Birding the Basin

May 9, 2008

This from Mary Ellen Sargent.
Hi all,

Just wanted to give you some results of birding the area today:

Thanks, Kevin, for the directions to the Tri-colored Blackbird site in Malin. We were able to study the birds in the blackberry bushes.

Thanks, Charlotte, for the location of the Swainson's Hawk over the ridge on Hwy 161. The dark morph was fence sitting. On a related note, I saw a light morph on the Hwy 66 side of town.

For those of you who like hawks, there's a Red-tailed nest on the Lost River in Merrill in downtown, right by the Main St. bridge.....3 downy babies peaking out. Another nest is across from Diamond S meats on Hwy 39 and another is off Hwy 66 just before Lawanda Hills.

White Lake area had a beautiful Bald Eagle. While cruising down Hwy 161, we saw large, I mean large, flocks of White-faced Ibis heading to the refuge. We also were able to compare Caspian and Foster's Terns.

Indian Tom Lake had lots of Western Kingbirds.

Miller Island hosted over 5 Black Terns by the boat launch, and the resident Great Horned Owl and a Yellow Warbler, both in the picnic area.

Mary Ellen Sargent