We had mild weather, great color, seventeen participants, and lots of mockingbirds on our trip to Watkins Lake on Tuesday.  I planned this trip a month earlier than our normal November waterfowl trip in the hopes of getting a good color tour of the park.  In addition, the upland grassland on the Washtenaw side of the property offers a great view of the surrounding area-you can even see Brooklyn!

Right out of the gate the park’s resident Mockingbird’s were out & about and 5 were seen.  We started walking the trail to the east toward the upland area.  After much encouragement from the group a few more Mockingbirds were coaxed to make the jump east over the county line so we could count them in Washtenaw.  We tallied 3.

(Brenda Wineman)

A short walk off our route to a view from the grassland to the lake’ was rewarded with the sight of hundreds of Canada Goose coming in for a landing on the lake.  We then started the woodland trek up the hill to the grand view.  It was a bit of a climb, but well worth it.  The view was great, and the fall colors were spot on. I think we got peak color on that day.  So, of course forgot to take a pic.

The loop trail down was though more grassland and was a more gradual descent.  We’ll go up that side next time.  The walk on this path allows a lakeside view to the west, but there was not too much activity there.

After a return to the parking lot for a quick refresh, we walked down Arnold Rd. for the waterfowl part of the tour.  I think we did pretty good in terms of wildfowl. We saw 19 waterfowl and other water birds in the lake. 

Toward the end of the viewing, we had a falcon identified as a Peregrine Falcon.  This Duck Hawk did not stop for a snack, but just gave as a quick flyby.

Bird lists for the trip are below. Be sure to check out photos in the checklists.

Parking lot & west end of trail:   https://ebird.org/checklist/S199888781

Washtenaw county:   https://ebird.org/checklist/S199895916

Jackson County lake sightings:   https://ebird.org/checklist/S199895983