I asked Steve Santner about where to do general birding in the Mio area. He took the time to give me a detailed reply that's too good not to pass on. He said I could, so here it is. Bruce > From: Bruce M. Bowman > To: Steve Santner > Subject: Mio area > Send reply to: bbowman@umich.edu > Date sent: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 17:21:29 -0500 > > > Steve, > > Do you know the good spots to hit in the Mio area for general birding? An > out-of-state friend is asking...and I'd like to know, too. > > Bruce > Date sent: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 21:13:12 -0500 From: Steve Santner To: "Bruce M. Bowman" Subject: Mio area birds I don't know how far from Mio you might want to go so I'll start in Mio and work out from there. Mio Dam Pond is worth a short look for waterbirds and some landbirds in season. It is just north west of Mio -access is from Cherry Creek Rd. You need to get a Delorme Atlas or other large scale map to find these places. Just north of this spot along the access road both on the way to the pond and along the road north of Cherry Creek Rd are sometimes some farm puddles with puddle ducks or snipe. There is little open area in Oscoda Co but the largest area is from the spot just mentioned and east to just east of the village of Fairview. I've found Grasshopper Sparrow and Brewer's Blackbird here. I can't remember exactly where - you would just have to drive the back roads. This is the most varied habitat in the county and will give you the largest number of species/hr. I have also found Upland Sandpiper in Oscoda Co but this was southwest of Mio (probably along either Zimowski or Coupland Rds. Still in Oscoda County there is a burn area (uncontrolled!) southeast of Mack Lake, the northern edge of which reaches Curtisville Rd. This burn is too new (2-3 years old) for Kirtland's Warbler but might have some other birds of interest. I haven't had much luck here myself but it seems like a good area for Black-backed Woodpecker and it's in an area with some very old Jack Pines which others (not me unfortunately) have found Spruce Grouse. Even if you don't find these birds you should find nesting Lincoln's Sparrow and possibly Clay-colored Sparrow. Finally, there are Kirtland's Warbler tours in season (mid-May to early July) from Mio and from Grayling. I've never taken either of these - I just drive the back roads until I find 8-15 ft high Jack Pines. there are quite a few of these in Oscoda and Crawford Cos. There are two other places of interest which are either on the way up or are so good I have to include. On the way up is the Higgins/Houghton Lakes area in Roscommon Co. The lakes themselves (and surrounding shorelines) are good for waterbirds in season and a variety of landbirds. By far the best spot in this area is west of the town of Houghton Lake where there are some floodings and brushy areas which have Osprey, Sedge Wren, Ring-necked Duck (breeding), lots of Wood Ducks and some other nesting ducks and Black Tern. Somewhere in this general area, Yellow Rail has nested in years past. This area extends into Missaukee Co. A terrific area to find a variety of birds is along Jeffs Rd which goes south from M55 about a mile or so into Missaukee Co. There is a flooding which is very worth the effort of finding but you may need a full- fledged topo map - you have to walk in a mile or so. The other spot is Tawas Pt SP. This is one of the top migration spots in Michigan. All kinds of rarities (waterbirds and landbirds) show up here and this may be the best warbler migration spot in the Lower Peninsula. I wasn't sure just what time of year you were interested in and exactly which species you most wanted to see so there isn't much detail but if you have specific questions I'll do my best to answer them. Steve Santner