This is, thankfully, a three day weekend because of the Labor Day holiday, and it’s time to relax! We get to take the camper and spend it with the family at a campground in Mid-Michigan named Wilson State Park in Harrison, Michigan.

It is also the opportunity to get the focus off of summer sports and to get back into putting my sights on the birds!

This is the first time I had birded Clare county here in Michigan, so I was excited at the plethora of county life birds I would see this weekend. Coming into the weekend I had seen, or I guess I could say recorded, was a Mourning Dove as I drove through the county 3 years ago.

The Friday I drove up, we didn’t get in the campground until 9 pm, so unfortunately, nothing was added to my list. Saturday was also a wash due to the fact that my sinuses acted up, and I was incoherent and lethargic all day. This makes it very difficult to concentrate on my avian friends, let alone with my family that I was camping with.

Finally, on Sunday morning, I felt well enough to get a good amount of time in the morning to get some birding in!

I headed to Mid Michigan College in Harrison, MI, to start my day. I saw species such as Cedar Waxwing and Eastern Bluebird. I ended up seeing 15 species total in about 30 minutes. I then went to Shamrock Park in Clare to see Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, and Belted Kingfisher. Afterward, I went to a public boat ramp on Little Long Lake in Harrison to see a couple of Red Headed Woodpeckers chasing each other around the forest canopy. In a little over 2 hours, I was able to check off 34 species. No bad for taking the opportunity that was given.

I picked one more bird, an Osprey, on Monday morning that brought my total of birds seen to 35. While I was hoping to have Saturday morning to get more in, it just was not meant to be. I guess I’ll have to come back in the future and really have a go in this area of Michigan.

Until next time, you will find me on the trails taking another opportunity!

BIRDS SEEN ON VACATION:

• Osprey
• Common Loon
• Red Headed Woodpecker
• Mourning Dove
• Black capped chickadee
• Red shouldered Hawk
• Red Bellied Woodpecker
• Blue Jay
• Wild Turkey
• Turkey Vulture
• Wood Duck
• Mallard
• Killdeer
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Belted Kingfisher
• American Goldfinch
• American Crow
• Common Raven
• Least Flycatcher
• Eastern Wood Pewee
• Eastern Bluebird
• American Robin
• House Finch
• Chipping Sparrow
• Tufted Titmouse
• White Breated Nuthatch
• Cedar Waxwing
• Ring Billed Gull
• Northern Flicker
• Downy Woodpecker
• Canada Goose
• Rock Pigeon
• European Starling
• Red Winged Blackbird