We rose bright and early the next morning ready for our first real attempt at connecting with our main target for the trip and most birder’s reason for visiting Michigan in the first place – the endangered and extremely range restricted Kirtland’s Warbler.
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| The extremely range restricted Kirtland's Warbler |
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| The young Jack Pines the Kirtland's Warblers need to breed |
Once reaching numbers as low as 167 singing males in the 70’s and 80’s, thanks to a number of conservation measures and effective management of their necessary young Jack Pine habitat requirements, Kirtland’s Warblers have now bounced back tremendously, with a current population estimate of around 2,300 pairs. Expanding from their previous Grayling Michigan strongholds, with birds now breeding in Wisconsin and Ontario in Canada, this conservation success story has now resulted in the Kirtland’s Warbler looking to be downlisted as no longer endangered, with totals having reached more than double the original recovery number goal.
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| Kirtland's Warbler awareness! |
Arriving on site at Grayling Forest and driving slowly down the road scanning the young Jack Pines that the Kirtland’s Warblers specialise in, it wasn’t long before the sound of singing male Kirtland’s Warblers filled the air, and sure enough, pulling over we soon had our first male belting out his song and showing off his delicate streaked lemon yellow chest proudly.
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| Kirtland's Warbler! |
With more males singing in the Jack Pines and chasing each other across the road frantically, it wasn’t long before a particularly showy male caught our eye, singing at extremely close range in the nearby tree and allowing for excellent photo opportunities over the course of the next hour.
Pleased with our success on the Kirtland’s front, we scanned the surrounding areas to see what else we could find, the delicate sounds of a Slate-coloured Dark-eyed Junco catching our attention. Our first for the trip, like the Kirtland’s Warblers, one in particular gave outstanding views in the tree in front of us, showing at eye level and providing bursts of flutey song as we watched on.
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| Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-coloured) |
This was the only real location that we achieved views of Dark-eyed Junco, and we notched up a small handful of birds holding territory along one stretch of road.
My first Field Sparrow for the trip was a little less showy however, belting out its distinctive call from the top of a tall pine but remaining distant throughout, offering good scope views only and providing no real chance for photos.
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| Prime Jack Pine habitat the Kirtland's reside in |
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| Juvenal's Duskywing (?) |
Exploring the young Jack Pine plantations, it became apparent that Nashville Warblers also bred here in abundance, and several males offered good views as they fed on pollen bundles between the pine needles. With no Clay-coloured Sparrows appearing, we briefly explored another section of track, but with just a single Vesper Sparrow, several Brewer's Blackbirds and a Great Crested Flycatcher all we could muster in the late morning sun, we called it a day and headed over to our next site – the fantastic Hartwick Pines Visitor Centre and home to our second most wanted bird of the trip – the sublime Evening Grosbeak.
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| Vesper Sparrow |
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| Brewer's Blackbird |
With Hartwick Pines offering unrivalled views of Evening Grosbeaks coming to feed on the visitor centre feeders just feet away from the viewing platform, this is a must visit for anyone in the area, and it most certainly didn’t disappoint for us.
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| The Hartwick Pines Visitor Centre feeding station - the source of all the activity |
Before we had even got outside we’d already secured brief but close views of a male Evening Grosbeak clinging to the windowpane feeder, swiftly followed by a pair of female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds hovering up against the glass.
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| Eastern Chipmunks fed on scraps below the feeders |
Several male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks provided close up views as they boisterously came in to make use of the feeders, while the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds continued to dance around the sugar water dispensers.
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| Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
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| Female Red-breasted Grosbeaks were less numerous but were also present |
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| Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
Amazingly, we had up to 5 Evening Grosbeaks surrounding us during our visit, with three vibrant males offering close up views right in front of us.
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| The Evening Grosbeaks put on a fantastic show for us |
Soaking up the sight of the males feeding together, we spent a good while photographing these charismatic birds, their bright sunshine yellow creating a splash of colour in the dark pine forest and creating an everlasting memory of our trip – a highly recommended experience.
Eventually tearing ourselves away from the artistic paint pot of colour that was the feeders, we explored the trail around the visitor centre a little, a pair of Black-throated Green Warblers chasing each other excitedly through the tree tops our first of the trip while no fewer than 4 Pine Warblers trilled in the trees above.
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| Less brightly coloured than the males, the female Evening Grosbeaks were still attractive |
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| Eastern Phoebes also put on a close show |
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| American Red Squirrel |
With Winter Wren and Brown Creeper high up on Alex’s target list we decided to explore the Au Sable River Trail, one of a number of walks in the reserve. Unfortunately, we hadn’t banked on the sheer volume of mosquitos present, and with Alex forgetting to deet up his arms he was surrounded by a constant cloud of furious biters, counting no fewer than 42 angry raised bumps on his upper arms the next day – mosquito repellent and protective clothing in the forests of Michigan in the spring is a must!
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| Alex's bites! |
Unfortunately, our online map was slightly misleading, and what looked like it should have been a short walk in the pines turned in to a several hour long hike through the forest, (completely lost, with very little juice and hoping not to bump in to a family of Black Bears!), only emerging back to the car park hours later after luckily spotting the main road through the trees and following it back – and not a single Winter Wren or Brown Creeper in sight!!
With no further success in the pines we called it a day, a bag of warm curly fries from the diner next to the hotel adding a touch of flavour to our Pot Noodle dinner, the lack of good restaurants in the area never more so apparent after a tiring day!
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| Kirtland's success! |
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