- Up Close and Personal -

"Birds May Be Second"

- Ric Pedler -

As I purchased a new patch at the Visitor Center, the lady stared at the old robin-and-lighthouse on my birding vest. Slowly she asked, "Musk-ee-gun kown-tray nay-shur club, what eez that about?"

I began, "It's mostly about birds ..." and continued with some details before following Tim and Andy out to the refuge. I hadn't intended to deceive her, but I think I did.

From Margaret Elliott and George Wickstrom through Eric Bourdou and Les Ford to our present gang, the Muskegon County Nature Club is mostly about people. Birds may be second.

My California son Andy and I were the guests of Tim and Mary Hicks last month in south Texas. When they lived up here, Tim was often the leader of fieldtrips. Mary was usually along, whether at Mill Iron Road, or White Fish Point, or back in the car.

Tim was our go-to guy on Big Day when someone heard an invisible warbler or glimpsed a darting "LBJ" in the foliage. He answered quietly, often with "I think ..." or with a question of his own: "Did it sound buzzy? Were the outer tail feathers white?" Discussions followed that were interesting, educational and often entertaining. The bird was identified -- or not -- democratically.

Birding with Tim again was a step back in time for Andy and me. Except for a palm tree here, a cactus there, some Spanish moss and a whole new set of birds, it was a 1980's fieldtrip with Tim as the leader.

"There's a bird back in there, Tim."

"I'm on it." (Tim has an uncanny ability to focus binoculars instantly on birds hidden from mortal view by layers of foliage.)

"What do you think?"

"Call it out." "Well. Uh. Maybe an Olive Sparrow?"

"Yup."

"Do you think we'll get Green Jays in here?"

"Guar-own-teed!"

"Did you hear those whistles? Three of them?"

"Yes. Where were they coming from?" (Tim has great ears, but they're omni-directional.)

"Sounds like over there. A thrasher?"

"I think so."

"Hope it's a curve-billed."

"Bag bird." (Tim's observing a plastic bag in bird habitat. This species is not endangered in Texas.)

"Cactus tree." (The occasional large cactus growing high in a tree, perhaps given its elevated location with the help of a bird.)

"We'll catch the next one." (Tim's quip each time we passed a Texas Historical Marker on the highway, referring to a previous fieldtrip when an MCNC member who shall remain nameless wanted to stop and read each of these but was out-voted by the less historically minded bird-brains in the car.)

"Thank you, Betty." (Tim's polite reply whenever the feminine voice of his GPS gave driving instructions.)

"In zero point two miles, turn left on ramp."

"Thank you, Betty."

"Drive ten point eight miles, then exit right."

"Thank you, Betty."

Delivering Muskegon hugs from President Diane to migrant Texas and California club members puts people first, not birds. Ditto for packing those ridiculous MCNC stake birds in one's suitcase, or discussing the environmental impact of feral orioles and the breeding range of Mexican polar bears. (Don't even ask.)

On our last day while we were thanking the Hicks for their wonderful hospitality, Mary said, "This week has been great for us too." Despite the many wonderful friends they've made down there and the huge variety of birds and places to see them, it is impossible to replace a lifetime of memories, of monthly meetings, chit-chat over refreshments, potluck suppers, evening walks at Hoffmaster and Saturday fieldtrips with the gang.

If the lady asked me again, I'd say, "It's mostly about people."

"The 2006 Contest"

- Feller DeWitt -

My annual bird list for Michigan has been down for the last few years, so to give myself a reason to improve it, I set a goal of listing 250 birds in the Year 2006. This was about 30-35 more birds than I normally see. I would really have to get out and scratch around looking for birds.

Then to make it even more interesting, Brian Johnson asked me if I wanted to challenge him in a contest to see who could find the most Michigan birds in one year -- loser had to buy the winner a dinner. "Sure!" I said. After all, I'm retired and should have plenty of birding time while Brian has a day job (even though it does involve working with birds). In hindsight, I would have been better off to challenge Jeff Gordon to a five hundred mile car race with me on a bicycle. I somehow convinced Ric Pedler that he wanted to join Brian and myself in the contest.

On January 1st, 2006, I ended the day with 42 birds on my list -- I was off and running. The month rolled along and the list grew by leaps and bounds. Good birds of the month were the Goshawk and Carolina Wren. A Varied Thrush seen in Manistee while traveling with Dayle Vanderwier and Ric Pedler was the highlight of the month. That was probably the last time for the year that Ric and I spoke to each other -- after all, we were competing against each other for a free dinner. January ended with 59 birds on my list.

In February I tripped, stumbled, and failed to get up to the Upper Peninsula to add some of the more northern birds. I did get to add the Greater Black-backed Gull, Glaucous Gull, MEW GULL, and an Iceland Gull (lifer) to my list before the month ended.

In March my brother Charlie and I started our spring birding. We would meet each Wednesday, and I added so many birds to the list that I actually got writer's cramp doing it -- 21 new check marks were put on my list.

April came and went so fast I could hardly find time to add 40 more.

At last, the month of May arrived -- the high point of the birding season. After two trips to Tawas, Big Day, plus Wednesdays with Charlie, my extra birding added 69 more.

Then the bottom dropped out of birding and the new birds on the list really dropped off. Additions to this list were five in June, two in July, one in August, and four in September. A short trip to the U.P. in October added four, but November only added two.

