Birding Sit Nets 58 Species at North Point Nature Preserve

Fifty-eight kinds of birds were observed during the Big Sit at North Point Nature Preserve May 11 despite relentless rain that muffled their calls, fogged our binoculars and slowed our movements.

We welcomed 27 enthusiastic birders for the annual Big Sit to explore the remote peninsula during the peak of spring migration. They ventured along the cobblestone shoreline and into the dense interior forests, pausing every few steps to look and listen for birds flittering among the trees. Occasionally one would perch briefly on a branch, allowing a momentary glimpse of a yellow throat, a white patch on a wing or some other identifying feature for the birders to recognize.

Alex Hamilton scans the trees in search of an elusive warbler alongside fellow birders.

Each sighting or distant bird song was answered by a human softly announcing its species name for the rest of the group. For some, this was their first time birding. Others demonstrated almost encyclopedic knowledge, teasing out one warbler call from a dozen other songs. All seemed to appreciate the place and the moment they were in, forgetting for a little while about their cold hands and wet feet while they watched and listened.

We want to give our special thanks to Spencer High and his birding friends Emily Tornga, Alex Hamilton, Mallary Webb & Cynthia Maas for leading the hikes, our partners at Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Thunder Bay Audubon Society, and the Consumers Energy Foundation.

You can help protect shoreline habitats like North Point Nature Preserve by donating to our Community-Driven Conservation fundraising campaign.

Participants of the 2024 Birding Big Sit at North Point Nature Preserve, Alpena.

2024 Birding Big Sit species list

The following species were observed, either by song or sighting, during the morning 2024 Birding Big Sit at North Point Nature Preserve in Alpena, Mich.

American redstart
American robin
Black and white warbler
Blackburnian warbler
Black-capped chickadee
Blackpoll warbler
Black-throated green warbler
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Blue-headed vireo
Blue jay
Canada goose
Chestnut-sided warbler
Chipping sparrow
Common merganser
Common yellowthroat
Double-crested cormorant
Eastern kingbird
Eastern phoebe
Golden-crowned kinglet
Gray catbird
Great egret
Herring gull
Horned grebe
House finch
House wren
Indigo bunting
Killdeer
Least flycatcher
Long-tailed duck
Mourning dove
Nashville warbler
Northern cardinal
Northern flicker
Northern parula
Ovenbird
Palm warbler
Pileated woodpecker
Pine warbler
Red-breasted merganser
Red-breasted nuthatch
Ring-billed gull
Rose-breasted grosbeak
Ruby-crowned kinglet
Song sparrow
Spotted sandpiper
Tennessee warbler
Veery
White-breasted nuthatch
White crowned sparrow
White-throated sparrow
White-winged scoter
Winter wren
Wood thrush
Yellow-rumped warbler
Yellow warbler