Four members of JAS visited West Lake Preserve in northwestern Washtenaw County on the last day of June.  We've visited this preserve years ago for a winter walk so this was our first warm season tour.  The grasslands have been expanded since that tour years ago and there have been sightings of some good grassland birds.

Vesper Savanna, and Henslow's Sparrows have been recorded so we came out to find some of these.  Unfortunately, it was not a very birdy day and a bit late in the season.  We worked the east grassland as it is the most mature of the property, but alas, our only grassland sparrow was a Field Sparrow.  

(Steve Jerant)

We observed 26 species in total and had a nice walk on a pleasant morning.  It is a beautiful property and has marsh, swamp, lake, pond, and oak hickory forest habitats in addition to the grasslands.

eBird checklist available at https://ebird.org/checklist/S366201338

Grassland tour of Watkins Lake SP 06/16/2026

We visited Watkins Lake SP for our annual summer grassland tour. The weather was a bit cool, sunny, and just enough wind to keep the mosquitos in check. Eight JAS members participated in the outing, including two joining one of our walks for the first time.

As we were hearing Bobolink on the eastern side of the parking lot, we started with a walk toward the Washtenaw County side of the property first. We did get a Bobolink and a bonus. Don spotted nesting-type behavior of a North Mockingbird. He tracked it down and found an active nest. So our supply of WLSP mockingbirds will be refreshed for next year!

Northern Mockingbird on nest (Don Henise)

After Great Blue and Green Herons were spotted in the distance over the lake, we moved west toward the upland grassland. The walk west over the old railroad grade provided a nice woodland boundary territory to observe before we go full prairie. The upland section is very approachable with a gentle trail to the top. Views to the east are great and we are able to see the opening on the opposite clearing on the Washtenaw County Preserve property to the east. We generally do a fall tour there for a bit of autumn color views.

We observed Henslow’s, Song, Chipping, & Field Sparrow, Male & Female Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, and American Goldfinch.

Female Bobolink (Don Henise)

Male Bobolink (Don Henise)

There’s a picnic table on the top and it made a nice spot for the group picture.

(Steve Jerant)

The walk ended with a short walk in the small wooded area adjacent to the lake just south of the parking lot. We picked up a few woodland species before closing the list out at 38. Some of group got some lifers on this walk and that’s always a plus. The next tour will be another grassland walk at the West Lake Preserve in Washtenaw County.

eBird checklist https://ebird.org/checklist/S358453755

MA/JAS 2026 BIRDATHON

Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary

The Jackson Audubon Society participated in the 2026 Michigan Audubon Birdathon on May 20th.  This was a friendly competition with two other chapters, Capital Area Audubon and Macomb Audubon Society.  The Whitefish Point Bird Observatory also took part in the event.

Our team counted 83 species from 5 AM to 10 PM on Wednesday.  As Pat and I walked into the overlook area at 0500 hours and I heard the distinctive 'peent' of the American Woodcock, I knew it would be a great day.  

Our birders worked five areas of the sanctuary during the Birdathon.  The Wooster Rd. Dike trail, Harold Wing overlook & grasslands trail, and the Woodland trail and grasslands on the trails to the north.  In addition, for the day's event, we opened access to the Wooster Rd. grasslands in the west and the Klee tract on the east. 

A list of the details are below, but highlights include a morning and evening American Woodcock, both Black- and Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, 15 warblers, six flycatchers, five thrushes, four wrens, three vireos, Baltimore & orchard Oriole,  and a Mourning Dove in an oak tree.

Great Crested Flycatcher

Ten percent of the Birdathon donations made to event for JAS will go to our chapter. If we have either the highest species count or the highest donation level, our share portion will be 25%.  So if you've not yet donated, please do so before the donation page closes on June 4th.

Thanks to our counters:
Brenda Wineman
Pat Muldoon
Penny Rund
Sydney Fitzpatrick
Steve Jerant

Photo credits: Sydney Fitzpatrick & Brenda Wineman

The complete bird and checklists are available on the eBird Trip list at:
https://ebird.org/tripreport/525649

Muskegon Wastewater Facility & Pools of Calhoun County

We had great weather for our first spring tour of 2026.  Hopefully that will continue for the season.  (Spoiler alert:  it didn’t even last for this trip)  The drive to Muskegon from Albion was filled with flowering Redbuds and Serviceberries.

