 |
Rouge River Bird Observatory |
|
|
|
Rouge River Bird Observatory |
|
May 1999:31 May: A female Eastern Bluebird at the TPC Golf Course might be nesting.
Banding results 24 to 28 May: 3 days, 62 birds (51 new, 11 recaptures) of 24 species. Highlights include Louisiana Waterthrush and Eastern Wood-Pewee. 28 May: A Common Loon flying over ties the late spring date.
27 May: A Louisiana Waterthrush was banded today, oddly enough the first one RRBO has ever captured. It was a male in peak breeding condition...perhaps nesting nearby? Otherwise a few migrants are still around: Magnolia Warblers, Veery, Swainson's Thrush, Blackpoll Warbler, flycatchers, etc. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo is still being heard in the banding area in appropriate nesting habitat.
Eastern Phoebes are nesting at Greenfield Village after a 20-year absence. This is only the second nesting in Dearborn in recent years. Cliff Swallows are now the most abundant swallow in the vicinity of the Village.
Banding results 16 to 21 May: 5 days, 181 birds (156 new, 25 recaptures) of 40 species. Highlights include two more American Woodcock, Blue-winged Warbler. 21 May: A third American Woodcock for the season is banded, this time most likely one of the young.
20 May: A Ruby-crowned Kinglet ties the late spring date.
19 May: A Yellow-breasted Chat and Connecticut Warbler (right on time) were found just north of the Ford estate. An Eastern Bluebird, pretty uncommon for us, was also seen.
18 May: Philadelphia Vireos arrived, and we caught the first one in the same place in the same net that the majority of this species are caught, spring or fall. It's quite a mystery. We also caught three Red-eyed Vireos in a row, two of which were recaptures from previous years. One was from 1995, the other from 1998. Neither had been recaptured before. We banded another American Woodcock and a male Blue-winged Warbler as well.
17 May: Things picked up considerably again, with the biggest influx being flycatchers of all flavors except Yellow-bellied, Wilson's Warblers, and both cuckoos. At Greenfield Village, Red-headed Woodpecker.
16 May: Markedly quieter today -- what a difference a day can make! We did have two widely separated White-eyed Vireos today. Also present our first Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Willow Flycatcher, and Eastern Wood-pewee. The first Common Nighthawk has arrived as well. For several years there was a Northern Mockingbird present near Rotunda and Greenfield; one was recently (re?)located nearby at the Rouge River and Mellon. One was seen today at I-94 and Michigan Avenue. A male Common Goldeneye has been on the Rouge channel for nearly two weeks now.
15 May: For over 5 minutes Rick Crossland observed a White-tailed Kite flying north over the main meadow towards the lake at UM-Dearborn today at around 1 PM. This sighting is being written up for the Michigan Bird Records Committee, and if accepted will be a first Michigan state record.
Also today were two different Summer Tanagers, one male with some yellow (indicating a younger bird) and the other all red. A Golden-winged Warbler was in the west Dearborn yard of Jerry Sadowski.
14 May: Up to three Hooded Warblers were found way in the back 40 in the swampy area nearly behind Henry Ford Community College. We banded a male Black-throated Blue Warbler with a black back, indicating it may have been of the Appalachian race.
Banding results 10 to 14 May: 5 days, 265 birds (241 new, 24 recaptures) of 43 species 13 May: Huge day today, with 81 species recorded, 24 were warbler species including the seasons first Cerulean, Blackpolls, and Mournings. We also had one of our best banding days ever, with 99 birds of 30 species netted. 37 of them were Yellow-rumped Warblers (2 got away unbanded) and one gorgeous male Northern Parula.
11 May: First American Redstart, and a female American Woodcock banded with a brood patch, indicating nesting.
Banding results 1 to 8 May: 6 days, 190 birds (160 new, 30 recaptures) of 39 species
Highlights were Kentucky Warbler, White-eyed Vireo (3), Yellow-breasted Chat, Eastern Screech-owl, Great Crested Flycatcher and some old returns of Wood Thrush (1995 & 1997), Hairy Woodpecker (1995), and a Yellow Warbler female that nested here last year.8 May: An unbanded White-eyed Vireo was found singing today; later a long distance away, two more were banded. This species has been seen in good numbers regionally this year. The Kentucky Warbler was relocated. A Yellow-breasted Chat was banded today. New arrivals were Orange-crowned Warbler, Gray-cheeked Thrush, and Black-billed Cuckoo. Not seen too often in spring unless attempting to nest was a Broad-winged Hawk. A flock of plovers, likely American Golden, flew over.
7 May: A number of notable birds today, the headliner being a female Kentucky Warbler banded mid-morning. We've had about 10 records of this species at UM-D. On our last net run of the day we caught a White-eyed Vireo. We also had two returning male Wood Thrushes in the nets today: A bird from 1995 (color banded green-blue) that has been the most successful nesting bird in our area during our 5-year study, and another male (pink-pink) from 1997.
On our first run we came up with an Eastern Screech-Owl, not uncommon but netted only infrequently. We were unable to conclusively age it, but some clues pointed to a young-of-the-year. New spring arrivals were Wilson's Warbler and Yellow- throated Vireo. A large-billed, pale Northern Waterthrush, typical of western populations, was banded.
6 May: Highlight of the day was a singing male Prairie Warbler in the pines around the Student Services Center building. This is our fifth campus record; the last was in 1993. It was quieter today, with fewer birds in fewer flocks, but still nice variety. New arrivals were Northern Parula and Canada Warbler.
5 May: Good variety and moderate numbers today. There were about 66 species recorded (15 warblers), and new arrivals were: Cape May Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Swainson's Thrush, Magnolia Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, White- crowned Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, Chimney Swifts (finally) and Scarlet Tanager.
There were at least 3 Blue-winged Warblers singing; one that I saw looked like a pure blood. The American Woodcock is still performing at dawn, in fact today it sounded as if there were two of them.
4 May: Another nice day, with most of the species mentioned yesterday present (12 warbler species total), plus some new arrivals: an early Bay-breasted Warbler, a Louisiana Waterthrush, and another Blue-winged Warbler were the niftiest. Also new were Tennessee Warbler, Ovenbird, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Great Crested Flycatcher. Also started catching our first catbirds, including two returns from previous years (1997 and 1998), both adults when originally banded.
3 May: Many new arrivals today: Least Flycatcher, Warbling and Blue-headed Vireos, Wood Thrush, Veery, Eastern Kingbird, Gray Catbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Baltimore Oriole, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, and Lincoln's Sparrow. Many more Yellow and Nashville Warblers present today.
Banding results, 15 - 30 April: 72 new birds plus 13 recaptures of 20 species Last month's sightings. More Archived sightings are listed below
Interested in receiving updates on the bird sightings at UM-Dearborn via e-mail? Contact Julie Craves .
Archived sightings
