Delta County is hosting a Wilson's Phalarope at Portage Marsh again this morning, making it the third straight day with this species at the marsh. The bird was first flagged yesterday at 5:31 p.m., and it has stuck around through today. This is the notable sighting worth your drive into the county if you are chasing it, though the overall conditions in Delta suggest you will find plenty to occupy you while you are there.
The Wilson's Phalarope situation at Portage Marsh has been remarkable for the Upper Peninsula in early May. The eBird reports show multiple individual sightings across May 3 and 4, with at least three birds reported on May 4 alone. Phalaropes are migrants that do not linger in Michigan for long, and they move through spotty and unpredictably. When they do show up in concentration like this, it warrants attention. Get to Portage Point sooner rather than later if you want to see this bird; the forecast shows mostly sunny skies and westerly winds today, which could push it through quickly.
Beyond the phalarope, Delta County is in solid mid-May passage form. The waterfowl numbers are holding strong at the boating access sites. Kipling has produced 150 Lesser Scaup and 20 American White Pelicans recently. Peninsula Point continues to show 32 Northern Pintails and 7 Long-tailed Ducks as of yesterday, which is respectable for early May in the UP. These dabbling and diving ducks have been staged at the big water since the ice went out, and they are starting to thin as birds push further north, so if you have been meaning to check the numbers, today's mostly sunny 48-degree day is reasonable for standing around the shore.
Portage Marsh itself is the hotspot to hit if you have limited time. The marsh has recorded 28 Red-winged Blackbirds, 24 Mallards, 18 Common Grackles, 18 Ring-billed Gulls, 18 Canada Geese, 10 Greater Yellowlegs, 10 American Robins, 8 Brown-headed Cowbirds, and 6 Double-crested Cormorants in the past 14 days. This is classic early May shorebird and marsh habitat activity. The marsh is also where the phalarope is, so you will get two missions done at one stop.
Warbler season is building
May 5 is deep into the warbler wave, though the eBird data for Delta County is not showing a large volume of warbler reports yet. The 145 total observations across 145 species in the past two weeks suggests the county is getting coverage, but it also suggests that the diversity wave has not hit the county hard. This is not unusual for the Delta; the best warbler action tends to concentrate around the Jack Pine regions of the central LP and around the major migratory corridors along the west shore. That said, the Pine Siskins reported at Green's Home, the Red-headed Woodpecker at a private location this morning, and the general surge of passerines through Portage Marsh all indicate that migrants are moving through. The westerly winds today are not pushing birds north as aggressively as a south wind would, but the long day length (14 hours and 28 minutes) is still driving activity north overall.
Water birds dominating the counts
The species counts in Delta are heavily skewed toward water and marsh birds right now. Scaup, pintails, pelicans, egrets, yellowlegs, and cormorants make up the bulk of recent reports. This makes sense for early May in the UP; the lake ice is recently gone, the marshes are thawing, and migratory waterfowl have refueled after their push across the Great Lakes. Upland species and songbirds will build as May progresses and as the understory leafs out. For today's birding, focus on the marsh edges and the open water access points. Portage Marsh and Peninsula Point are your best bets for variety and count.
The Red-headed Woodpecker flagged this morning at a home location is worth noting as a rare entry for this county during passage. That bird is worth a look if you have a local contact.
Conditions tonight drop to 32 degrees with partly cloudy skies, so pack a layer and get out early if you are chasing the dawn chorus. Sunrise is at 6:29 a.m., and the optimal listening window is between 5:59 and 7:59 a.m. with calm westerly winds at 10 mph today. That is good timing for picking up returning thrushes, vireos, and early warblers in the pre-dawn.
Visit https://michiganbirdingreport.com for the live map and full Delta County data.