Our Big Year

This is the Christmas memories/letter that Joseph wrote up for us about 2012:

Our Big Year

            OK, so birds have become integrated into our life in a big way.  You might even say we are bird nuts.  We attend birding clubs in Michigan and Ohio, we drive crazy distances to see rare birds, and we talk nonstop about birds.  You might grow feathers if you stayed too long with us.  Maybe you have seen the movie “The Big Year?”  If so, you will know that when birders do a “Big Year” they try to see as many birds as possible for a certain location (a state, all of North America, etc.) as they can.  While we didn’t intend to do a big year, we ended up having a big year in birding for Michigan and Ohio.

            Last December, we went to the wastewater treatment plant near Muskegon, Michigan, to see Snowy Owls.  We saw two there, and two more on the other side of the state at Tawas Point, where we also saw three Northern Shrikes.  Snowy Owls only come to Michigan when their food sources up north are low.

            In January, we went to the Ohio Young Birder’s Club meeting in Cleveland Ohio and in Columbus where we had a behind-the-scenes tour of the Cleveland Natural History Museum and the Ohio State University Natural History Museum.  We got to see all kinds of rare bird specimens, the best of which were the Ivory Billed Woodpecker, Passenger Pigeon, and Carolina Parakeet (all extinct species).  Sariah and I traveled to Utah for her Uncle Todd’s wedding (and her third grade trip) and spent a whole week just with her Dad!  Todd gave Sariah binoculars for her birthday.

In February, we went to the Ann Arbor meeting of the Audubon Society to look for Redpolls in a city park.  We didn’t see any, but we did see other birds in the area.  We also traveled down to Detroit to visit Belle Isle.  We did see all kinds of great birds there floating in the Detroit River, including Hooded Mergansers among many other types of waterfowl in the river.  We also visited the Belle Isle conservatory, a cool ½ acre playground, and nature center.

In March, we traveled to the Maple River State Game Area in Michigan.  We had a great day birding there.  We also went to see Jane Goodall speak at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.  Jane Goodall is an inspirational speaker.  She spoke of her chimpanzees, of course, and of her hope for the earth and the people that can make changes to take better care of the earth.  Elijah did a science project in March determining which type of birdseed best attracts birds to our feeders.  He won an award for the neatness of his project board.  Brigham decided he wanted to help, so he began doing bird counts on his own.  Each day he’d ask for a piece of blank paper and sit at the kitchen window and write the names of the birds he saw.

            In April, we went birding in Port Clinton, Ohio with our good friends, Mike and Nancy Boyce.  We saw lots of great birds, including Hooded Warbler, American Woodcock, lots of shorebirds, and many water birds.  We also stayed in a cabin in Holland, Michigan.  While there, we attended a nighttime snipe and woodcock walk at the Outdoor Discovery Center.  Woodcocks do a funny mating dance.  Google it!!  We got to go to a Tulip Farm and heard the first of the year Meadowlark singing. May refined Elijah’s project for her own science project, in which she improved the conditions, improved the controls, and improved the counting methods.  Lastly, we traveled to Shiawassee Flats near Saginaw, Michigan, where we saw five species of blackbirds.  They crowded in the fields by the tens of thousands.  Elijah asked for a camera so he could photograph birds, and got one for his birthday.  Sariah was in her first jump rope show at Red Cedar Elementary and did very well.

            In May, Nathan started a conservation and community leadership project to be submitted to the American Birding Association (ABA) competition for Young Birder of the Year.  His project focused on a local nature center where he helped to improve the habitat for birds in multiple ways, did bird counts to establish bird use of the property, recorded breeding species, and helped to build a butterfly garden.  His project lasted through September, after which he wrote up the project and submitted it to ABA, spending a total of about 300 hours on the project.  Nathan also spent his summer taking bird photographs and taking down field notes which will compete in different modules for the YBY competition.

            In May we also attended “The Biggest Week in American Birding” at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory in Northeast Ohio, where we saw a Ruddy Turnstone on the breakwater, and watched (with hundreds of others) a Kirtland’s Warbler resting in a tree while migrating to its nesting ground in Northern Michigan.  We also had a bird-day party for Brigham at the local nature center with his friends from school.  He had a bird cake and a bird walk and asked his friends to donate to the Audubon Society in lieu of gifts.

            In June we took a Kirtland’s Warbler tour in Grayling, Michigan to see one of the world’s rarest species.  Kirtland’s Warblers only breed in Michigan and a few in Ontario in 15-20 year old Jack Pine Trees.  We also went birding by Kayak near Columbus, Ohio with the Ohio Young Birder’s Club.  The three oldest (Nathan, May, and Elijah) went on a “songbird” trip to Ithaca, New York as members of the Michigan State University Children’s Choirs.  They had a great time with young singers like themselves.  Nathan and Elijah got to visit Cornell University, home of the “Cornell Lab of Ornithology.”