At the start of December my list totaled 221 -- I still had a long way to go! I told my wife that even though my goal was 250, I would settle for 225 and consider it a good count as my last two years' totals were only 215 and 218.

On December 1st a Purple Finch brought my total to 222. Participating in two Christmas Bird Counts did not add to my total but were a lot of fun. I still had three birds to go to reach my "adjusted" goal of 225 -- I could do it -- but it was already December 30th !!

It was a beautiful day on the 30th and my wife, sensing my plight, suggested we take advantage of the day and go to the Wastewater System to try to find some new birds for my list, so off we went. It just so happened that Jim Ponshair had called me the night before and told me about a Northern Shrike that was out by the little model airplane airport.

At the Wastewater System we scanned model airplane area -- roadside, fields and sky -- near and far. No sign of a Shrike. We drove out to the clay ponds area with no luck. Starting back we saw a car that looked like Kathryn Mork's so we decided to catch up with Kathryn to ask if she had seen the Shrike. When we got up to the car, it was not Kathryn---BUT the driver did point out A SHRIKE sitting on the top of a mullein -- just like that! I was pretty pleased thinking that this was Bird No. 225 for my 2006 list. I was ready to leave for home but it was still daylight so we headed over to the grainery to look for Longspurs. On Swanson Road a bird flew in front of us and landed in a bush not too far out in the field. A quick check determined it was ANOTHER Shrike! I looked out a little further and found a THIRD Shrike! It was now too dark to bird so we left for home. I was feeling pretty great to think that I had reached my "adjusted" goal of 225.

At home I rechecked my list and found out I that I had double-counted two birds and my total was only 223 birds ------- so-o-o-o-o-o that's where my list ended for the Year 2006.

Toot! Toot! Welcome 2007! Happy New Year! That was until I found that out Brian wound up his Year 2006 count with 244. So while Brian winds up eating steak I will choke on Crow -- feathers and all. Am I going to challenge anyone soon? NOPE! Once was enough! It was fun. By the way, Ric and I are speaking to each other again.

And now here we are in the Year 2008. My count for Year 2007 was 204 -- down from the 223 total in 2006. I’m hoping that 2008 will be a banner year, and I’ll get my bird list up to a “whopping” 225—finally!

"Really Up Close ..."

- Ric Pedler -

Still twenty paces from the bird Brian says, "Oh, another Gray-cheeked." He can identify this thrush without binoculars and despite its being upside down and enclosed in mesh because ... well, because he's Brian.

He walks up to the bird, determines the direction it was flying before the unscheduled stop, and extracts it from the soft fabric in the opposite direction. He kind of undresses the bird as he carefully pulls the black strands from the "shoulders, elbows, knees and legs" (actually wing, tail, body and feet). Having removed umpteen kerzillion birds from nets, Brian makes this look easy though it's not.

There are also a Common Yellowthroat and Gray Catbird in the net so Brian places the Gray-cheeked Thrush in a cloth bag with a string pull top, does the same with the yellowthroat, and heads back to the pavilion.

"I'm not bagging the catbird because he's a 're-cap'. He's also the most likely bird to crap all over a bag."

Brian's equipment and supplies cover one end of a picnic table at the pavillion. He hangs the two occupied bird bags on small hooks on his supply box and proceeds to process the catbird as Lena walks back from her "net run" carrying three occupied bags of her own.

"Whatcha got?"

"Oh, just a couple white-throats and a chickadee."

"Could you scribe?"

"Sure."

She hangs three animated bags on hooks, sits down, grabs a pencil and clipboard, writes "GRCA" in the "Species" column on an official-looking form and records Brian's words as he scrutinizes the catbird:

"Three-forty-seven ... already know it's HY ... let's double-check the wing and tail ... wing 87 ... tail 89 ... won't double-check the tarsus ... fat 2 ... keel 2 ... make a note that p-covs are particularly abraded ... so are some rectrices ... I think I'll skull this bird again."

While reciting this gobbledygook, he's checking the number on the bird's band, inspecting its wings and tail, measuring feathers with a metal rule, blowing into its breast and under its wings, running his thumb along the wishbone, and reaching for a small container of water.

"Skulling the bird again" doesn't mean Brian will hit the catbird a second time with a frying pan. Instead, he moistens the top of its head with a couple drops of water so he can look under the feathers, move the skin around the skull, and try to determine by the pattern of gray versus red the bird's approximate age.

Then he places the bird beak-down in a small PVC tube on a scale and recites the weight to Lena. He removes the bird from the tube, smoothes a few of its ruffled feathers and steps outside the pavilion. He swings his arms forward in slow motion as he opens his hands. The catbird flies into the nearby foliage screaming unspeakable things about Brian and his family. Brian reaches for the bag with the Gray-cheeked Thrush and the process begins again.

Roger Tharp, Kathy Neff, Charlie DeWitt, Carolyn Weng, Jim Ponshair, Feller DeWitt, Tom Hamilton, John Walhout, Kathryn Mork and others can give their accounts of this project. Seeing it for yourself, however, will beat anybody's description.

The bird-banding program by Brian Johnson and Lena Usyk will resume in late August 2008 at the Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve. It's fascinating, it's free, and it's never the same from day to day. When that time comes again, I hope you can see at least one episode "really up close and personal".