Sunday, February 9

Winter never seems to end here. Even Frosty the Flamingo is getting just a little tired of it.

Frosty the Flamingo says “Hi.”

All the roads are lined with snowbanks. This morning somebody about  a block down the street managed to park his car on the snowbank alongside Okemos Road. Not one you can try driving away from before the cops show up. At least it breaks up the boredom a bit.

Oops.

So that nice Irish boy, President O’bama, decided to sign the farm bill into law at MSU on Friday. Makes some sense symbolically. MSU is the oldest land grant school so there is a minor tie to agriculture. This place probably has the greatest density of FFA jackets on the planet. Anyway, I was working on campus that day. When I go for coffee in these arctic temperatures I keep my coffee cup under my coat so it stays warm. Walking back from Espresso Royale I noticed I look like I’m wearing a suicide belt. Even better, I’m wearing an old olive-drab army field jacket that screams, “I’m homeless and have nothing to live for.” Gives the Secret Service guys something to get excited about. I figured that if I could pick them out I would avoid being pinned to the ground while trying to explain that I hate cold coffee. I started looking at everyone to decide who was trying just a little too hard to blend in. Had to be the guys wearing Sparty helmets and no shirts with their chests painted green and white. The microphones and headsets gave them away. So I made it back to Giltner Hall safe and sound, and got to watch the helicopters flying around.

Yesterday, Lise, Barb and I went over to Muskegon to get a couple rarities. Both a king eider and a Barrow’s goldeneye were reported in the only open water around Muskegon, a small channel connecting frozen Lake Muskegon to frozen Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is so frozen that this is the first time I’ve been there without the breakwater being lined by crazy fishermen. There just isn’t any open water they can safely get to. Safe is a relative term here. These guys fish off an icy breakwater in wicked cold conditions, usually with high winds. They are so bundled up that if they went in the water it would be a really quick one way trip to Davey Jones. If those guys aren’t out there, something’s wrong.

Looking over the beach through a snow squall towards the breakwater lighthouse. There’s a major freshwater body out there somewhere. The black lines on the beach are drift fences.

On the plus side for winter arctic birding, the ice has pushed a lot of birds normally out on Lake Michigan into whatever water is left. Over on the east side of the state, a frozen Lake Huron has pushed between ten and 20 thousand long-tailed ducks into the St Clair River channel. Over on the west side in Muskegon, the eider and the Barrow’s goldeneye showed up. So off we went.

I have to say, this is the first time I’ve been winter birding in Muskegon and it was fairly easy to get the targets. Usually we are out there with the fishermen, walking an icy breakwater in windy conditions, looking at tiny specks bobbing out on the water. This time, we pulled up to the pier that was loaded with scopes and big lenses, hopped out, and there was the king eider. The Barrow’s was a short distance away in the same channel. Both these species are high latitude coastal species. The Barrow’s was a lifer for Lise and me.

Barb and Lise in blue. That’s their clothing, not their skin. Notice the guy who’s wife let him buy a big lens. His is so big he has to camouflage it.

We got great looks at a number of not rare species too. Usually these things are off in the distance. This time we could actually see details. We got common loon, red-breasted merganser, long-tailed duck, common goldeneye, and white-winged scoter in the channel.

Mr. and Mrs. long-tailed duck.

Aptly named common goldeneye.

White-winged scoter.

White-winged scoter eating a crayfish.

On the way back we drove through the ever popular Muskegon Waste Water Treatment Plant. National Audubon has actually designated the WWTP as an important bird area. We were hoping for raptors there but the snow picked up, restricting their flying and our vision.Did have good views of two bald eagles.

Bald eagle in the snow at the Muskegon WWTP.

We stopped at one ditch where we saw a great blue heron and of all things, three Wilson’s snipe. Both species apparently finding enough food to survive. The snipe in particular should be down south right now. There are some snipe in Florida that have got to be laughing at the three we found.

A quick shot of the great blue heron and Wilson’s snipe in the snow.