Re: [MDOsprey] RFI: Kirtland's Warbler

Jane Kostenko (jkostenko@somd.lib.md.us)
Thu, 17 Jun 1999 08:43:48 -0400 

Steve--
    Tyler and I went on the Mio tour May 16 and were glad we did, having
spent several hours the night before trying to see/hear a Kirtland's along
the road, where you are allowed to bird. (The other post to Osprey is dead
on about not being allowed back along tour trails, etc.) We had one probable
Kirtland's sing and display briefly in bad light for us, but it took the
tour to get us definitive looks.
    I'm including info a MI birder sent us about the Grayling, MI, tour,
which may be offered daily (that's what it says anyhow, versus the
clearly-marked Wed.-Sun. Mio tours info). It's worth checking in to.
    Good luck! Jane Kostenko

jkostenko@somd.lib.md.us
California, MD


>>
Due to recent postings on various birding email groups, I think it is the
time of year again to answer some common questions about Kirtland's Warbler.

  Kirtland's Warbler arrives on its breeding grounds in northern Lower
Michigan in mid-May (usually between May 15 and 20). The best way to see it
is on the guided tours given by either the US Forest Service out of Mio or
the US Fish & Wildlife Service out of Grayling. The Mio tours for 1999 will
run from May 15 through July 2 on Wednesday - Sunday mornings at 7am (no
tours on Mondays or Tuesdays). The tours leave from the Mio Forest Service
Ranger Station (on M-33 just south of the AuSable River), and cost $5.00 per
person. The Grayling tours for 1999 (free of charge) will start daily at 7am
from May 15 through July 4 at the Holiday Inn in downtown Grayling. After
late June or early July, it becomes much more difficult to find KWs because
they don't sing nearly as much as earlier in the year. A web page has been
set up by the Forest Service with general information about Kirtland's
warbler conservation and specific information about their tours:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/hmnf/hmdoc6.htm

  There are many places along roadsides where the warblers can be heard and
seen.  Look for patchy jack pine stands with trees 8-16 feet tall in the
vicinity of Mio or Grayling.  You can stop on the roads (if there's no
traffic, of course) but it is illegal to enter the breeding areas or even
walk off the roadsides in those areas; there are signs posted on the
roadsides to remind you.  From past experience working in these forests, I
would say that in spring in appropriate habitat you are almost guaranteed
seeing or hearing Kirtland's warbler, clay-colored, vesper, Lincoln's, song,
field, chipping, and other sparrows, brown thrasher, hermit thrush,
nashville & yellow-rumped warblers, american crow, black-capped chickadee,
brown-headed cowbird, flicker, downy woodpecker, red-breasted nuthatch, and
blue jay.  Other good possibilities (but a little less common) include
upland sandpiper, both cuckoos, common nighthawk, and other warblers in
migration. Black-backed woodpeckers can sometimes be found in very recent
burns, but usually abandon an area 1-2 years after a burn.  It may be
possible to find these birds by yourself from the roadsides if you spend
a lot of time driving around, but it is much easier if you go on the tours.

Good luck!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Glenn Palmgren                               School of Natural Resources
Graduate Student - Forest Ecology             & Environment
palmgren@umich.edu                           University of Michigan
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~palmgren/     Ann Arbor, Michigan  48109