Chris Izworski's daily Michigan birding report turns to Ottawa County this morning, where the post-breeding doldrums are giving way to the first real push of shorebird migration. Harbor Island continues to dominate the activity charts with 94 Double-crested Cormorants counted as recently as Wednesday, along with 8 Great Egrets and a steady stream of Least Sandpipers, 7 individuals tallied over the past two weeks. The county has logged 116 species in the past 14 days across 116 observations, which tells you participation has been selective rather than intensive. That said, there is news worth noting here.
The Rare Birds Moving Through
A Swallow-tailed Kite showed up on July 13 at a residential address in Coopersville, which is the kind of vagrant that deserves attention even if it has likely moved on by now. More intriguingly, a Clay-colored Sparrow was reported on July 5 at the 136th Avenue bridge over the Pigeon River. That is a bird worth relocating if you have not connected with it yet, though mid-July is not the season to expect it lingering. The Blue-winged Teal flock of 10 at Window on the Waterfront on July 8 is worth mentioning as a reminder that early dabbler movement is underway, even in the depths of summer. A Black-crowned Night Heron at a residential location on July 6 rounds out the flagged sightings, another one to chase if still present.
Water Birds and the Heat
Lake Macatawa continues to hold the standard summer contingent of waterfowl: 25 Canada Geese and 20 Mallards at Chippewa Point as of yesterday, along with 4 Ring-billed Gulls and 15 American Herring Gulls reported from Holland State Park on July 15. These are stable numbers for this time of year. The shorebird window is opening though, and the Least Sandpipers at Harbor Island are the first concrete evidence of that push southward. Expect that site to remain productive through August as transient peeps cycle through.
Passerines Thinning Out
The songbird data reflect the season accurately. Red-winged Blackbirds number 16 at Paw Paw Park west, American Robins 10 at the same location, and Song Sparrows 4. Savannah Sparrows, which can be locally common in appropriate habitat, are represented by 6 birds at Green Pastures on July 14. These are territorial birds or family groups; you are not seeing strong migration activity. Warblers are largely silent and harder to locate. Chimney Swifts remain present with 4 reported at Sawgrass as of this morning, which aligns with what we see across the Lower Peninsula in mid-July. American Crows and Common Grackles round out the corvid and blackbird counts.
The Weather and What It Means
Today brings 91 degrees with smoke from distant fires and light south-southwest winds at 3 to 8 miles per hour. That south wind direction is mildly favorable for northbound migrants, but we are past the main warblers-in-spring window anyway. Tonight clears to partly cloudy with 75 degrees. Tomorrow shifts to northwest winds at 10 to 15 miles per hour with thunderstorms in the forecast, which will not help visibility. The heat and poor air quality today will suppress activity; early morning birding before 7:30 AM remains your best window, with sunrise at 6:19 and the dawn chorus window running through 7:49.
Where to Focus Your Time
Harbor Island is the obvious choice given the cormorant concentration, the egret presence, and the early shorebird activity. 234 species have been recorded there historically, and the waterfront habitat is productive in mid-summer when inland spots flatten out. Holland State Park, with 255 species on the all-time list, offers more variety and the potential to connect with gulls and terns if anything is moving. The Upper Macatawa Natural Area and its access points remain steady producers as well, though the data for the past two weeks suggest less intensive coverage there.
This is a slow period in Ottawa County relative to migration seasons, but the vagrant potential and the opening of shorebird movement make it worth working if you are in the region. The heat today is a real constraint.
See the live map and full county data at https://birding.chrisizworski.com.