After checking in at the administration building, we took a quick walk on the trails surrounding the building.  We observed songbirds and other critters we knew we wouldn’t be seeing for a few hours on the dike.  Of note was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, and House Wren (first of year for some of the group)

On the dikes it was windy, but we had sun to help with the cold.  The pools were well stocked with a decent variety of waterfowl.  The high-count species were Northern Shoveler, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Gadwall, and Ruddy Duck.  We also got a few Blue-winged Teal, Mallard, Redhead, and only TWO Ring-necked Duck.  A good number of Canada Goose we about, some continuing the questionable practice of building their nest on an aerator impeller.  

Highlights of the dike drive were spotting some Horned Grebe, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and just a lot of gulls on the road bisecting the main settlement ponds.  And just before coming down, we watched a Northern Harrier and a Red-tail Hawk harassing some Eastern Meadowlarks.

The lower pools were not very birdy or wet, but we did pick up some Horned Lark and Bonaparte's Gull.

We had a wonderful lunch at  Turks Tavern. This is really a great place!

After lunch, we took the long way back to Calhoun County just in time for the rain.  Dale & Doug’s earlier scouting did not look promising. Our only real stop was at the V-Drive North Fluddle.  There were lots of both species of Yellowlegs and a bonus Pectoral Sandpiper.

The two lists for the trip are below.

Muskegon Facility list:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S325172841

V-Drive North Fluddle list:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S325709333

Woodcock Walk at Riethmiller Grasslands

Our originally scheduled walk was postponed one week due to expected lightning.  And while it was a bit colder than last week, it was surely a much nicer evening.  Ten participants came out to see the spectacle that is the spring breeding courtship display of the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor).  

(Brenda Wineman)

We had some great birds while we were waiting for the show including Ring-necked Pheasant, Red-tailed Hawk, 2 Osprey, American Bittern, and our bird of honor's cousin, the Wilson's Snipe.

The 'peent' calls started about 20 minutes after sunset.  A few minutes later the show started with the quick vertical rise, overflight, then landing. 

I counted 7 displays, of which I only saw three.  All of our attendees were able to see at least one of the flights.  This was the first Woodcock display experience for several in our group.  Woodcocks at Riethmiller grassland is one of my favorite tours and this marks my eighth outing at Riethmiller-and my record is 8 & O.

I'll end with a description of this spring wonder from about 130 years ago.

Neltje Blanchan describes the sky dance:

In the early spring any one who takes an interest in the woodcock, aside from its flavor, will be repaid for one's tramp through the swale, at evening, to see the bird go through a series of aerial antics and attestations of affection to his inamorata. Standing with his bill pointing downward and his body inclined for-ward, he calls out pink, pink, as much as to say: "Now look, the performance is about to begin"; then suddenly he springs from the ground, flies around and around in circles, his short stiff wings whistling as he goes, higher, higher, faster, faster, and louder and louder, as he sweeps by overhead in erratic circles, each overlapping the other, until the end of the spiral described must be fully three hundred feet from the ground. Now, uttering a sharp whistle, down he comes, pitching, darting, and finally alighting very near the spot from which he set out. Pink, pink, he again calls, to make sure his efforts are not lost upon the object of his affection, and before he can fairly have recovered his breath, off he goes on another series of gyrations accompanied by wing music.

From The Bird Book by Neltje Blanchan,1897

And now back to the 21st century: our trip eBird list is available at  https://ebird.org/checklist/S318516310

Early Waterfowl Tour

We had a great turnout on Saturday celebrating the second day of spring and our annual Early Waterfowl Tour.  The tour stated at Watkins Lake SP and visited other lakes in the Jackson area.

Before we got started we received a brief from Geoffrey from the Friends of Watkins Lake (FoWL) to let us know about the work this conservation and support group is doing for the property.  It's a great place and if you are interested in the work they're doing, check them out their social media and web.

After FoWL, Sybil with Irish Hills Concerned Citizens let the group know about the advocacy they are doing in regards to the proposed gravel mining operation that is being planned to the west and east of Watkins Lake.  They shared concerns about what effects a mining operation will have on the park.

The day was overcast and certainly colder, by just 30 degrees, from our spectacular first day of primavera.  After the requisite sighting of the park's Northern Mockingbirds, we walked the road into the lake.  We had some wildfowl but not the spectacular variety we usually get.  Trumper Swan, Bonaparte's Gull, and Gadwall were some of the 10 waterfowl we observed.  Other species highlights included mature Bald Eagle on next, Belted Kingfisher,  first Tree Swallows, and our mimic friend, mentioned above.  The beloved Ruddy Duck was absent.

From Watkins, we checked out Little Wolf Lake where we picked up Horned Grebe and Lesser Scaup.

