If April was the month when my Big Year truly became ‘big’, then May was the month where it became silly. Make no mistake, through April I was having an incredible year. I ended April at 235 species for the year, though that 235 was largely a product of my focus on having as big of months as possible and picking up lifers when possible; in May, I fully committed to the undertaking that is a Big Year with all the… absurdities that come with it. Additionally, unlike the year’s previous months, May was kicked off with a bang right from the start with a trip to the west side of the state where I picked up my Lifer Henslow’s Sparrow at the Paw Paw Prairie Fen Preserve as I worked my way from Berrien in the direction of home in Oakland County, stopping halfway to call it a night in a Park-and-ride parking lot.
The morning of the second I had planned to just bird at Kinderhook Sewage Ponds before heading home for work, but the discovery of a Cattle Egret in a random parking lot in Grand Haven caused me to instead return to the west coast and snag the Lifer. On the way home from Grand Haven a stop in Grand Rapids netter another Lifer, as a few Lark Sparrows had been hanging around the parking lot of a medical office building in downtown Grand Rapids. With this impromptu birding done I raced back home to just barely make it to work in time. The next day was fairly quiet, but on the afternoon of the 4th I would begin a 24-hour window that I have come to refer as “The Great Day“.
My plans for the 4th were originally to make yet another trip to Berrien county, where a Painted Bunting had been found. While I was at work, just before I was about to get out and begin the drive across the state, a Harris’s Sparrow was found at a feeder in Washtenaw county, almost directly on the way to the stakeout for the Painted Bunting. Despite it being a perfect detour, far too much time ticked away as I waited alongside Brandon Aho and a few other birders, watching the feeders the sparrow had periodically been visiting. Finally I decided to just give it ten more minutes before moving on in order to make it to the bunting by sunset, and fortunately the Harris’s Sparrow popped up six minutes into those ten. Brandon and I celebrated the bird – a Lifer for me and year bird for him – and he wished me luck on the Bunting before I took off. I managed to arrive at the stakeout shortly before it began to get dark out, and the Lifer popped in within a few minutes of my arrival. I was lucky to have made it in time, too, because while the bird had been seen all day on the 3rd and 4th, I would be the last person to see the bird as it was MIA from the 5th on.
Despite having to work the afternoon of the 5th, I then decided to head north to make an attempt for a White-winged Dove that had been being seen at an RV park in Oceana county. In the middle of my drive – as night began to set in – I made an attempt for a continuing Yellow Rail at the Upper Macatawa Natural Area in Ottawa county, where I successfully managed to snag the bird. The next morning I joined another couple birders at the RV park for the White-winged Dove, but when a Western Tanager was found a short distance away the other bailed on the so-far MIA dove to track town the tanager. I made the decision to stick with the Dove, as I figured that I was less likely to get another shot at White-winged Dove than I was to get a shot at Western Tanager, as by this point several of the latter had popped up throughout Michigan. About an hour after the two others left I heard the distinctive Barred-Owl-like call of the White-winged Dove, and then a few minutes latter spotted it in flight. Unfortunately at this point too much time had passed for me to be able to try for the tanager, and so I headed home to go to work. I felt okay with this decision though; I mean, it’s not like I would see another White-winged Dove just nine days latter and during those same nine days dip on five Western Tanagers plus another eight throughout the rest of the year, right?
Over the next week I would continue to rack up month and year birds, including a Lifer Yellow-breasted Chat at Erie Marsh Preserve. One bird I didn’t manage to track down during that week, though, was Western Tanager, despite trying for five of them.
A few days later I had a planned-four day-weekend trip to Tawas Point SP, one of the best places to be for spring warbler migration in not only Michigan, but the entire Great Lakes area. Before heading up to Tawas, however, I made the trip up to the tip of the Lower Peninsula to meet Big Year record-holder Oliver Kew near Mackinaw City, where he and a few other local birders had spotted a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher the day before. We were unsuccessful in tracking down the flycatcher, though, and after parting ways with Oliver I continued on with my plans at Tawas.
While at Tawas, as I was walking out to the tip of the point, I heard a familiar call. A moment later my ears were confirmed when my phone pinged with a Discord notification: White-winged Dove at Tawas. Remember when I didn’t try for that Western Tanager because I would be more likely to have another shot for the tanager than the dove? Ugh.
