4/1/24 – 4/7/24
Most of this last week was wet and cool with a really nice day on Sunday, April 7. So it was a little slow with new species adding only 5 new species to make it 52 species for the year thus far. Both the Red-shouldered and Sharp-shinned Hawks were seen only on 1 day. Tree Swallows which have returned to the Kalamazoo area for a while at large lakes sites finally showed up at Kleinstuck where they nest in some of the boxes surrounding the property. The Pine Siskins reported were all fly over sightings while the Great Horned Owl has returned to the Pine Stand it was found in last year. I usually cannot find it until the Crows and Blue Jays do though. On April 4th I located two Great Horned Owls and they even hooted back and forth to each other, so maybe there is a nesting site nearby. They have nested in Kleinstuck before however that year I didn’t discover the nest for over a month and I had been walking under it every day LOL. With the warm weather predicted for the coming week I think we can expect Chipping Sparrow, Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers to be returning or migrating through. Good luck and Happy Birding.
– John Brenneman, KNC Senior Avian Biologist
pictured: Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) at Kleinstuck Nature Preserve by John Brenneman