Next we stopped and the Portage Lake County Park.  This verry accessible viewing spot added Common Goldeneye and Common Loon to our day's list.  Also spotted Great Blue Heron.

The last stop on the official tour was the always productive Cutler & Dunn Rds. wetland.  This place is great for Northern Pintail and we were not disappointed-estimated count was 200.  We also added Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, and Green-winged Teal

For our four checklists our total bird count was 46 including 20 goose, swan, duck, grebe, loon, and gull species.  See the list links below.

Final stop at Cutler Rd. (Steve Jerant)

eBird Checklists

Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/490652
Watkin's Lake:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S311375341
Little Wolf Lake: https://ebird.org/checklist/S311401320
Portage Lake CP: https://ebird.org/checklist/S311434475
Cutler rd. wetland: https://ebird.org/checklist/S311475360

We hit the one good weather day this quarter for our Red-headed Woodpecker search on the Hoffman trail.  Eight JAS members (plus one juvenile) came out for the walk.  This is traditionally a great place for getting these wonderful woodpeckers and we were not disappointed.  We tallied 10 individuals, including 2 young birds.  The only negative was the morning was overcast, so we did not get to see them in the bright sunshine.

Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) (Don Henise)

The other highlight of the trip was a Northern Shrike.  Yes, that is the 4 pixels sitting the top of that tree, below.  It was way out in the marsh, as they tend to be most times.  Don was able to verify it for us with his long lens.  

Northern Shrike (Lanius borealis)(Don Henise)

Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)(Don Henise)

(Steve Jerant)

Our trip list is available at https://ebird.org/checklist/S305704346

JAS Tour of Ella Sharp Park

Eleven JAS members came out for a first-ever tour of the the Ella Sharp Park.  While we have been using the Ella Sharp Museum for our programs for decades, we've never done a JAS bird walk at the surrounding park.  Luckily for us, Don and Robyn Henise have birded there-many times.

(Steve Jerant)

Don led us into the woods north of the soccer fields.  This is a series of bike trails so they do get a bit winding.  While a bit overgrown, it was birdy as Don predicted.  We walked the snow covered trails though woodland, swamp, and a little bit of a wet meadow.  Following along the swamp to the east we came across a flock of American Robin.  Even with all those robins about we were able to get a few good looks at a Hermit Thrush.  Luckily the thrush was doing more thrushing and a bit less hermitting.

Also spotted in the same area was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Pileated Woodpecker.  Over the entire walk we observed 26 species.  Highlights included two flyovers of a Coppers Hawk, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and multiple Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Hermit Thrush.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)(BWineman)

The trip eBird list available at https://ebird.org/checklist/S299425678

In Memoriam Judith Clancy Cory 

May 27, 1931 — December 20, 2025

We are saddened to learn that a dear friend of the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary passed away last month. Judith Clancy was born in 1931 and was the daughter of Phyllis Averill Haehnle (born 1905). Phyllis was the person for whom the Sanctuary is named. Her father was Casper 'Cap' Haehnle (1876-1958) who owned the land that became the initial donation in 1955 to Michigan Audubon for the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary.

Judy continued the generosity of her grandfather with multiple land donations in the 1980s adding over 150 acres to the property. As recently as three years ago, at the age of 91, she visited the Sanctuary and stayed at her beloved cottage on Eagle Lake.

Judy on the porch of her Eagle Lake cottage (2013)

Her obituary is available at: https://www.chicagolandcremationoptions.com/obituary/judith-cory

JAS Tour of MacCready Reserve 01/13/2026

Our 2026 year kickoff tour ended up being a punt.  Due to weather, we postponed the event from January 6 to the 13th.  Ten JAS members, including a brand new one, walked the trails of the preserve on a warm day of mid thirties temperature and an overcast sky.  Enough of the snow & ice had been melted so the trails were moderate.  We had a good strong wind blowing periodically and rain threatened but held off until after our walk was completed.

(John Scaramucci)

We walked trail north then east to crop tree forest.  This ended up being the birdiest part of the morning.  Going in we were greeted with a chorus of American Robin.  They were very busing moving in and out of the conifers.  We estimated 200 for our eBird list.  We also recorded multiple Piliated Woodpecker,  White-throated Sparrow, Brown Creeper, and Golden-crowned Kinglet.

Continuing north to property boundary then east on purple trail we made a back & forth pass along the pond.  We could not find the Winter Wren that Don had spotted a few days earlier but did see plenty of recent beaver activity along the water's edge. 

The trip eBird list is available at https://ebird.org/checklist/S294062799