Haehnle Sanctuary Crane Count 09/22/2025
By Don Henise

(Steve Jerant)

The second weekly Sandhill Crane Count at the Haehnle Sanctuary took place Monday. The afternoon was again quite nice and we recorded a few more bird species than the week before. Bird highlights included a family of Trumpeter Swans with 2 adults and 2 juveniles seen in the marsh. Three Bald Eagles were perched in a tree to the far north - 2 adults and 1 juvenile. Many birds were busy in the trees above and behind the kiosk. A flock of Cedar Waxwings kept us entertained throughout the evening with a few Eastern Bluebirds, Eastern Wood-Pewees, and Eastern Phoebes flying sorties in and out of the trees. A Bay-breasted Warbler, and a Scarlet Tanager each made appearances.

_Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)(Don Henise)

Towards the end of the evening, several sparrows were detected in the brush to the right of the overlook - 1 Field Sparrow, 1 Song Sparrow, and our first of the season Lincoln's Sparrows with 3 observed.

A highlight of the evening for this author was a small swarm of half a dozen dragonfly darners that were flying over the grasslands beside the overlook. At one point a Green-striped Darner landed on one of the posts of the kiosk. I was able to catch, photograph and release 2 of the darners that were swarming. The first was a female Common Green Darner and the second was a Mottled Darner, a lifer dragonfly for me.

Mottled Darner (Aeshna clepsydra) (Don Henise, hand model: Don Henise)

Common Green Darner (Anax junius)(Don Henise, finger model: Don Henise)

Green-striped Darner (Aeshna verticalis)(Don Henise)

Total Cranes Roosting: 12

Counters: Ross Green, Steve Jerant, Don Henise

Compiled by: Don Henise

Complete eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S275161862

Michigan State Bird Observatory at Burke Lake Tour 

After a very long absence-2018 was our last trip-JAS did a tour of the Michigan State Bird Observatory at Burke Lake near Bath.  Seven members drove out, three of which had never visited before.  We had great weather, and the nets were well stocked. 

Banding Station (Nolan Williams)

The station consists of a series of mist nest and a banding station.  The mist nests are very fine nets hung vertically in active areas which will ensnare a bird, gently but firmly.  Once caught, the birds are collected and carried to the banding station.

Alex working the nets (Nolan Williams)

We walked to the nets with the banding team, led by Kristy Taylor, Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator.  She explained the process of capture, bird handling, and a lot more.  Haehnle Sanctuary’s nest box monitor and committee member, Alex Johnson, was also on hand to answer questions and share her knowledge of the processes.

Blue Headed Vireo (Nolan Williams)

After the walk, we returned to the banding station where the captured birds are measured, banded, and then set free.  One of the great things that this opportunity affords is a very close view of some of our smallest and most difficult to see birds.  And we got to have them in our hand for their release!

Group viewing bird in hand (Brenda Wineman)

Rose-breasted Grosbeak doesn't have just a rose breast!  (Brenda Wineman)

Redstart male & female (Brenda Wineman)

Complete eBird list available at https://ebird.org/checklist/S273810655

Haehnle Sanctuary Crane Count 09/15/2025
By Don Henise

The counting team began the 2025 fall season of weekly crane counts at the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary on Monday, September 15th.  It was a beautiful warm and sunny day.  Overall birding was quiet throughout the afternoon as we only managed to record 28 species. A few of the bird highlights included a Black-billed Cuckoo, 2 Scarlet Tanagers and a Merlin that raced through shortly before sunset.  We had the obligatory Northern Harrier coursing over the marsh and a handful of Great Egrets in the marsh. Nineteen Sandhill Cranes were counted for the evening. A link to the complete eBird Checklist is below.

Total Cranes Roosting:  19

Counters:   Ross Green, Steve Jerant, Don Henise

Compiled by:  Don Henise

Complete eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S273642774

(Steve Jerant)

Portage Lake SP Fall Birding
by Gary Siegrist

Five JAS members enjoyed a delightful walk in the woods at Portage Lake Unit on this sunny late summer morning. While bird species were low in numbers (32), the highlight of the hike was a group of American Crows mobbing a Red-shouldered Hawk.

