In between bouts of strong wind and rain this week, there have been some very good bird sightings at the watch. On Monday past a Say’s Phoebe, a vagrant from the West, spent a couple of hours in the vicinity of the watch area. As far as a I can tell looking at eBird records, this is the first sighting for Mackinac County. Photo by Steve Baker. This shot, even though silhouetted, shows the basic shape of the bird; longer tailed and longer winged than Eastern Phoebe, a more elegant bird overall.
Yesterday, among some high-flying TVs migrating out over the strait, was a Black Vulture. This species, thought of as a southern bird or sub-tropical even, seems to be showing up with increasing frequency in more northern areas. This was on the heals of a very large Turkey Vulture (246) movement the day previous on very strong SW winds.
