On the outskirts of Albion College, the limpkin, a hen species native to Florida, has captured the eye and curiosity of each seasoned birdwatchers and informal observers alike.
Albion College Emeritus Biology Professor Dale Kennedy, who first noticed the hen in early September, stated that “last year, the first one ever that was recorded was seen in Michigan, and this year there have been multiple spottings.”
The hen has been spotted 14 times in Michigan this yr, in keeping with EBird, a platform used to determine birds. Kennedy stated the limpkin continues to be seen across the Whitehouse Nature Center.
Doug White, who additionally taught biology at Albion College, stated he believes the limpkin could have traveled north as a result of local weather change; it might be a part of a recent pattern of displacement in hen populations.
“In New Jersey, if you saw a white ibis, it was rare. This year, they had 100 nesting pairs just north of Cape May, and it could increase,” White stated. “In Jackson a few years back there was a spotting of a black bellied whistling duck, which is a Florida bird.”
Emeritus History Professor Wes Dick, who first noticed the limpkin on Oct. 1, stated he’s “more worried about the limpkin’s well being than any harm it might bring to us.”
Since Oct. 1, Dick stated that he’s been “bonding with the bird,” including that he’s additionally caught sight of a black topped night time heron on a Whitehouse Nature Center path.
The black crowned night heron, which in keeping with Michigan State University’s bird tracking database, is a “year round resident in many coastal areas, the lower Mississippi and Ohio River valleys, and parts of the lower Great Lakes.” Furthermore, it generally hunts at night time, which means a daytime sighting in Michigan is uncommon.
Albion resident and self-proclaimed “bird enthusiast” Thomas Hunsdorfer stated that the birds could wind up in new locations due to “long migratory routes, where the wind will blow or they get tired and they land where they’ve never been found.”
“Evolution can happen pretty rapidly, particularly with a species where the lifespan is only two or three years, the next generation is maybe just 24 months away,” Hunsdorfer stated. “In a very short amount of time, they adapt.”
Students seeking to catalog their very own sightings of the limpkin and different birds could accomplish that by eBird. Kennedy stated the platform permits customers to “start a checklist and record the time you saw (the bird). The nature center is what’s called a hotspot in eBird, and all of those sightings are accumulated in one database.”
“A few hours after a limpkin sighting was logged, people were already looking for it,” Kennedy stated. “It shows how organized birders are.”
Another choice for monitoring uncommon birds in Albion is the Merlin app, based by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The app permits customers to reply three easy questions on a hen they’re making an attempt to determine after which provides them an inventory of attainable birds, which has grow to be popular in recent years.
“If you see a bird and have no clue what it is, this will get you the answer,” White stated.
Students seeking to get into birding are welcome to reap the benefits of The Whitehouse Nature Center’s trail hours.
“The nature center is just a gem of a resource (for birding),” Hunsdorfer stated. “I encourage all readers – if you haven’t, come and take a walk.”
