The long-billed curlew is the largest shorebird species and one of the most threatened on the North American continent. The summer range of the long-billed curlew includes much of the western United States along with the southern portion of the Canadian prairie provinces. It winters primarily from central California and coastal Texas southward through Mexico.So, when this bird was found at the South Haven Airport in Van Buren County (Michigan) on Tuesday, July 20, 2010, I knew I had to do a road trip to see this great bird.
I have seen this species before in Colorado, but never here in Michigan. There is good reason for this, since this is the first "documented" record for the species. I got word of this bird this morning, but I was at work and really could not just "skip out" unnoticed. Therefore, I started to conjure up a plan to get this bird, which if I were successful, would be my 368th species for my Michigan list.
All my plans to steal away from work kept falling apart and I was beginning to wonder if I would have to wait until the weekend to chase this thing. Several hours past and I was giving up hope until my friend Lyle Hamilton called and asked me if I wanted to go with him and Sean Bachman to see the curlew? I said, "yes, of course!"
I had less than an hour to gather up my gear and meet them at a predetermined meeting point for the 2 1/2 hour drive to the airport were the bird was hanging out. The ride to our rendezvous point was un eventful. However, our drive to the bird was not. The excitement came as torrential rain. A rain which the windshield wipers could not keep up with. That, coupled with the limited sight ability of the car ahead of us, made for some excitement.
We arrived unscathed to the airport, where several birders were gathered, peering at the curlew through their scopes. Scopes were needed seeing the bird was 150 yards or more away. Nonetheless, nice, clear views of this bird could be enjoyed as it feed nonstop.
Lyle, Sean and myself spent an hour watching the bird and discussing how the bird seemed ill. We could see what we believed was the bird's breast bone protruding through the birds feathers. It was encouraging seeing the bird feeding so much.
We started to get hungry ourselves and left the bird around 7:20PM. We arrived at Pizza Hut to gorge on Pizza before our ride home. While waiting for our orders to arrive to our table, I received and email stating the bird was seen flying away at 7:32. It headed in a NNE direction and was watched until it flew out of sight.
The three of us felt lucky that we left to see this bird an hour earlier than planned. If we hadn't, we would have missed it. Amazing how sometimes things all come together and work out. This was a life bird for Sean and a state bird for both Lyle and myself. In fact, this was the 366th species I have seen here in Michigan.
0 comments:
Post a Comment