The Winter Wren!

  This weekend I got 3 new birds to put me at 106. I'm a little perturbed that I've missed both Snow Geese and Greater White-fronted Geese. Jim had both of those on flyovers. I haven't seen hardly any geese in the air at all this spring and they have all been Canadas. Frustrating but that's birding.
  Saturday morning after returning from the grocery store at 5:30am, I passed an area in Old Mill Creek on Rt.45 just north of Grass Lake Rd. that had some wet meadow near a forest edge. Seeing as there was no traffic here at this time. I pulled off the road, turned my car off and rolled the window down. Almost immediately heard 2 distinct and separate "peent"s and the twittering noise of a display flight. AMERICAN WOODCOCK! Awesome. Unfortunately, I had to get home and didn't have time to see if I could get a visual on the performers. Here's a great youtube clip on the mating call and display: American Woodcock
   This morning, Sunday 3/11, I headed out to the lakefront to try and find geese or Black Scoters on the move. I started at Van Patten Woods where I saw some waterfowl in the distance but they weren't geese so I didn't bother with them. I then went to the Point at NPM and scanned the lake for birds. The regulars were there along with 2 female-type WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS. Also at NPM was my first flock of BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS this spring. The weather was beautiful with temps in the 50's and light south winds, so it was a great day to be out.
   The next stop was the South Unit of IBSP where a marsh wren was heard yesterday. I checked the pond where the bird was heard, but I got nothin'. Tons of SONG SPARROWS were out and about.
  The bird of the day, though, was identified by its twinkling flutelike song: Winter Wren
  The Winter Wren (#106) is a little brown fluffball of a bird but it has a beautiful voice! I heard this bird while walking on the road at the South Unit near the lodge. It was singing in a small woodlot with many logs and shrubs. I could never get a visual, though. It just kept moving away from me.