(Gary Siegrist)

eBird trip list available at https://ebird.org/checklist/S271130822

Five members of JAS drove down to Monroe County for the annual summer shorebird trip.  Each year we pull a DNR permit to allow car access on the dikes of this facility.  Our usual shorebird experts were unable to lead the group this year.  But since birders live by Blanche DuBois’s maxim that you can “always rely on the kindness of strangers,” we had lots of help from fellow travelers along the dike.

After the usual activity of eagle, cormorant, gulls, & terns observed where the Huron River dumps into Lake Erie, we went into the series of dikes of this complex.  It was looking very dry this year, but then one of the canals in the Schlager unit looked promising.  There were several shorebird species there but a bit far for us to identify all of them.  Among the group were two large sandpipers that could have been godwits, but we were unable to confirm due to distance.

(Steve Jerant)

Looping around to the west we got much better looks at the birds.  This was one of the two best spots of the day.  Those two large sandpipers were indeed the Hudsonian Godwits that we had seen earlier.  There were also Wilson’s & Red-necked Phalarope, Baird’s, Least and  Semipalmated Sandpipers.  We got a tip about a very birdy area in Cell 3 in the ‘banana’. 

While driving the middle causeway, we saw one of the birds on our watchlist, a Whimbrel.  It was doing its best Killdeer impression just walking down the road not bothered by a few thousand pounds of steel coming up on its back. 

After lunch we walked into the Cell 3 pond.  I’ve never walked on dried mudflat soil like this. Each clay block was free floating and moved a bit when you tread on them.  There was an active mudflat with 75 shorebirds and ducks.  Here we saw Ruddy Turnstone, Long-billed Dowitcher, Ruddy Turnstone, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, and Pectoral Sandpiper. 

Cell 3 dried mudflat underfoot and pond in the distance. (Steve Jerant)

We had been seeing large numbers of American White Pelicans throughput the day. On our way back out we got a good angle to see three groups sitting in one view. I counted about 200.

We observed 60 species including 18 shorebirds, 10 waterfowl, and 10 other wetland species. 

eBird Checklist available at https://ebird.org/checklist/S270455040

JAS members went for a weed walk on the Mike Levine Trail near the Portage River.  

 

Highlights included a Pearl Crescent butterfly and the bird of the day was a Yellow-billed cuckoo. The tour was led by Joann Ballbach and finished with some teas brewed from these wonderful misunderstood plants.   

 
Pearl Crescent (Brenda Wineman)

Don Henise's Gallinules post:

Yesterday the JAS Tuesday Morning Group did a weed walk on the Mike Levine Trail from the trail parking lot on Hawkins Road walking southwest on the trail. I only caught the tail end of the walk as I had an early doctor's appointment. After the group walk, I walked on the trail to the wetlands about 6 or 7 tenths mile to the northeast where a pair of Common Gallinules were seen attempting to nest earlier in the summer.

Well, the Gallinules were successful in producing 2 broods. There were a total of 11 gallinules, 2 adults, 4 older young (fully feathered and near adult size), and 5 black downy young.

In "The Birder's Handbook" by Paul Ehrlich, et.al, 1988, it says regarding Common Moorhen (old name at time book was published), "Cooperative breeder with young of first broods oft aiding in care of subsequent broods." Always something new to learn and observe in creation.

Gallinule family (Don Henise)

Michigan Audubon's Jack Pine Warbler (JPW) has published one of Doug Leffler's wonderful warbler pictures.  This is a photo he took near Rives Junction.  The picture is the entire back cover of the Summer 2025 (V102 No 3) edition of the now 100 year old publication.

Congratulations Doug!

Doug's original photo is available on the JAS website HERE.

Riethmiller Rd. Grassland   07/01/2025

(Steve Jerant)

We did our Riethmiller Rd. grassland tour one week later due to the heat dome that covered the upper Midwest the week before.  During our walk the temperatures were only the high 70’s with good sun and a constant breeze to keep us cool and the biting flies at bay.

This site can be very productive, but we generally walk about a quarter of a mile one way.  It is likely the ‘slowest’ tour that we do.  Field & Song Sparrows welcomed us to the grassland and Eastern Meadowlarks followed.  They called throughout the walk. We heard whispers of Henslow’s but they did now show themselves.

