Beaver Island is still as beautiful as ever. It is shaking off the winter and spring migration is underway. It was disappointing to cancel the Warblers on the Water events but under the present health crisis unavoidable. Beaver Island is truly a year-round destination for viewing birds. Due to its high quality diverse habitats, it supports a wide variety of bird species. I thought it would be fun to share with individuals a weekly list of the incoming birds. You can add your sightings here, email me, or call me and I’ll add your birds.
The first Sandhill Cranes were observed almost three weeks ago by Jacque LaFreniere. You will find more pairs in fields and along wetlands.
This week, a noticable increase of Brown Creepers, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rump Wablers, Pine Siskins, Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, Bluebirds, and Merlin activity. A Northern Harrier was observed the past two days working the fields between Kathryn Ricksgers and Little Sand Bay’s open fields. The Northern Harrier has a large white spot on its rump area and flies low over the fields trying to flush up a bird. Brown creepers can be observed crawling up the trunks of tree and then fluttering to the base and creeping up again. They are looking for insect eggs. The Golden-crowned Kinglets are one of our smallest songbirds and can be observed along the roads where you find spruce, fir, and hemlocks. Look for the Merlins in the Sand Bay area and near Oliver’s Point on the west side. The Eastern Bluebirds were noted on the fence at the township airport and at the Beaver Island Golf Course. American Kestrels were also noted at both sites as well. Enjoy the great outdoors and stay well!
