My name is Brennan Schuler, and this is how my Great Backyard Bird Count went.
On Saturday, Feb. 13, my friend and I went up to Manistee to find the Barrow’s Goldeneye. He is doing a Michigan Big Year, so we drove up in the morning, stopping in Dublin to pick up some beef jerky, take a bathroom break, and see if we could get a Red-headed Woodpecker to add to his list but sadly didn’t find one.
The Barrow’s Goldeneye appears at the center of the photo taken by Brennan while participating in the 2021 Great Backyard Bird Count.
We drove to where the Barrow’s sighting was reported, and to our luck, it was there. There were two open water spots, and the birds kept flying back and forth between the two. There were gulls all over the ice and fishermen. There were Redhead, Common Merganser, Mallard, and scaups mixed in with the goldeneye.
I was able to spot it first, and we got the spotting scope out and found it. We got an awesome view of the bird.
Our next stop was Traverse City to see if we could find a Cackling Goose, but sadly we didn’t find one, and the snow was coming down hard. We stopped at a few places, and the first was Boardman Lake, where we found a Double-crested Cormorant! During the middle of winter, in the snowstorm, we saw other birds like Mallards, Black Duck, gulls, Mute Swan, Bufflehead, and Canada Geese.
We then stopped at Union Street Dam, where we found more ducks and other birds. We found Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Bufflehead, Redhead, Mallard, and goldeneye. We even heard chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatch.
Our final stop was Clinch Marina, where we saw over 1,000 Redhead in huge rafts! It was so awesome to see. There were some goldeneyes and Mallard off in the distance, but you couldn’t see that far into the bay because of the snow. One of the better finds there was finding a Lesser Scaup right next to a Greater Scaup. There had to be at least around 300 of the Greater Scaup.
Overall it was an awesome day, and I even got a life bird! It was definitely worth the trip.
~ by Brennan Schuler, Michigan Young Birders Network participant
The Michigan Young Birders Network, a program of Michigan Audubon, aims to connect young birders (13–18 years old) and offer a space for them to share their enthusiasm for the avian world.
Ways To Participate in the MYBN
Check out a monthly meeting!
Our virtual meetings gather on the first Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m., offering a space for us to delve into a variety of topics surrounding birds and the conservation they depend on. Join us on Feb. 3 to discuss window collisions, woodpecker ID tips, and ideas for future MYBN topics and projects. Zoom login information can be found here.
Join the conversation!
MYBN utilizes a Discord server as a chatroom. Young birders from around the state send instant messages back and forth to discuss bird sightings, upcoming meetings, and fun facts. The server is also a great place to ask questions about birding hotspots, find help in identifying a bird, and more. Click here to join.