The walk continued into the wet area of the trail to the northwest as it links up to the Hoffman Trail.  The water was unusually high for the season and higher than it is in spring.  Here we got Marsh Wren, Swamp Sparrow, and Yellow-eyed Vireo.  Returning to the east we heard the Henslow’s again but no visuals.  At the turn the Northern Harrier that I saw last week while scouting returned and he (first year male) hung around for a while for all of us to get a good, out of season view of this low flying hunter.  He seemed nonplussed by the mobbing of Red-winged Blackbirds.
Black-eyed Susan (Brenda Wineman)

Northern Harrier  (Don Henise)

Near the end of the walk, we finally got a sighting of a flying and briefly perched Henslow’s Sparrow.  The species total was 29.

Henslow's Sparrow (Don Henise)

Eastern Meadowlark (Don Henise)

Eastern Kingbird (Brenda Wineman)

Our eBird checklist is available below including Don Henise’s pictures of some of his other winged friends.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S255931875

Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella)

Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa)

Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton)

Banded Hairstreak (Satyrium calanus)

Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis)

JAS Oak Openings Trip

Five members of JAS traveled over the border to the Oak Openings Metropark in Ohio. The weather was in the 60’s to 70’s, mostly sunny, and a light wind--our best weather for a tour this year, I think.

The carpool group stopped at the Toledo Airport area for a look at the grassland across the street. We didn’t get any great grassland birds but a decent start to our list on the 10-minute stop.

We met up with the rest of the group at the Metropark Lodge and birded that area for about half an hour. We saw the first of many Red-headed Woodpeckers for the day. This is just a great looking bird and a good indicator of savanna habitat.

(Red-headed Woodpecker, Brenda Wineman)

From the lodge area we went south on the Evergreen Lake trail. We met a local birder who had a lead on a Yellow-breasted Chat he reported was very active the day before. We followed him west on the Silver Trail then the Horse trail until we tracked down the now more reclusive chat. We all got to hear him, but alas not all of us had a good look. The walk continued south then back east toward the Evergreen trail after fighting the mosquitoes. In addition to the chat, we also got Red-eyed, White-eyed, and Yellow-throated Vireos as well as a juvenile Summer Tanager.

(Baltimore Oriole, Brenda Wineman)

(Native bee, Brenda Wineman)

(Indigo Bunting, Brenda Wineman)

We returned to the lodge and drove over to the intersection of Girdham & Reed Rds. This area has Vesper and Lark Sparrow, neither of which, unfortunately, we got. Walking the roadside we were able to get Orchard Oriole, and three more swallow species, including a lone Purple Martin.

(Eastern Towhee & Brown-headed Cowbird, Brenda Wineman)

After birding the morning, we were off to Whitehouse for a lunch at the Whitehouse Inn. Since we were outside and I wanted to augment our bird list in any way possible, another list was opened while we ate. The birds were, shall we say, metropolitan types, but I love to hear Chimney Swifts on a summer day. There is so much noise in towns, it’s wonderful to hear a native species in the mix.

(On the Horse trail looking for the elusive chat, Brenda Wineman)

Our eBird trip report including 5 lists of 44 species is available at: https://ebird.org/tripreport/383803

Free Methodist Church Presentation 

On May 6th, Joanna Sblendorio and Penny Rund gave a presentation to a class of fifth graders at the Free Methodist Church. The group had been studying birds during the school year. The interactive presentation began with some fun facts about a few species of birds. A brief overview of the Jackson Audubon Society was given along with some local spots for birding in Jackson County.

Joanna and Penny brought binoculars, a spotting scope, field guides, 3D printed bird skulls and photos of various birds and nests. Different types of nests were discussed as well as the difference between precocial and altricial birds. A topic of discussion during the presentation was what type of bird each student would choose to be (precocial or altricial) and why. The students were very active and interested participants.

Dahlem Big Sit 

On May 27th, the Jackson Audubon Society conducted its annual Big Sit day at Dahlem Environmental Education Center. A total of 29 species were observed and/or heard. While we didn’t see or hear many warblers (only an American Restart, a Common Yellowthroat and a Yellow Warbler), there were some good views of raptors soaring overhead - Broad winged Hawk, Red tailed Hawk and Cooper’s Hawk. Seven people participated in the Big Sit. This event is always a nice alternative to the regular field trips when we are “on the move.” The group enjoyed sharing snacks and conversation.