While Tawas was already a hopping place, a number of other birders made the drive to Tawas to chase this White-winged Dove, as the previous dove (which I had seen) had proven to be a difficult chase and then access to the RV park was disallowed shortly after I connected with the bird. Amongst the birders who came for the dove was my dad and I’s friend John Porath, who – after I got him on the dove – insisted that sticking at Tawas was likely a waste of my time. John suggested my time would better be spent returning to Mackinaw City, crossing the bridge to the Upper Peninsula, and working my way to Whitefish Point. I personally had never been to the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, but WPBO is probably the most famous and incredible site for birding in all of Michigan. Over the years, between visitors, Field Ornithologists, Hawkwatch Counters, and the dedicated Spring and Fall Waterbird Migration Counters, an astonishing 346 species have been reported on eBird at Whitefish over the years.
My visit to the Whitefish Point area began at the nearby N. Preachers Rd. site, where I snagged my Lifer Spruce Grouse. From there I continued on to WPBO itself, where I met the waterbird counter Alison Vilag and saw a familiar face – the WPBO Piping Plover monitor, Alec Olivier. As a refresher, Alec had been one of the two people who had directed me to the King Eider back in April at Ludington Harbor. At Whitefish I picked up my Lifer Eurasian Tree Sparrow as well as a few other year birds, and as it turned out the night I was there was one of those five-hundred-times-a-year “once in a century” lunar events, a “Blood Moon”. That night I laid out on the shore of lake superior and watched the moon as the Piping Plovers called their adorable, incessant “peep, peep, peeple”; I worried one of them would end up snagged by the few Long-eared Owls that were hunting the grassy dunes that bordered shore, but fortunately that never happened. I did not realize how under-dressed I was until I stood to make the walk back to my car to call it a night, at which point my teeth began chattering as incessantly as the plovers’ calls, which now seemed to mock me as I struggled to make it back to the parking lot without freezing. Perhaps their calls had been a warning the entire time: “Hey, dummy, you’re out here in a long-sleeved shirt and jeans and it’s like 40 degrees and windy. What are you doing? Get out of here!”
The next morning I headed back to “The Shack” to spend the morning with Alison at the waterbird count, where I was immediately amazed by her skill at identifying ducks that were so far away they appeared to me to be little more than specks of dust on the lens of my spotting scope, and after a morning spent at the count I was starting to feel somewhat comfortable identifying the specks myself. As the afternoon progressed I decided to head into western Chippewa county to the Munuscong WMA “Potholes”, the most reliable spot in the state for LeConte’s Sparrow – but before I left I told Alison that I’d be back for the evening flight and for the next morning’s flight. Just as I arrived at Munuscong, though, news came that completely derailed my plans – a Lewis’s Woodpecker had been found in Muskegon county, just a few miles west of Muskegon Wastewater. I plugged it into my GPS and was disheartened that the 300 mile drive would take me longer than the time I had left ’til sundown. Regardless I immediately began the drive, and around 11pm I settled into the park-and-ride near MWW that I had by this point spent a half-dozen or so nights in.
I woke the next day before dawn and raced to the stakeout, being the first to arrive on scene. Within about a minute another birder showed up, then another, and soon a small group of us were wandering around the neighborhood and watching the trees the bird had been spotted in the previous day. We didn’t have to wait long, as the Lewis’s Woodpecker flew in and gave us all fantastic views. Once I was satisfied with my observation I decided to head to Muskegon Wastewater to see if any good shorebirds or gulls were around, and fortunately for me there were a few good shorebirds including my Lifer White-rumped Sandpiper. Eventually I found myself parked and scanning gulls alongside fellow birder Ethan Urban. Now, something you should know about is that even now I know very little about identifying gulls, and at this point in my birding journey I knew next-to-nothing about identification. Fortunately for me Ethan was far more knowledgeable, and as we scanned I jokingly said to him “Hey Ethan, find me a Franklin’s Gull”. As if on cue, about ten seconds after the joke had left my mouth it manifested itself into existence, and Ethan remarked “Uhhh, I have a Franklin’s Gull!”. BAM! Lifer!
