to a later start time, 8:30 a.m. Birding was fairly decent, though we only drove on plowed roads.
Saturday morning, the official start of the trip, the weather was fine with even some sunshine. Our first bird was the Northern Hawk Owl, followed soon after by some Sharp-tailed Grouse. In spite of the weather or maybe because of it, Saturday birding turned out well. The homeowner at the Kinross feeder was refueling the feeders and spreading corn for the deer. At least 50 deer came through, up close and personal. Ruffed grouse were a surprise as we saw them in several locations. Northern Shrike were a little harder to come by, but we did find two. The Evening Grosbeaks were a brief treat in Pickford. All in all, it was a good time.
Sightings:
Ruffed Grouse – 4
Sharp-trailed Grouse – 11
Wild Turkey – several groups
Mourning Doves
Snowy Owl – 14
Hairy Woodpecker – 3
Downy Woodpecker – 4
Northern Shrike – 2
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
European Starling
Bohemian Waxwing – 20
Evening Grosbeak – 4
Common Redpoll – 40
American Goldfinch
Snow Bunting – 37
Rough-legged Hawk – 6
Bald Eagle – 12
Common Merganser
Rock Pigeon
Mallard
Bird Photography
reminds us that a bird is, after all, just
a bird – separate and unknowably itself.
The wood stork’s huge, gnarled
and ancient beak, the reddish egret’s
wing-raised balletic dance across
an early morning tidal sheen, the bluebird’s
unreal blue, the red-shouldered hawk’s
patient evisceration of the snake writhing
around its legs, the uncommon common
yellowthroat’s flitting disappearance
into tangled leaves – these are not for us.
They do not think of us. They have no
purpose, no plan, except to be. Never
posing, they are always posing. We freeze
a moment. The outline of the bird links
it to air, water, sand or tree. As we pause
to study what the camera captures by not
capturing it, the bald eagle soars beyond
the live oak, the belted kingfisher chatters
beyond the river’s edge, the anhinga dips
beneath the surface, and the northern parula
trills just beyond where we can see.
–David Stringer
Bird Quiz Answers:
- Swallow
- Dipper
- Thrush
- Loon, Cuckoo
- Bunting
- Redhead
- Condor
- Kite
- Skimmer
- Nutcracker
- Goose
- Falcon
- Crane
- Gull
- Cardinal
- Rail
- Tattler
- Eagle
- Crow