In July, Cindi went backpacking on South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan with her friend.  Soon after they got back, Cindi and the kids went on their camping trip in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan.  They went birding in Sylvania State Wilderness Area, on the beach at Little Girl’s Point, and all over the U.P. at waterfalls.  On one of those hikes, Nathan fell into a waterfall and hurt his legs pretty badly.  What a scramble back to the van, while leaving Nathan and May near the waterfall, to get the first aid kit! Nathan used his new knowledge of native herbs to doctor himself and began walking toward the van before I could get to him.

In August, we birded at Seney National Wildlife Refuge, where May saw her favorite bird of the year (an American Bittern).  Nathan got to spend an entire day birding in Seney solo.  He found 15 Grey Jays and watched them in the trees for over 30 minutes.  We also spent time birding in Porcupine Mountains State Park, where Cindi saw her favorite birds.  We saw some Red Breasted Mergansers taking rides down the waterfalls.  Another group of mergansers showed up while we were sitting on a bridge over a small stream.  We thought they might just swim right under us.  Imagine our surprise when they stood up on their feet and ran from near the bridge out to Lake Superior.  We also birded in Hiawatha National Forest, where we saw many birds, including Spruce Grouse, Mourning Warbler, Boreal Chickadee, Philadelphia Vireo, and Connecticut Warbler.  We enjoyed time at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory where we saw Buff Breasted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Merlins, and Semi-palmated Plover. 

We spent time at Tahquamenon Falls State Park where Sariah saw here favorite bird (a Least Bittern) and Elijah saw his favorite (a Spruce Grouse).  We were walking along the Clark Lake Trail when suddenly a bird burst out two feet in front of Elijah.  It scared the wits out of him, but we got to watch it sitting in a Spruce Tree from 10 feet away.  Lastly, in August, we birded in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore where we saw Canada Warblers, Golden Crowned Kinglets, Black Throated Blue Warblers, and Ovenbirds.  In the campground, the kids saw a pair of Redstarts (very small warblers) dive-bomb a hornets’ nest, make a high pitched sound to scare the hornets away, and rip the wasp nest apart, eating the larvae.

            In September, Elijah and Cindi went backpacking for a week, hiking from one end of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to the other  (43 miles) where they saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch on the ground a foot away, Pine Warbler, a Bald Eagle snatch a chickadee out of the air, Trumpeter Swan (from 20 feet away), and all kinds of other warblers in migration.  I (Joseph) built two new platform bird feeders for our backyard.  These get constant attention from our backyard birds and from the pairs of eyes watching them from inside the kitchen.  We visited Hartwick Pines State Park just North of Gaylord, Michigan where we saw giant White Pine trees and an Evening Grosbeak.  Sariah auditioned for the next choir up called CMS Singers and was admitted.  She sang her first solo this year.

            In September, Nathan was birding in some local mudflats when he sank to his waist in the mud.  He lost one of his muck boots, and was lucky that he didn’t sink any further.  He hurled his camera and binoculars to safety and tried but failed to get his stuck boot out of the mud.

In October, each of the kids built a bird feeder near Grand Rapids, Michigan for the Grand Rapids Jr. Audubon Society meeting, which we have been using to feed our birds.  We also joined the Big Sit in Meadowbrook Marsh in Northeastern Ohio where we saw a Nelson’s Sparrow, Sandpipers, Black Crowned Night Herons, Cape May Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, and a Gray Cheeked Thrush.  Nathan also asked for a better camera for his birthday, and when he got it, sold his old camera to Sariah.  Both of them are eagerly photographing birds.  Nathan turned his project in to the American Birding Association and awaits the judges’ results in late March/early April of 2013.

In November, we attended the Ohio Young Birders Conference in Dayton, Ohio where Nathan presented in bird identification, and received a compliment on his skillz from one of the foremost birding book authors in the U.S. (Ken Kauffman).  We also traveled to Allegan County, Michigan to bird on the shore of Lake Michigan, where Nathan saw his favorite bird of the year (a Golden Eagle).  May competed in the Solo and Ensemble Festival with two other flute players and got a I (one) and a medal.  This is the highest rank possible.  We drove to Whitefish Point Bird Observatory where we saw Redpolls, a Hoary Redpoll, Pine Grosbeaks, and Bohemian Waxwings (Brigham’s and my favorite of the year).  It was a luxury to see these Bohemians up close eating juniper berries in the bushes.  May saved up her money to buy a camera with which she is also photographing birds.  Only Brigham has yet to get a birding camera.  Grandpa came to visit for Thanksgiving where we enjoyed bounteous food and lots of football!

This December we will be doing the Christmas Bird Count, Trapping House Sparrows (an invasive species crowding out native species), and dreaming about our big birding trip to Southern Florida coming up in April.