From there I decided to head down into Berrien county, where a Bell’s Vireo had returned to it’s annual spot in the parking lot of an athletic complex. The Vireo sang immediately upon my arrival, granting me my fourth Lifer of the day, and from there I continued on to Warren Dunes SP, where I picked up a handful of good bird including year birds in Prairie Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, and Acadian Flycatcher. I had planned to spend some more time in Berrien but instead hopped back in my car and drove back to Muskegon Wastewater when a Hudsonian Godwit was reported. Unfortunately by the time I arrived the Godwit was long gone, but around that same time Ryan Dziedzic found a Connecticut Warbler at Chippewa Nature Center in Midland, which was roughly on my way home so I decided to go try for it before heading home. The Connecticut took me a bit of time to track down, but thanks to Ryan’s detailed description of the exact spot he had found the bird I managed to connect with Lifer #5 on the day.
It’s worth noting that by this point I was on day five of what was supposed to be a four day trip, and then when a Long-billed Dowitcher was found in Gratiot County I decided to make it six days. After sleeping my sixth straight night in my car I snagged the Dowitcher early in the morning, but rather than heading home drove back to Midland and beyond to Nayanquing Point SWA, where a King Rail had been found. I tried unsuccessfully for the bird for a short while, but bailed when a Smith’s Longspur was reported at… Whitefish Point of all places. I of course jumped back in my car and made the drive north, where upon arriving I was informed by Alison that the bird was probably in Canada by now, as it was seen only briefly before vanishing over the lake. Oh well, I guess it’s time to just drive the 250 miles back to Nayanquing and try again for the King Rail, right? This time I met John Porath there and the two of us had success in locating the bird, and with my ninth Lifer in three days in the books I finally headed home to go to sleep.
There is no rest for the wicked, however, and so the next morning I of course jumped right back in my car and drove down to Monroe County, where I picked up my Lifer Blue Grosbeak and White-faced Ibis, officially ending The Great Week. The White-faced Ibis was a special bird, too, as it was #300 for the year. Barely a month earlier when I had been talking to Myles McNally at the Cinnamon Teal I had said I didn’t know if I could hit 300 for the year, and now here I was in mid-May, having hit 300 earlier in a year than anyone I am aware of in Michigan birding history.
While I may have hit 300 for the year, May was not yet over and of course it would still bring a handful of rarities. I am torn in deciding which of these rarities would be more painful: the several Western Tanagers that I would dip on, or the Townsend’s Warbler. The Tanager were at this point a clear curse – a bird I was destined to never see and my personal nemesis, but the Warbler was nearly as frustrating because I could have gone for it when it showed up just a few days following the conclusion of The Great Week, but I was worn down and exhausted as it turns out spending a week in your car eating nothing but Ramen from Styrofoam cups and a few fast food burgers isn’t exactly a recipe for healthy living.
I did, however, try for it on day two, a prospect that initially was optimistic as the bird was found first thing in the morning. Unfortunately after the people who found it spotted it the bird dropped down and was never seem again, though I still have it a few hours and miles of effort. As disappointed as I was, though, I don’t think my frustration held a candle to that of Caleb Putnam, who despite being one of the people to spot the bird in the morning continued to put in a nine-hour effort to relocate the bird, and afterwards described it as the worst successful chase he’d ever had.
The month soon came to a close, but before it did I made one more trip to Pointe Mouillee to pick up my final Life, year, and month bird of May in a Glossy Ibis. As the month came to a close I found myself in awe of what I had accomplished over the past few weeks. Twenty-one nights spent in my car, 12,000 miles driven, twenty Lifers, 68 year birds, 244 total species seen, and twelve Western Tanagers dips. May of 2022 was undoubtedly my best ever month of birding and one of my craziest personal accomplishments, somehow shattering the 18 year-old record of 238 by a margin of six species. It was also a month of pure exhaustion – physical, mental, and financial. By this point I had not only exhausted every penny in my bank account but racked up a thousand-or-so dollars of credit card debt, and even if I had the energy to continue this pace into June I didn’t have the means to afford the gas required to do so. Fortunately for me, June would bring a dearth of chase-worthy birds so great that I have come to know it as “The Dead Month”, and I was able to pick up 10-15 hours of overtime every week as I got myself back in financial shape to continue my Big Year by the time shorebird migration would pick up in July.
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Follow me on my journey to see 100 species in every Lower-48 State during 2025, experience some of the incredible places and events in American birding, and meet and bird with as many local birders as possible along the way.
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