The above range map shows the breeding, nonbreeding and migration routes of Smith's Longspurs. This species is not seen here in Michigan very often. In fact, before the locating of these birds, there were only 14 accepted records (all but one are U.P. records, I believe)...which makes seeing these birds a big deal IMO. Although, I am willing to bet, that this species is in our state far more than we realize!!
Upon hearing several reports of Smith's Longspurs in Berrien County (Michigan), (initially discovered by Alison Világ and Rhoda Johnson), Lyle Hamilton and I made a fast trek over there late this afternoon.
Amongst the off and on rain and the hoards of state police cars (no less than 10) working I-94 with a vengeance, we made it to Berrien County unscathed...until we hit the dirt roads, which were actually mud bogs (but that is another story).
We found the location of the birds on Buffalo Road (between Avery RD and Beaver Dam Rd). There were loads of Horned Larks singing and displaying. We also heard a Western Meadowlark call, but only once.
When we arrived, there was a single birder walking the road. He said he was there for over an hour and didn't see a single Smith's Longspur. Lyle and I aren't ones to easily give up or claim defeat, so we marched on down the road, stopping occasionally to scope out the corn stubble for our intended targets.
Within the first half hour we came up empty. I eventually located a single male perched ona "stalk" but he was bumped off by a Song Sparrow before I could get Lyle on the bird.
We never relocated that bird, so we continued on down the road. We stopped and checked both the north and south sides of the road without success. While we were stopped, I eventually heard the familiar fly notes of two Smith's. I yelled out to Lyle there are two right here. They almost flew over us, but the lighting was crap. I could tell that one was a male. We both decide to try and "pish" them in. As we did, they immediately turned around and dropped to the ground less than 50 feet away from us in the corn stubble.
We search for an hour to try and find them, but for some reason, they seemed to just be swallowed up in the corn.
In the meantime, several birders arrived. They asked if we had any luck. Lyle and I told them about the two we pished in and pointed to where they landed. We all searched for almost another 45 minutes, never finding them.
One of the new arriving birders asked us if they had "white in the face?" I said, "YEAH!" he replied, "well, I had about 6 birds flying over here." Sure enough, when I put my bins on the birds--you could see that they were indeed Smith's Longspurs.
Lyle and I immediately put our scopes on the birds when they landed. I found a female right away while Lyle found a male. I then found two more males. Lyle and I helped a few people locate the birds and gave others views through our scopes. These birds were lifers for everyone there, including Lyle.
We got exceptional looks at some absolutely stunning males. Far better looks than I had 10 days ago with my lifers in Mercer County Ohio (see the posting below).
Completely satisfied with our success, Lyle and I headed home. I am glad Lyle asked me to come along, since this species was my 356Th for the state of Michigan.
The light had faded and there was no way (yet again) for me to get photos of these birds. oh, well...nonetheless, I got wonderful looks at these great birds.
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